Sense-making as a lens on everyday change leadership practice: the case of Holly Tree Primary

Abstract

Scholars of educational change agree that leaders need to develop a vision, build capacity and ensure ownership of change by staff. We argue that understanding the actual work that leaders must do in order to convert these categories into action, requires a social practice approach. Taking the notion of sense-making as a social practice, drawn from the scholarship of Karl Weick, a case study of the sense-making for change in Holly Tree primary school is developed. The meta-narrative of the school is underpinned by four elements: (1) the school as innovative, this makes sense of continued and sustained change; (2) we do things our way, this makes sense of continued professional knowledge construction; (3) child-centredness, this provides the value base against which decisions to change can be made; and (4) we are a family, this governs the processes through which changes are developed and owned. The paper argues on the basis of this exemplar that a sense-making approach may offer an explanatory middle ground between descriptions of characteristics of change, and the situated work of school leaders.