If you think a school plan is something that can be hastily put together by a school board of management or by the principal, think again. The fact is that the school plan as envisaged by the Department of Education and Science involves a process which can take more than three years to complete. And even then the process is ongoing - the school plan continues to develop and evolve ad infinitum.
As a result, concerns have been expressed by some educators that the Department of Education is minimising the difficulties surrounding school planning. The issue of time for planning is of particular concern. According to schools which have successfully introduced the process, the issue of time is crucial.
"Time is the main problem if you want to do things well," concedes Brian Fleming, principal of Collinstown Park Community College, Clondalkin, Co Dublin. "Time for planning is essential," comments Patrick Diggins, director of the Drumcondra Teachers' Centre. "Ideally you should be able to close the school in order to do it, but if that's impossible time must be found elsewhere. If you don't make time for planning, you're not using your energies and resources to best effect."
However, the Department argues that very many schools already have a considerable amount of school planning under their belts, for which they have found time from among their own resources.
Under the terms of the most recent Education Bill, boards of management will be required to arrange for the preparation of school plans in accordance with directions to be given by the Minister. According to the Department, primary schools can expect to receive their guidelines at the end of May, but second-level guidelines are unlikely to be distributed before the end of the year. A second level working group to develop the guidelines has yet to be established.
Most schools are involved in planning on a regular basis; indeed some schools have already embarked on the type of process being recommended by the Department, but the school plan as envisaged by the Department of Education is likely to present some schools with a considerable amount of angst. School principals, in particular, could feel vulnerable. Indeed E&L has learned that a number of schools, having considered the type of school planning process advocated by the Department, have shied away from it.
"It's a risky process," confirms Diggins. "You're dealing with many different kinds of people some of whom are in vulnerable positions." Insecure principals could feel personally threatened when faced with staff criticisms of the school.
However, this method of school planning should not be seen as a threatening exercise, Diggins says, rather as something that facilitates ordinary good school management. "Most schools are involved in planning," he points out. "What's new for secondary schools is that the plan now has to be written down." The process, he says, requires professional integrity on the part of both the principal and the staff.
The Department is adamant that the process is more important than the product. "It's about discussions with staff and consultations with the wider school community and analyses of the best practice elsewhere," explains assistant chief inspector Gearoid O Conluain. School plans will include action plans - "clearly delineated targets of development which will be tied to time-scales," he says. The identity of these targets will emerge from the discussion and consultation processes, which will take place between the staff and the wider school community.
The plan will include three dimensions. Under the curriculum heading, schools will identify areas needing further development and arrange to tackle them on a phased basis. Under schools will review policies on a range of issues - discipline, health and safety, homework, for example - and reach a consensus on how they will be tackled. Third, schools will be required to make a statement on their self-review practices and their approaches to evaluation.
"It's very important that the process is as participative as possible," stresses O Conluain. "It's a bottom-up approach that's all-embracing and can't be imposed from the top. It involves taking a mature look at what's happening in school. It's a collective culture of self-review and a reflection of a more focussed climate of team-building."
However, he points out that a number of agencies have already been involved in developing school planning blueprints. "We're not suggesting that we have the high ground on school planning," he says, "there's a lot of good information out there that will be of use."
The real benefit of school planning, says principal Fleming, is that you become more conscious of the wider issues affecting the school. It has a unifying effect on staff, he notes. "We're all working on one direction. It's a way of involving all the staff in policy decisions - you get a higher level of commitment from people who are working towards a shared vision."
However, once the plan is in place, he warns, you have to revisit it regularly. It's critical that you ensure that decisions are implemented. "If you decide that you will take a common approach to a discipline issue, for example, then it's down to each member of staff to comply. This can be difficult when each teacher has a different way of doing things. It's an ongoing challenge."
Schools which have implemented this type of school planing are adamant that outside facilitators must be used. "Schools need help," says Diggins "We need a lot more trained people working as facilitators. You need people with a lot of experience. It's a risky business opening up a school to reflection and an analysis of the work it's doing."
