RESTRUCTURING SCHOOLS AND RECONSTRUCTING TEACHERS: CHANGE MANAGEMENT AMONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HEADS IN THE DIVISION OF TAYABAS CITY

The study focused on the change management practices of principals and its impact on teacher and school effectiveness. It aimed to examine the teachers’ and principals’ perceptions on change management in schools, the issues and challenges relative to change management, the significant difference between the perceptions of teachers and school heads on change management and the issues and challenges relative to it. The study was conducted in the City Schools Division of Tayabas utilizing mixed methods of research in gathering and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data collected through the validated research instruments. Public elementary school principals were purposively chosen while teachers were selected using stratified sampling. Frequency, weighted mean, and t-test for independent samples were used to analyze quantitative data. Results revealed that age, gender, school location, school type, school size, and number of years in teaching profession were change management determining factors. Moreover, principals and elementary school teachers had different perceptions regarding situations requiring change and indicators of the need for change. Conversely, they shared the same perceptions as to the strategies used for change and organization of learning. They also had different perceptions as to issues and challenges of change management. Principals viewed change management as shared governance creating transformational change in the organizational culture. They found that change management was effective in improving the school and the teachers. Thus, a re-orientation on the concept of change management was proposed with the creation of sustainable action plan.