a.

What is the difference between strategic planning and development

planning?

Differences
Strategic planning Development planning

 relates to the implementation  At school usually relates to a

of the vision that is implicit in shorter timescale of about a
strategic management. year.
 generally, covers an extended  the process that is involved in
timescale of three to five development planning has a
years. degree of applicability to any
 In colleges where the planning cycle in any
emphasis is very much on educational institution.
strategic planning, the overall
plan is likely to be known as
the corporate or strategic plan
and from that would be
developed shorter-term plans
referred to as business plans
or action plans.

b. Who is involved in strategic planning?

Leaders other than principals will exercise strategic leadership in a self-

managing school, especially leaders of programmers teams. The scale of
action may have a focus on individual programmers but school-wide
considerations are paramount.
It is the task of the Director and the three Assistant Directors to consider the
individual plans of each middle manager in order to synthesize their key
points. In this way the directorate devised a yearly annual programmer and
a rolling three-year development plan for the college. The Director and
governors gave an indication of the overall pace of change in the light of
available resources and whole college organizational capabilities.

c. Which are the processes for development planning, according to

Hargreaves and Hopkins?
Development planning is more than a development plan, the document: it is
the process of creating the plan and then ensuring that it is put into effect.
The plan is a statement of intentions which reflect the school's vision for the
future. The process involves reaching agreement on a sensible set of
priorities for the school and then taking action to realize the plan.
M

Identify the equivalent four main processes, specifically for development planning in
schools, but which apply to every planning process:

 Audit: a school reviews its strengths and weaknesses.

 Construction: priorities for development are selected and then turned into
specific targets.
 Implementation: the planned priorities and targets are implemented.
 Evaluation: the success of implementation is checked.

An audit will reveal both strengths and weaknesses of the institution at the time. It
will thus enable decisions to be made concerning priorities for action and will require
examination of the match between the resources that are available and intended
provision.
The construction and implementation of the plan will be set within the context of the
aims and values of the school, but are likely to be based on a system of consultation
informed by the audit process. The consultation will lead to the establishment of
priorities.

Action plans.
recommend that, for each year of the development plan, each of the priorities of the
plan should be turned into a set of detailed action plans, where an action plan is 'a
working document which describes and summarizes what needs to be done to
implement and evaluate a priority. It serves as a guide to implementation and helps
to monitor progress and success.'

Evaluation: it refers to evaluation by teachers using their professional judgement

and backing this up by the collection of complementary evidence. By
complementary evidence, they mean a range of sources providing both quantitative
and qualitative data which might include the following:

• Observation, both of pupils and around the school.

• Obtaining the views and opinions of those concerned in the changes brought about
by the planning process. They particularly mention the importance of obtaining the
views of students.
• Written materials, such as teachers' records and pupils' work.
• Statistical information, such as trends in attendance rates.
• More formal research, perhaps undertaken by teachers undertaking postgraduate
training, such as an MBA in educational management.