Key principles and roles of stakeholders of educational change

Knowledge about educational change teaches us that educational reform is a complex and multidimensional enterprise with an uncertain outcome. Besides the existence of a clear education development strategy, one of the most important factors of success of reform initiatives is responsible change management. This paper provides an overview of Fullan’s theoretical assumptions and research data on the key principles of effective change management and the roles of stakeholders in the process of change development, planning and implementation. Reform processes in Serbia in the field of education, which took place during the previous decade, are observed through the prism of Fullan’s assumptions and findings on the responsible management of educational change. It is presumed that the lack of success of educational reforms in our country stemmed from the lack of knowledge about educational change and inadequate management of reform processes, which had a negative effect on the efficiency of reform implementation and motivation of key stakeholders in those changes. For successful creation of future educational policies and change implementation in our country, it is vital to count in the “voice” of practice, to join forces and potentials of employees in the relevant institutions and schools, in order to decrease risks and increase the possibilities for accepting change in practice. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179034: Od podsticanja inicijative, saradnje, stvaralaštva u obrazovanju do novih uloga i identiteta u društvu i br. 47008: Unapređivanje kvaliteta i dostupnosti obrazovanja u procesima modernizacije Srbije