Organizational and Educational Change : The Life and Role of a Change Agent Group

by Bartunek, Jean M.; Lies, Betty; Maxwell, Susan; Kurtz, Sheila

• ISBN13: 9780805834093
• ISBN10: 0805834095
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

Jean M. Bartunek, the 2001-2002 President of the Academy of Management, has written an excellent scholarly book on organizational and educational change. Using a joint insider/outsider approach, this book tells the story of a change agent group--a group of teachers--that was creating change in its organization setting, a Network of Independent Schools. The group's focus was on empowerment and professional development for teachers in the Network. The book describes virtually everything that happened in the group over its first seven years and summarizes what happened during its final two years. It explores the identity, work, and evolution of change agent groups in organizations, with particular emphasis on teachers and educational change. Through the book's extensive quotations and narrative account, the reader is enabled to enter into the world of the teacher group studied over the course of its nine-year history. In addition, the book includes analysis of the underlying processes involved in the change, focusing on the change agent group's identity, its actions and relationships with stakeholders as they jointly evolved over time, and their impacts on the vitality of the change effort. It contributes a new understanding of fundamental processes involved in organizational change, especially when viewed from the perspective of change agents. In addition, the book provides practical implications for change agents, specifically change agents in schools. As such, this account will be useful for graduate students and researchers in organizational change, educational leadership, and professional development. It is a part of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates growing series in organization management.

Author Biography

Jean M. Bartunek is a professor in the Organization Studies Department at Boston College

Table of Contents

About the Author	vii
Series Editors' Foreword	ix
Preface	xi
List of Tables	xv
List of Figures	xvi
The Foundations for the Work	1	(21)
The Founders' Vision and Design for the NFDC	22	(9)
An Exciting and Sometimes Difficult Beginning	31	(16)
The NFDC Begins to Implement Its Initiatives	47	(27)
A Year of Challenges	74	(30)
Trembling on the Edge	104	(27)
Dispersing Energies	131	(28)
A Role for the NFDC?	159	(23)
The Vision Dims	182	(24)
The Triangle Model of Change Agent Group Dynamics: Evolving Identity, Actions, and Stakeholder Relationships in a Change Agent Group Setting	206	(28)
Implications of the NFDC's Work for Educational Policy	234	(12)
Diane R. Wood
The Story Ends	246	(29)
References	275	(8)
Author Index	283	(4)
Subject Index	287