ETL504 - Decision Making and Problem Solving

            I am interested in how decision making and problem solving occurs in a school, and especially the role of a TL in such a process. In our school at present much of the decision making happens at the top, with teachers being told that this or that will happen without any say in the matter. What happens in this process then is a lack of ownership of the decisions by the majority of staff and the lack of implementation of any solutions by them.

            What I wonder is if this would change if decision making and problem solving was lead from the middle. What if concerns were raised by teachers, taken to a middle manager, the TL maybe, and then passed on to the executive? The reading by Harvey (2001) and the subject notes indicates that the more consultation the better the outcome. They also suggest though that in different circumstances different approaches are needed.

            The main point that stuck out to me was that implementing a decision is often more difficult than deciding what to do. And that takes me back to my first point. Everyone needs to be involved in the decision making process in order for the solutions to be viable.