The phenomenology of institutionalizing change

Driven by the leadership roles of a Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) and the mandate of educational laws, the needed educational reforms and change initiatives reached a new comprehensive framework in this study. This qualitative research employing the Most Significant Change Technique (MSCT) as a phenomenological approach chronicled the need to unravel the phenomenology of the changes that occur in the schools of the Division of Misamis Occidental and to draw implications for institutionalizing change. In this study, four change initiatives were taken into account: GO: LCL, SUBA, DART and I am HIPHOP. Anchoring on the Theory of Change, it introduced a research framework which highlighted how leadership can be a factor in initiating projects that will bring about change in the educational setting. To examine the phenomena of change in schools through the MSC stories that present the impact of change initiatives, key informant interviews were employed to describe the lived experiences of participants in the change process Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to describe the perceptions and beliefs of teachers, school heads and supervisors. Significant Change (SC) stories were collected using the MSC Protocol, analyzed and filtered through focus group discussions among education officials, teachers and students. Using in-depth analysis of the interview transcripts, six potent themes were identified: leadership, management, recognition, community involvement, ownership and commitment. These themes were found to be integral factors for successful implementation and institutionalization of the initiatives being studied. Considering these major themes that surfaced and their implications on the implementation of change initiatives, a framework on institutionalizing change emerged. It is posited that a change initiative can be institutionalized when the processes of Embedment and Embodiment are both present