External and internal factors have a huge impact on the productivity and success of an educational institution. The process of assessing the external and internal factors that face an organization is a major part of the planning function of management. These factors also impact how an educational institution is organized and how resources are used to accomplish the preferred goals and objectives established during the planning process.
Rapid Change
Institutions of education operate in a rapidly changing environment characterized by rapid knowledge growth, rapid dissemination of information technology, and rapidly changing student needs and demands. Trends towards globalization and internationalization have fueled the pace of change.
The Philippine Science High School -Southern Mindanao Campus (PSHS-SMC) is aware of this situation. In fact, strategic plans are periodically analyzed by the administration so as to evaluate the applicability of policies and directives they enforce. For curriculum, the educational departments frequently updates their lesson plans so as to keep abreast with the rapidly changing bodies of knowledge the world presents. Moreover, researches both by the students and the faculty are kept up to date as well. In terms of infrastructure, the management sees to it that equipment used are still in the forefront of the present trends. Despite of the rapid changes and the decent pacing of the institution with it, it is usually caught in dilemma when the budgetary aspect is being considered. Hampered development and keeping pace is considered primary consequences of which. However, ingenuity and frugality in resources is always being witheld by the people inside. That's why despite of financial difficulties, the challenges are still being handled well.
Change can threaten and challenge traditional norms and culture. Culture is something an organization has or is. Organizational culture as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that a group learned as it worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to theseproblems ... is the glue that holds an organization together and unites people around shared values and beliefs … is the interwoven pattern of beliefs, values, practices, and artifacts that defines for members who they are and how they are to do things. Organizational theorists point to technology as a continual threat to the established norms and culture because innovation demands modified policies, changing roles for faculty, new pedagogy, increased workload/productivity measures, new governance structures, and change in promotion and tenure criteria. The current change process models are linear and bureaucratic and do not allow for culture and/or the human element of change. At the heart of change is emotion, which is the driving force that sustains change.
Globalization
Globalization is a combination of much freer trade in goods and services combined with free capital movements. The phenomenon dates far back in history with the development of international trade. However, for the past few years, we have observed a high acceleration in this trend due to a political and ideological environment eminently
favorable to its development and rapid advances in technological innovation, especially in the area of telecommunications. Educational planners – wherever they come from – must think seriously about the consequences of such a phenomenon, particularly in terms of shifts in the job market, in order to better adapt their country’s training system.
Competitiveness is one major thrust the Philippines Science High School -Southern Mindanao Campus (PSHS-SMC) always maintains. Ever since it was put up in 1988, it has already been able to send students to various competitions outside of the country. From leadership competitions to academic contests, the students have a share of this opportunity. PSHS-SMC as an institution makes sure that every year, some students would get to compete outside of the country. Just this school year three students were able to present their reasearch paper in Japan. Not to mention the previous years where several students were able to go to China to compete for Math Contests. The administration really tries very hard to support the students to become globally competitive. Not only will the students in the institution be able to share their culture to others but them also learning from other cultures that will develop them into more adaptible people in the society.
Technology
PSHS-SMC is modestly at pace with the recent trends in technology as compared to the other public secondary schools. Every year, a budget is allocated for the acquisition of computers and its associated peripherals. At present, the idea of converting the ordinary classrooms into e-classrooms are in the works. Not to mention, the technology building is currently being constructed. With this, it is a clear reflection of the management's thrust in their aim to advance further the delivery of quality science and technology education.The parents of the students are also supportive of these activities being done by the school. The management from the very start is vocal about their enthusiasm in putting up the best facilities a science high school could offer. Nonetheless, the management also reiterates the difficulty in the acquisition of enough budget for these. That's why both the administration and the parents of the students are strategically working out different plans and activities so as to materialize the different infrastructure projects. Because of this, the completion of projects in the school is a concerted effort of both the administration and the parents of the students.
Educational technology, especially computers and computer-related peripherals, have grown tremendously and have permeated all areas of our lives. It is incomprehensible that anyone today would argue that banks, hospitals, or any industry should use less technology. Most young people cannot understand arguments that schools should limit technology use.
Technology can actually assist with some of these expectations and make teachers—and their students—more successful. However, as the world becomes more complex—virtually year-to-year instead of the generation-to-generation pace of most of the last century—educational needs continue to shift from teaching and learning isolated skills and information within each content area, to teaching skills that enable students to solve complex problems across many areas. Educators must prepare for a technology-rich future and keep up with change by adopting effective strategies that infuse lessons with appropriate technologies. This makes a uthentic assessment needs even more important: Assessments must keep pace with effective instructional technology use. All this while educators at every level, but teachers especially, actively pursue professional development that enables a lifelong exploration of ways to enhance the teaching and learning of science and mathematics and support science and mathematics education reform.
E-business
E-business encompasses a vast array of activity, including the following:
• Distribution of information (content distribution) and communication—for example, Web searching, news, reference tools and digitized library material, e-mail, and chat groups
• Education and training—for example, technology enhanced learning (TEL), Web-based courses and
testing, video streaming, course delivery to distributed locations, multi-institutional and consortia-based education programs, and health care delivery
• Provision of staff and student services via the Web and a common portal, providing referrals and dynamic links to other ISPs—creating, in effect, a one-stop service
• Optimization of business processes through linked transactions, automation, and self-help—for example, online applications and payment of admissions fees, on-line purchasing, and loan programs
• On-line, collaborative research
• Electronic grant and development initiatives
• Customization of service delivery
• Electronic authentication/identification
• Selling and buying of goods and services
• Extension of market reach to new and global markets via distance education
• Promotion of brand awareness and loyalty
• Building of communities, especially learning communities
• Management of relationships and coordination of activities with business partners, as well as redefinition of business relationships
This and the many other transactions that this factor could beneficially bring is still so far from being real in our institution. It may be true that we teach robotics and other high technology subjects to the students (our institution even has some state of the art equipment). However, the delivery of ideas, transactions and other correspondence are still not done electronically. It is my hope that slowly, the academic documents in our institution will already be handled electronically so as to maximize the functionality of the computers and its associated peripherals in the school. May the management be receptive enough to the idea of pushing further the way things are done in the school. After all, delivering the quality education takes a lot of technological upgrading.
Innovation
Philippine Science High School - Southern Mindanao Campus in its continuous pursuit of excellence is not new to this factor that impacts the planning function in management. Every year, each member of the institution is made to identify an innovation in his work targets. The personnel are given the free-hand as to what aspect would he or she introduce an innovation. From teaching strategies to correspondence or even document submission, the personnel of this institution never fails to identify an aspect for his or her personal work innovation. It is seen by other campuses of the PSHS System as something worth emulating because the people inside the organization are always given an opportunity to grow and evolve and not just stay stagnant in his or her comfort zone. Initially, it was seen as a burden to most of the people inside the organization but as the years went on, they have become comfortable with it and it has been a very good source of many ideas and strategies that helped improved the delivery of quality education and service to its students.
The effective management of projects involving high levels of innovation, change or uncertainty requires open management and communication processes. The organization is likely to contain a high percentage of professionals or academics who are accustomed to operating independently. Rigid project management approaches tend to be ineffective with such groups. Effective project management processes in such projects are based around a culture of learning and iterative development, in which the project team operates largely autonomously. The project team is self governing and is held together by common goals and ownership of the project. Their project is linked into organizational processes through a project management process geared towards providing adequate resources, and a reporting process at the completion of each cycle. The accountability emphasizes what has been learned and what is planned.
Philippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus' (PSHS-SMC) strategy focuses on diversity in the workplace. PSHS-SMC's faculty and staff aside from their main work functions are assigned committee's that oversee and take responsibility of several school activities the insitution holds. From program committee to restoration committee, the personnel are assigned to these different groups. Moreover, it is also devised in PSHS-SMC the assigning of assistant advisers and a third person to help out the homeroom adviser in monitoring students in every section during school activites and quarterly/yearly document submission. The rationale behind this endeavor is to provide a different venue of skills development its employees may have but does not have an opportunity to show it in his/her current work function. Moreover, this also a strategy of the management to seek for potentials in its workforce in future endeavors such as outreach and technology transfer seminars in which the school is very much active on doing. Management is constantly monitoring the engagement of faculty, staff and students.
Ethics
Organizations that give utmost attention in school ethics training and academic social responsibility promote workplace ethics among its faculty and staff by creating a school ethics policy. In Philippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus, an employee's behavior is governed by the pledge of a public servant. During flag ceremonies, the members of the faculty and staff recite the Panunumpa ng Lingkod Bayan or the Panunumpa sa Watawat. This action reminds us that we should always put by mind and heart the things that must be present in us as teachers and as public servants. In addition to the faculty manual where responsibilities as a teacher are enumerated, those set of pledges reinforce the things that government employees and educators must always keep in mind.
The following set of manuscripts serve as a guide for future planning activities that the school engages into. Most recent activity that the school has engaged into in line with work ethics development is the Gender Sensitivity and Awareness seminar that the school has organized on October, 2008. After the said activity, the guidelines and policies of the faculty and staff were revisited so as to check whether it has been in line with the seminar that has been initiated. Moreover, future classroom activities for homeroom classes were also planned out so as to trickle down the knowledge that was gathered from the said activity.
As regards UNESCO’s mandate in education, key ethical issues include combating fake qualifications and diplomas, violence in schools, illegal fees, misuse of funds and theft of school equipment, discriminatory attitudes, sexual harassment, unjustified absenteeism and the collection of illegal fees.
Such unethical practices are all the more damaging because one of the core roles of educational institutions is to reflect and foster values, responsible citizenship. Moreover, in the context of a globalised world, the emergence of knowledge societies encourages more and more young people to turn to educational institutions to provide them with the means to join the knowledge economy. The resulting surge in demand is one which educational systems and institutions all over the world are trying to meet. It is also a demand which unethical businesses all over the world are increasingly trying to exploit.
All in all, ethics does really affect the management function of planning. Depending on the ethical state the leaders of a particular institution has, it will serve as a gauge as to how will the overall ethics of an academic institution would be.
By gaining a thorough understanding of both internal and external factors, an educational institution will be in an excellent position to respond to the environment. In assessing where my institution is right now? It is in the thick of making things happen.
Rapid Change
Institutions of education operate in a rapidly changing environment characterized by rapid knowledge growth, rapid dissemination of information technology, and rapidly changing student needs and demands. Trends towards globalization and internationalization have fueled the pace of change.
The Philippine Science High School -Southern Mindanao Campus (PSHS-SMC) is aware of this situation. In fact, strategic plans are periodically analyzed by the administration so as to evaluate the applicability of policies and directives they enforce. For curriculum, the educational departments frequently updates their lesson plans so as to keep abreast with the rapidly changing bodies of knowledge the world presents. Moreover, researches both by the students and the faculty are kept up to date as well. In terms of infrastructure, the management sees to it that equipment used are still in the forefront of the present trends. Despite of the rapid changes and the decent pacing of the institution with it, it is usually caught in dilemma when the budgetary aspect is being considered. Hampered development and keeping pace is considered primary consequences of which. However, ingenuity and frugality in resources is always being witheld by the people inside. That's why despite of financial difficulties, the challenges are still being handled well.
Change can threaten and challenge traditional norms and culture. Culture is something an organization has or is. Organizational culture as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that a group learned as it worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to theseproblems ... is the glue that holds an organization together and unites people around shared values and beliefs … is the interwoven pattern of beliefs, values, practices, and artifacts that defines for members who they are and how they are to do things. Organizational theorists point to technology as a continual threat to the established norms and culture because innovation demands modified policies, changing roles for faculty, new pedagogy, increased workload/productivity measures, new governance structures, and change in promotion and tenure criteria. The current change process models are linear and bureaucratic and do not allow for culture and/or the human element of change. At the heart of change is emotion, which is the driving force that sustains change.
Globalization
Globalization is a combination of much freer trade in goods and services combined with free capital movements. The phenomenon dates far back in history with the development of international trade. However, for the past few years, we have observed a high acceleration in this trend due to a political and ideological environment eminently
favorable to its development and rapid advances in technological innovation, especially in the area of telecommunications. Educational planners – wherever they come from – must think seriously about the consequences of such a phenomenon, particularly in terms of shifts in the job market, in order to better adapt their country’s training system.
Competitiveness is one major thrust the Philippines Science High School -Southern Mindanao Campus (PSHS-SMC) always maintains. Ever since it was put up in 1988, it has already been able to send students to various competitions outside of the country. From leadership competitions to academic contests, the students have a share of this opportunity. PSHS-SMC as an institution makes sure that every year, some students would get to compete outside of the country. Just this school year three students were able to present their reasearch paper in Japan. Not to mention the previous years where several students were able to go to China to compete for Math Contests. The administration really tries very hard to support the students to become globally competitive. Not only will the students in the institution be able to share their culture to others but them also learning from other cultures that will develop them into more adaptible people in the society.
Technology
PSHS-SMC is modestly at pace with the recent trends in technology as compared to the other public secondary schools. Every year, a budget is allocated for the acquisition of computers and its associated peripherals. At present, the idea of converting the ordinary classrooms into e-classrooms are in the works. Not to mention, the technology building is currently being constructed. With this, it is a clear reflection of the management's thrust in their aim to advance further the delivery of quality science and technology education.The parents of the students are also supportive of these activities being done by the school. The management from the very start is vocal about their enthusiasm in putting up the best facilities a science high school could offer. Nonetheless, the management also reiterates the difficulty in the acquisition of enough budget for these. That's why both the administration and the parents of the students are strategically working out different plans and activities so as to materialize the different infrastructure projects. Because of this, the completion of projects in the school is a concerted effort of both the administration and the parents of the students.
Educational technology, especially computers and computer-related peripherals, have grown tremendously and have permeated all areas of our lives. It is incomprehensible that anyone today would argue that banks, hospitals, or any industry should use less technology. Most young people cannot understand arguments that schools should limit technology use.
Technology can actually assist with some of these expectations and make teachers—and their students—more successful. However, as the world becomes more complex—virtually year-to-year instead of the generation-to-generation pace of most of the last century—educational needs continue to shift from teaching and learning isolated skills and information within each content area, to teaching skills that enable students to solve complex problems across many areas. Educators must prepare for a technology-rich future and keep up with change by adopting effective strategies that infuse lessons with appropriate technologies. This makes a uthentic assessment needs even more important: Assessments must keep pace with effective instructional technology use. All this while educators at every level, but teachers especially, actively pursue professional development that enables a lifelong exploration of ways to enhance the teaching and learning of science and mathematics and support science and mathematics education reform.
E-business
E-business encompasses a vast array of activity, including the following:
• Distribution of information (content distribution) and communication—for example, Web searching, news, reference tools and digitized library material, e-mail, and chat groups
• Education and training—for example, technology enhanced learning (TEL), Web-based courses and
testing, video streaming, course delivery to distributed locations, multi-institutional and consortia-based education programs, and health care delivery
• Provision of staff and student services via the Web and a common portal, providing referrals and dynamic links to other ISPs—creating, in effect, a one-stop service
• Optimization of business processes through linked transactions, automation, and self-help—for example, online applications and payment of admissions fees, on-line purchasing, and loan programs
• On-line, collaborative research
• Electronic grant and development initiatives
• Customization of service delivery
• Electronic authentication/identification
• Selling and buying of goods and services
• Extension of market reach to new and global markets via distance education
• Promotion of brand awareness and loyalty
• Building of communities, especially learning communities
• Management of relationships and coordination of activities with business partners, as well as redefinition of business relationships
This and the many other transactions that this factor could beneficially bring is still so far from being real in our institution. It may be true that we teach robotics and other high technology subjects to the students (our institution even has some state of the art equipment). However, the delivery of ideas, transactions and other correspondence are still not done electronically. It is my hope that slowly, the academic documents in our institution will already be handled electronically so as to maximize the functionality of the computers and its associated peripherals in the school. May the management be receptive enough to the idea of pushing further the way things are done in the school. After all, delivering the quality education takes a lot of technological upgrading.
Innovation
Philippine Science High School - Southern Mindanao Campus in its continuous pursuit of excellence is not new to this factor that impacts the planning function in management. Every year, each member of the institution is made to identify an innovation in his work targets. The personnel are given the free-hand as to what aspect would he or she introduce an innovation. From teaching strategies to correspondence or even document submission, the personnel of this institution never fails to identify an aspect for his or her personal work innovation. It is seen by other campuses of the PSHS System as something worth emulating because the people inside the organization are always given an opportunity to grow and evolve and not just stay stagnant in his or her comfort zone. Initially, it was seen as a burden to most of the people inside the organization but as the years went on, they have become comfortable with it and it has been a very good source of many ideas and strategies that helped improved the delivery of quality education and service to its students.
The effective management of projects involving high levels of innovation, change or uncertainty requires open management and communication processes. The organization is likely to contain a high percentage of professionals or academics who are accustomed to operating independently. Rigid project management approaches tend to be ineffective with such groups. Effective project management processes in such projects are based around a culture of learning and iterative development, in which the project team operates largely autonomously. The project team is self governing and is held together by common goals and ownership of the project. Their project is linked into organizational processes through a project management process geared towards providing adequate resources, and a reporting process at the completion of each cycle. The accountability emphasizes what has been learned and what is planned.
Organizations which develop a culture of openness, risk taking and learning are better able to be innovative and adaptive towards change than those that do not. It is the responsibility of the senior management to create an environment for innovation to happen. The organizational processes put in place link the support and commitment of the senior management to the accountability mechanisms. Processes such as promotional systems and reward mechanisms point to what is valued within an organization. Communication and feedback are the life blood of an innovation. The lessons learned through the implementation of a project should be aggregated and disseminated to inform the next iteration of the project and the strategic direction of the organization.
DiversityPhilippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus' (PSHS-SMC) strategy focuses on diversity in the workplace. PSHS-SMC's faculty and staff aside from their main work functions are assigned committee's that oversee and take responsibility of several school activities the insitution holds. From program committee to restoration committee, the personnel are assigned to these different groups. Moreover, it is also devised in PSHS-SMC the assigning of assistant advisers and a third person to help out the homeroom adviser in monitoring students in every section during school activites and quarterly/yearly document submission. The rationale behind this endeavor is to provide a different venue of skills development its employees may have but does not have an opportunity to show it in his/her current work function. Moreover, this also a strategy of the management to seek for potentials in its workforce in future endeavors such as outreach and technology transfer seminars in which the school is very much active on doing. Management is constantly monitoring the engagement of faculty, staff and students.
Ethics
Organizations that give utmost attention in school ethics training and academic social responsibility promote workplace ethics among its faculty and staff by creating a school ethics policy. In Philippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus, an employee's behavior is governed by the pledge of a public servant. During flag ceremonies, the members of the faculty and staff recite the Panunumpa ng Lingkod Bayan or the Panunumpa sa Watawat. This action reminds us that we should always put by mind and heart the things that must be present in us as teachers and as public servants. In addition to the faculty manual where responsibilities as a teacher are enumerated, those set of pledges reinforce the things that government employees and educators must always keep in mind.
The following set of manuscripts serve as a guide for future planning activities that the school engages into. Most recent activity that the school has engaged into in line with work ethics development is the Gender Sensitivity and Awareness seminar that the school has organized on October, 2008. After the said activity, the guidelines and policies of the faculty and staff were revisited so as to check whether it has been in line with the seminar that has been initiated. Moreover, future classroom activities for homeroom classes were also planned out so as to trickle down the knowledge that was gathered from the said activity.
As regards UNESCO’s mandate in education, key ethical issues include combating fake qualifications and diplomas, violence in schools, illegal fees, misuse of funds and theft of school equipment, discriminatory attitudes, sexual harassment, unjustified absenteeism and the collection of illegal fees.
Such unethical practices are all the more damaging because one of the core roles of educational institutions is to reflect and foster values, responsible citizenship. Moreover, in the context of a globalised world, the emergence of knowledge societies encourages more and more young people to turn to educational institutions to provide them with the means to join the knowledge economy. The resulting surge in demand is one which educational systems and institutions all over the world are trying to meet. It is also a demand which unethical businesses all over the world are increasingly trying to exploit.
All in all, ethics does really affect the management function of planning. Depending on the ethical state the leaders of a particular institution has, it will serve as a gauge as to how will the overall ethics of an academic institution would be.
By gaining a thorough understanding of both internal and external factors, an educational institution will be in an excellent position to respond to the environment. In assessing where my institution is right now? It is in the thick of making things happen.
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