The imposition of government education policy initiatives and school enactment: uncovering the responses of school principals

Employees’ Change Support in the Public Sector—A Multi‐Time Field Study Examining the Formation of Intentions and Behaviors

“…The public sector is often considered rather inconducive to change (e.g., Cinite et al 2009; Isett et al 2013), and reforms often fail to fulfill their intended objectives (e.g., Arar et al 2019; Christensen et al 2007; Röbken et al 2019; Zayim‐Kurtay and Zhu 2019). As public sector reforms are often initiated in a top‐down manner (Kuipers et al 2014), it is argued that the actual implementation of public sector reforms largely depends on the support of change recipients (Ahmad et al 2019a, Isett et al 2013).…”

“…In early 2016, inspired by various educational reforms in different countries (Arar et al 2019), the Ministry of Education of the KRG initiated a top‐down reform to change the language of instruction for Math and Science subjects to English in primary schools, from grade 1 (age 6). The reform aims to increase proficiency in English starting from an early age and to allow for a more egalitarian education.…”

“…Literature reviews show that public management reforms are often initiated in a top‐down manner (e.g., Kuipers et al 2014), largely overlooking the view of those responsible for the implementation process (Ahmad et al 2019a). While such top‐down reforms are steadily used as an instrument to initiate change in the public sector, the initiation of reforms does not necessarily mean the achievement of the aspired goals, since scholars conclude that reforms often fail to fulfill their intended objective (e.g., Arar, Kondakci, and Taysum 2019; Christensen et al 2007; Röbken, Schütz, and Lehmkuhl 2019; Zayim‐Kurtay and Zhu 2019).…”

Teachers’ understandings of the social and professional support needed to implement change in Qatar

“…Policymakers mistakenly believe that educational change occurs by simply initiating or reconstructing school structures and that adopted educational reforms are quite complicated, requiring significant changes ( Cuban, 2013 ; Portnoi, 2016 ). The result is government-imposed top-down approaches that do not consider teachers' wellbeing during reform implementation ( Arar et al., 2019 ; Portnoi, 2016 ). The realization of educational reform is determined by principals’ and teachers' acceptance, involvement, and degree of ownership of the reform ( Arar et al., 2019 ).…”

“…The result is government-imposed top-down approaches that do not consider teachers' wellbeing during reform implementation ( Arar et al., 2019 ; Portnoi, 2016 ). The realization of educational reform is determined by principals’ and teachers' acceptance, involvement, and degree of ownership of the reform ( Arar et al., 2019 ). More importantly, top-down reform approaches prove ineffective because they fail to recognize the need for buy-in from educators ( Portnoi, 2016 ).…”