Developing the education system in the Sultanate of Oman through implementing total quality management:the Ministry of Education Central headquarters- a case study

L Education (General);LB Theory and practice of education

Al Nabhani, Maryam bint Belarab bin Mohammed ; Forde, Christine

University:University of Glasgow

Department:School of Education

关键词: Educational administration- Total Quality Mnagament- Change Management;   

Others  :  http://theses.gla.ac.uk/41/1/2007AlNabhaniPhD.pdf

来源: University of Glasgow

【 摘 要 】

AbstractThis study seeks to identify the issues that need addressing in the Ministry of Education inOman as it seeks to expand and improve its education system. The aims of this are (1) tohighlight the issues that need addressing in the Ministry of Education, (2) to present abackground survey on different approaches of managing change (3) to survey the literatureabout TQM in order to discover the underlying philosophy of TQM, its gurus, itsdevelopment and its tools and techniques, (4) to review the experience of TQM ineducation, its success in this field and to also identify limitations of TQM, (5) to examinethe feasibility of applying TQM in the MOE and (6) to design a model for implementingTQM in MOE .Firstly, an overview of the context of the study is presented. The major internal andexternal challenges that face the Ministry of Education and call for change are highlighted.This is followed by a description of the Sultanate of Oman, its location, climate, economy,employment, population and how all these affect education and calls for change. After that,education in Oman, its development and structures are examined. To ascertain anunderstanding of the key issues in relation to the working of the MOE a preliminary studywas carried with four focus groups of MOE’s central headquarter directors, regionaldirectors, head teachers and teachers. The sample consists of 40 persons, 10 from eachgroup. From this study the following issues were identified; centralization, weakcommunication, insufficient management support, weak teamwork motivation and faultyplanning.Secondly, seven different approaches for managing change are discussed; the problemsolvingapproach, the learning organization, the three-step model, the action researchmodel, the reengineering, Fullan’s theories of managing change, and Total QualityManagement. It is argued that six of these approaches were highlighted as effectiveapproaches in dealing with change but do not fully match the development needs of theMinistry of Education in Oman. However, TQM seems to provide a possible approach fordeveloping the Ministry of Education Central Headquarters in Oman to be able to deal withthe internal and external challenges, to solve the existing issues highlighted by the pilotstudy and fulfil the aspiration of the country and its demands. Drawing on the data fromboth the pilot study and the literature on TQM, a draft of TQM Model for the MOE wasgenerated. The proposed TQM Tree Model consists of seven TQM principles that suit theMOE; commitment toward TQM, focus on stakeholders, involvement and empowerment,Maryam ALNabhani, 2007 iiicontinuous improvement, training and education, tools and techniques, and rewards. Theviews of different groups -top management, internal stakeholders and externalstakeholders- on the proposed model of TQM and views on issues related toimplementation -were also- gathered.The third part of the thesis reports on the methodology; the data collection and analysis;and the conclusions and recommendations. This stage of the research used a combinationof quantitative and qualitative methods. It used a closed item questionnaire to gain a broadfeel for the acceptability of the TQM ideas and to establish a broad baseline. In addition,open-ended questions in the questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used for thesame purpose and to provide additional information regarding the TQM implementation;the possible obstacles and facilitating factors. The analysis showed that TQM Tree Modelwas seen to be a possible approach by top management and stakeholders to develop theMinistry of Education in Oman. The final stage of the study was to gather the views ofthose in executive positions in the MOE regarding the proposed model of TQM and toidentify issues to be considered in an implementation framework. Thus semi-structuredinterviews were conducted with six of the key personnel in the MOE. Some issues arisingfrom the analysis of all the data collected including final set of the interviews with theexecutives led to the modification of the proposed TQM Tree Model. Three supportivefactors were added as roots for the model; teamwork, budget and communication. In thelight of the results from this study, the TQM principles and implementation in education,an implementation framework for the TQM Tree Model in the MOE in Oman is proposed.This implementation framework consists of five stages: the decision, the preparation, theimplementation, the evaluation and rewards, and the continuous improvement. Finally thethesis concludes with some recommendations for education development in the light ofTQM, some recommendations for the MOE regarding the TQM and somerecommendations for further studies.