Educational Leaders: A Paradigm Change Masters

Over the past ten years the Indian education system and educational institutions have experienced change at an extraordinary rate. The pace of change has had an impact on the organization and its people; they are growing tired of change and showing signs of cynicism and burnout commonly associated with “change fatigue”. Nevertheless, requirements of the current environment dictate that educational institutions must continue to implement change. The leadership of educational system has recognized this new reality and it has developed a vision and strategy aimed at organizational and system renewal. This study argues that having a strategy alone is not enough. It seeks to demonstrate that educational institutions must become an adaptive organization with a leadership whose primary role is to lead and control change. A fundamental tenet for successfully implementing the strategy and its integral objectives is gaining and maintaining control of the change agenda within the educational institution. In addition, educational leadership needs to build an adaptive organization – an organization that will be more receptive to change. These two steps are essential to continued progress towards the objectives of the strategy. Educational leadership must play a key role in leading change within the educational institution.