Leading successful change of ICT-implementation from leaders perspectives; activity theory approach
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the leaders’ activity contradictions dealing with teachers’ ICT-implementation resistance in educational organization settings. To approach this, a qualitative case study methodological approach is employed. Essential data has been drawn from semi-structured interviews with three schools’ leaders. Activity theory (AT) is used as a theoretical framework to understand leaders activities in their socio-cultural setting. This study reveals important issues to be considered that reflect school-leaders needs to drive successful change regarding teacher’s ICT-integration resistance; these factors are either related to personal or organizational factors.
Introduction
The issue of ICT successful implementation within learning environments has gained significant attention in recent literature. Especially when its come to the role of leadership in driving successful practice in such environments (Alenezi, 2014). Teachers’ resistance to ICT uses in the classroom within the context of Saudi public schools is rarely studied (Alenezi, 2014). Given the fact that, there is a gap between the teachers’ practices of ICT implementation and the role of leaders in driving such a change (Al-Zahrani, 2014). Therefore, this study aims to provoke the leaders voices by mapping their activity-contradictions when dealing with teachers’ resistant in a daily basis. Identifying these contradictions is valuable to understand how schools’ leaders deal with teachers’ resistance while trying to lead the change of ICT implementation.
Over the last 15 years, besides I have taught mathematics at a primary level, I have been involved as one of the supervision team for a Saudi Arabian educational program called “MAAREF.” As a part of my duty, I had implemented many of training courses in computer and mathematics for teachers and school managers. This experience has enabled me to meet and discussed with lots of stakeholders in Saudi schools, which helped me build a comprehensive picture of challenges, needs and potential solutions for educational problems in Saudi schools. From This experience I realized the importance of not only encouraging IT skills of teachers but also paying attention to leaders roles in driving successful change.
In this paper, first three central themes are reviewedin the literature; overall view about ICT integration in Saudi public school, and Teachers’ change resistancewhenleading successful change, and activity theory Then, the methodological research approach is discussed. After that, the main findings are presented, followed by analysis and discussion of these findings.
Literature review
- ICT implementation in Saudi public schools
Implementing educational technologies within the learning environments has yielded global significance in enhancing the overall outcome of education. Saudi government recognizes such importance and established several strategies to move the education forwards. “Tatweer” project has been run to enhance the uses of ICT in public schools, and encourage the teachers to use innovative technology-based teaching practices, where around 2billion pounds is spentfor this purpose (Alenezi, 2014). However, the current practice does not meet the vision of such investment (Albugarni and Ahmed, 2015). (Alshmrany and Wilkinson, 2014)Refers the failure of successful ICT implementation in Saudi public schools to the need of establish awareness amongst stakeholders to integrate the technology into the educational system. The initiative of ICT integration in Saudi public schools has created change challenges for teachers to handle as they are response differently to such a change; this challenges the schools’ leaders to drives the change successfully dealing with teachers’ resistance.
- Leading change and Teachers’ change resistance
The implementation of ICT in teaching processes is associated with many components such as curriculums, policymakers, leaders and teachers. However, teachersplayed a significant role in changing and improving the way of teaching amongst these components. While leaders play a vital role in encouraging teachers usage of ICT and drive the change successfully. (Yukl, 2006)Defines leadership as“a process of influencing and teaching others to understand why and how certain activities and goals need to be accomplished. As such, it constitutes a process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to learn and accomplish shared goals in organizations”
Therefore, for leaders to successfully lead the change, teachers’ resistance is a major obstacle. Saudi society considered a mono-cultural society.Therefore, effective leadership encourages successful transformation of teaching practices using ICTby accommodating the suitable environment for teachers (Al-Zahrani, 2014). however, leaders demand to construct adequate understanding of the main organization and personal factors in place to make this happened (Robertson et al., 2007). From the personal perspective, teacher attitude towards the use of technology in the first stage is debatable in the literature. There are two kinds of teachers’ personalities in term of the use of technology, the traditional method teachers and innovativetechnology based teachers (Niederhauser and Stoddart, 2001). However, both of them find the use of technology improve their teaching and make it easier (Alharbi, 2013).
figure (1) Adopted fromAl-Zahrani (2014)
The focus of the study
On one hand, ICT-based teaching is essential to be implemented as an instrument to support educational objectives and skills that are important for students to participate effectively in knowledge society; such as searching and evaluation, and problem solving (Drent and Meelissen, 2008). On the other hand, the transformation process fromtraditional-based learning environment to ICT-based learning environment involves teachers’ change resistance. It involves challenges and complexity for teachers to deal with and as a result, it causes challenges and complexity for schools leaders to drive such a change. This is particularly true in a school cultural that considered a conservative one like Saudi one where effective leadership is a vehicle to drive effective change Al-Zahrani (2014). Schools’ Leaders are engaged in daily activities with a vision and mission to transform teachers’ practices from traditional teaching approach to ICT-based teaching. During the change process, complex contradictions and barriers are occurringand they have to deal and cope with them in a socio-culture settings (Fullan and MA'rrt-raw, 1992). Much has been written about teachers’ resistance to ICT-based teaching. This research aims to highlight the major contradictions occurs in leaders activities during the change process regarding teachers resistance.
Theoretical framework: Activity theory (AT)
Culture and people must beaddressed when studying the way organizational change is run(Russell-Jones, 2011). Therefore, Activity theory (AT) is used in this study as a theoretical framework to demonstrate leaders activities dealing with teachers’ resistance. AT is a framework to analyze human activities that inherently occurs in a socio-cultural setting (Kuutti, 1996). The heart of the activity system is to understand how the subject is transforming the object and how the meditation of activity system components facilitates such transformation. Activity system is known by its internal contradiction, these contradictions appear when tension is occurring among the components of the activity system. The identification of such contradiction is important to comprehend the motivates of activity actions and to evaluate the activity system (Yamagata-Lynch, 2010).
Figure (2) school leaders activity to transform change
RQ: What activity-contradictions schools’ leaders are facing when overcome teachers’ resistance towards ICT implementation in Saudi public schools?
Strategies and methods employed
- Qualitative Case-study research
To answer the research questions accurately, rich and in-depth exploration was needed. Thus, this research was designed based on a qualitative case study methodological approach. Qualitative research is the study of a phenomenon in an open-ended manner within its context (Johnson & Christensen 2010). Case studies focus on bringing richness and depth to detailed data regarding one or multiple cases by catching the complexity of that case(s) through a selection of data sources (Stake, 1995, Johnson and Christensen, 2010)(Yin, 2002). (Yin, 2013) defines a case study as “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident”.
The primary concern with the case study is that there are many objectives involved. Thus, Yin (2003) and Stake (1995) emphasize that it is necessary to ensure that the case study remains reasonably in scope by binding the case, whereby the case study tells a story about a bounded system. Binding the case could be obtained by (1) time and place (Creswell, 2002); (2) time and activity (Stake 1995); and (3) definition and context (Huberman and Miles, 1994). Such boundaries should not only indicate the inclusion and exclusion criteria but also the breadth and depth of the study (Baxter and Jack, 2008). For this research, the location is a Saudi school where computer-enhance learning environment change is taking place to explore the leaders’ perspectives of teachers’ change resistance. The breadth and depth of this research are limited to the requirements of this assignment.
The case in this study is Saudi public schools leaders how engaging in daily activities dealing with teachers’ ICT implementation resistance. Saudi public schools is the focus because recent research showed that private sector in Saudi Arabia is making good technological-pedagogical practice comparing with the governmental one (Alshmrany and Wilkinson, 2014). Moreover, school leaders are the research case because there has been a lack of literature especially in Saudi addressing how these leaders think of and deal with teachers resistance to ICT implementation (Al-Zahrani, 2014, Alenezi, 2014).
- Semi-structured Interview
This research employed the semi-structured interview or what Johnson and Christensen (2010) refer to as the “interview guide approach”, which is when certain topics and/or open-ended questions are asked by the interviewer in random order, and receives open-ended responses from the interviewee. These responses are transcribed and then stored on a computer for data analysis. This type allows the researcher to adapt the questions accordingly as the conversation emerges. The aim of this research is to investigate personal and organizational factors that create teachers’ ICT implantation resistance from leaders perspective. Therefore, the interview questions were designed around these themes.
- Data Analysis
Thematic analysis is used as the main tool of analysis in this research. Thematic analysis is a “method for identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns (themes) within data. It minimally organises and describes your data set in (rich) detail” (Braun and Clarke, 2006). It allowed the researcher to explore each case and make a comparison between other cases to understand and interpret the phenomenon being studied(Johnson and Christensen, 2010).
- Ethical consideration
Participants for this study were recruited in a friendly, ethical and respectful manner without making any offers or forcing participation. Ensuring the confidentiality of the research participants by controlling the access other people have to any related information was ensured and explained to the research’s participant’s freedom to withdraw from participating in the study at any time without force. Consent form was provided to the research’s participants which shows that the participants agree to be involved in the study after being informed about its rationale, significance, the process, the methodology, any associated risks, and the limitation of privacy (Johnson and Christensen, 2010).
Findings
This research finds fourmain contradictions limited the leaders activity to overcome teachers’ change resistance towards ICT-implementation as shown in figure (3). First contradiction leaders are facing and have to deal with is a subject community (A) one, where leaders have to find ways to overcome teachers’ negative attitude, lack of self-confidence regarding ICT use and Teachers’ lack of collaboration. The second contradiction is a subject-tool (B) one; the lack of teachers’ sufficient training and lack of effective tools has limited the leaders effort to overcome the teachers’ resistance. Thirdly, schools’ leaders find that the lack of policy that could adhere the teachers to use technology in their teaching practice as a major subject-rules (C) contradiction in order to overcome any resistance. Finally, for leaders to successfully lead such a change Lack of time is another major concern, which creates a subject division of labor contradiction. These four main findings are discussed in details in this section.
(A) Subject-community contradictions: three main contradictions obvious on the study findings regarding leaders’ experiences with teachers’ resistance towards ICT integration; Teachers’ Negative Beliefs and Attitudes, Teacher’s lack of self-Confidence and Teachers’ lack of collaboration
A-1) Teachers’ Negative Beliefs and Attitudes
Traditionalism believes amongst Saudi teachers is a main community subject contradiction that leaders are experiencing when it'scome to adopt a new teaching strategies especially if it is ICT-based methods. All the research participants have emphasized this point, one of them said;
“I think first they [teachers] have to believe on the effectiveness of such technology in teaching lots of the teachers here believe on traditional way only, for different reasons they have this tendency of preferring the traditional approach, we have been trying to change this attitude, but its require time.”
This is in line with (Al-Zahrani, 2014); (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012) how illustrate that Successful implementation of ICT depends on teachers’ believes and attitude towards technology uses in the classroom especially in developing countries. (Huang and Liaw, 2005) study showed that there is a strong relationship between teachers’ attitude and their acceptance of usefulness of technology use. From leader perspective changing teachers’ believes and attitude is a vital vision to be considered. However, these leaders showed little knowledge about effective leadership skills to change such attitude as they believe that only overtime this believe will be changed.
A-2) Teacher’s lack of self-Confidence
From leaders perspective, the self-confidence of using technology is major indicators of teachers’ ability to integrate ICT into teaching. Such community-subject contradiction governs the leader attempt to transform the teachers’ resistance where leaders have to find ways to overcome this challenges.
“ In this school teachers how have IT knowledge are able to handle to use of technology comparing with those how don’t have such a knowledge, however, sometimes it is about confidence as well, I have one teacher how has no ICT knowledge before but he shows greater ability to teach using various application, I think because of his personality”
(Buabeng-Andoh, 2012) states that being able to use technology effectively and with confidence is an important personal factor to take into consideration when technology comes to take a place into teaching. (Jones, 2004) Argue that Teachers’ competence linked to teachers’ confidence and verse versa. These leaders showed little awareness of this, which demonstrate their lack of knowledge about various leadership skills.
A-3) Teachers’ lack of Collaboration
Teachers’ lack of collaboration to share their experiences is one main theme leaders addressed in this study. For those leaders creating a community of practice around a shared interest while teachers resist such change is a challenge itself. One of the participants asserts that;
“I noticed that teachers never share their experiencing and talked to each other about their use of technology so I thought that if I asked them to visit each other in the classroom and let the less professional ones learn from those how are experienced in teaching with technology can open a discussion venues and the knowledge could be spread, although this step was successful to some extent it was not easy to encourage them to do so”
The role this leader took to encourage teachers to share their experiencing is an innovative role to spread the culture of community of practice comparing with the other participants who has done nothing regard it.
B) Subject-too: the lack of tools that could help the schools leaders to mediate the transformation of change creates a major internal contradiction of their activities. Leaders find that overcome teachers’ resistance is not easy to be accomplished because the lack or insufficient tools such as ICT-training sessions and sufficient IT equipment.
2-1Lack of ICT Training
Lack of effective ICT-training that meets the need of teachers to be active and innovative ICT users is another organization factor that contributes to teachers’ change resistance. All the interviewees stressed that this issue was at the heart of teachers’ resistance especially older teachers. For example, one of interviewee said
“in my view, the majority of teachers’ training is considered ineffective, I mean in terms of quantity and quality, for me to make the change work effective training is way forward.”
(Sabzian and Gilakjani, 2013)In alignment with this finding, teachers must be given an opportunity to be equipped with new knowledge and different applications of ICT. Teachers how have such knowledge and experiencing showed greater use of technology.
Communities of practice are “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger, 2009). Data from this study showed that the three participant leaders act differently; while one of them count on the training that provided from the ministry of education, the other admin has innovative thinking by asking non-expert teachers to visit teachers who expert in technology in the class to train them. For those leaders creating Community of Practice (CoP) within the learning organization seems to be a vital success factor to integrate technology.
Lack of equipment and Technical Support
Lack of equipment is one major of the organizational factors that create teachers’ change resistancethis has a major role in teachers’ willingness to incorporate technology into their teaching practice. One of the school leaders said