Implementing knowledge management in school environment : a principal's leadership-driven approach

Abstract

Educators all over the world are facing the challenges brought by education reform. Schools need to become more aware how Knowledge Management (KM) can help them be more effective in leveraging organizational knowledge to improve organizational effectiveness to face the increasing requirements for school improvement. Although KM has been regarded as the advanced management strategy in the business world for leveraging their intellectual assets, few studies have been conducted in the school setting. The present study will shed light on how to implement KM in a school setting through the leadership provided by the principal. This study can be a model for those educators who would like to implement KM in their schools.

Although KM researchers have identified that leadership is a critical factor in KM implementation, few studies have explored the actual impact of leadership in the process of KM implementation. Moreover, the literature review shows that leadership by the principal is the essential element for school success in KM. This study shows that a principal’s leadership-driven approach is necessary for KM implementation and explores its impact on the process of KM implementation for school improvement.

The study uses insider action research to explore how the principal’s leadership can be incorporated into KM in a school environment and evaluate the effectiveness of this Leadership-Driven KM Implementation in a school setting, so that this study can offer practical advice and guidance to the principals who would like to try KM in their practice.

In this study, KM was implemented in a school by starting with two basic approaches: Information-Based and People-/Interaction Based Approaches. The Principal’s Knowledge Leadership was integrated with the two approaches to strengthen the implementation of the KM strategies. The principal acted as the knowledge leader with the roles of knowledge vision builder, knowledge enabler builder and knowledge role model. Under the strong leadership of the principal, both the Information-Based and People-/Interaction Based Approaches have been implemented with achievements in sharing information/knowledge and nurturing a sharing culture and trust. The principal assessed teacher’ readiness, implemented Information-Based and People-/Interaction-Based approaches and strengthened knowledge leadership through the process. This study can serve as a model for implementing KM in schools.

This study shows that the principal’s leadership was the key driver for KM Implementation. The principal performed his leadership with clear direction and thoughtful procedures of implementing Information-Based and People-/Interaction-Based Approaches, thoughtful allocation of the school resources, and shaping learning for staff. As a result, the school developed a Knowledge Base and a Digital Archive as knowledge repositories and Lesson Study and Communities of Practice as platforms for knowledge sharing. The School’s achievements in KM implementation were recognized through improvement in students’ testing achievements, appreciation by KM practitioners, and recognition and awards from government examiners and experts. This study recommends that Leadership-Driven Knowledge Management is of value in the implementation of KM in schools to help schools become learning organizations so they can better face the challenges brought by waves of education reform and societal change.