ABSTRACT
The study aimed to identify the barriers affecting continuous improvement projects of the public secondary schools in Ubay 3 District, Division of Bohol. Participants involved twenty (20) CI Team members of the secondary schools which include team leaders, process owners, teacher facilitators, scribes, communicators, and documenters. For the study, a descriptive survey questionnaire was the preferred instrument in data collection. The findings showed that the public secondary schools encountered several challenges in implementing continuous improvement projects. The results revealed that lack of management commitment, poor prioritization, and lack of professional training were the critical barriers experienced by the schools. The results have demonstrated that these factors have the greatest impact on the sustainability of continuous improvements. The CI program should have a regular program during in-service training of teachers to remove inefficiencies, improve the productivity of team members and equip them with updated strategies for successful continuous improvement program implementation. Moreover, sufficient resources, funding, effective time management, and prioritization skills should be provided to achieve the desired results on time.
I. Introduction
Many studies show continuous improvement is one of the main areas defined for enhancement programs to improve skills directly related to the priority objectives of the organization. Continuous development at a basic level is about enhancing organizational efficiency. This seems easy. Yet many organizations lack a structured mechanism for change, and their ongoing goals for organizational improvement are unlikely to succeed as a result.
These days, continuous improvement is part of the lean six sigma lexicon. In lean it is known as “kaizen” and in six sigma, the continuous improvement imbedded and implied in the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improvement, Control (DMAIC) model. Consequently, any initiative in lean or six sigma will eventually lead to organizing around a continuous improvement infrastructure. This continuous improvement infrastructure is instrumental in the development and sustainability of corporate improvement.
There has been a great deal of change in the improvement of systems from process routines, designs and efficiency over the last decades. In coping with changes, the introduction of many enhancement tools such as lean and Six Sigma methodologies has formed the center of many giant concerns. Emphasis is put on management strategies for the engagement and participation of stakeholders in achieving organizational goals. Help employees understand the quality of "whys" and "hows" and what it means to the organization.
The findings of the study will be helpful for the department of education and policymakers to know the challenges facing the implementation of continuous improvement programs in secondary schools. In this way, they will be able to devise proper possible solutions to these challenges while making education policies. Furthermore, the study will be beneficial to the quality assurance department and other authorities in planning management and policymaking. Moreover, the principals and teachers of secondary schools will be informed about the challenges faced by their institutions and they will be able to find out appropriate and possible solutions to these challenges ensuring effective continuous improvement program implementation.
II. Literature Review
Continuous Improvement (CI) is a technique that continually evaluates, analyzes, and acts on the change of key forms, focusing on both the client needs and the required implementation that enlivens DepEd’s commitment to building a culture of continuous learning and advancement. It is in this line that CI’s setting is coordinated into the learning environment to way better react to the changing times and to mobilize the vision of forming a culture that will have a coordinated and significant effect on the learners (Coca, 2015).
While nearly all of the education leaders interviewed in continuous improvement program responded positively when asked whether they believe that continuous improvement can potentially help improve educational equity, most of the interviewees qualified their responses with the conditions that are required, or the challenges that must be overcome, for this potential to be realized. During the consultations, leaders identified what they perceived as the greatest barriers and challenges to using continuous improvement to advance educational equity. Four primary themes emerged: continuous improvement can be oversimplified and can lack attention to equity; equity work is emotional and complex, and requires time, trust, and personal investment; the conditions for continuous improvement to advance educational equity are not in place; and professional learning and capacity-building opportunities to support continuous improvement to advance equity remain inaccessible and insufficient (Valdez, A., Takahashi, S., Krausen, K., Bowman, A., & Gurrola, E.,2020).
Echoing the literature review, education leaders acknowledged that continuous improvement requires a culture change, while also noting the importance of capacity building in the least levels of the system to contribute to continuous improvement at scale. They saw information practice as fundamental to continuous improvement. However, the education leaders during the interview identified several barriers to the implementation of continuous improvement. These barriers include (1) a lack of clarity about what continuous improvement looks like in practice and how to get there, (2) insufficient strategies and support to grow internal capacity for continuous improvement, (3) difficulty prioritizing continuous improvement during a resource-constrained environment, and (4) variation within the availability and use of knowledge to support continuous improvement (Hough, H., et al.,2017).
According to Yarahmadi & Magd, (2016) the major barriers or obstacles to a successful implementation of quality management are 1.) Lack of management commitment, 2.) Poor Vision and Plan Statement, 3.) The Government Influence, 4.) A lack of highly qualified professionals, 5.) Lack of knowledge about the self-assessment mechanisms, 6.) The resistance of institutional assessment/change, 7.) Poor coordination between employees and departments, 8.) Lack of interest in training, 9.) The anticipation of quick results, 10.) Leadership and departmental uncertainty 11.) Rigid organizational frameworks, 12.) Lack of clarity about role and responsibilities, and 13.) Lack of employees’ commitment.
The study of Lodgaard, Eirin & Ingvaldsen, Jonas & Aschehoug, Silje & Gamme, Inger. (2016) also shows that employees at different ranks observed barriers to CI differently. The authors find that top managers attribute the limited success to shortcomings of information systems and improved methods and that workers, primarily point to limited support and commitment from management, in addition to other organizational factors such as lack of involvement, motivation, and teamwork. Middle managers recognize both groups of barriers but tend to agree more with the workers.
It is important for organizational leaders to transit from the traditional pattern of administration in which leaders assume the position of sole administrators to a teamwork-oriented approach. Teamwork is the collective effort and action of a group or team with the motive of accomplishing a common goal or task. Ejionueme and Oyoyo (2015) sustained that the perception of teams and coordination is of utmost importance for attaining quality education and continuous improvement in schools. Quality education cannot be actualized without building a good team and rigorous teamwork. Teamwork is required in the areas of planning school activities and operations, preparing school budgets, students’ personnel management, making decisions, monitoring, and successful curriculum implementation among others. Also, Chantathai, Tesaputa, and Somprach (2015) emphasized that supervision of curriculum and instruction greatly depends on the collaboration of the teachers and administrators who manage each school. Poor teamwork spirit among school leader, teachers and students often amount to delay in the successful implementation of educational policies in the school. A school leader is expected to encourage teamwork by providing moral support and incentive packages for team achievement.
Chantathai, Tesaputa, and Somprach further stressed that group members can carry effective result creating to school because they hold a sense of ownership to their organization. School administrators must work with teachers as a team and equally involve teachers in decision making in the areas of personnel management (staff and students), school financial management, and maintenance of school infrastructural facilities.
Similarly, Onyali and Akinfolarin (2017) highlighted the benefits of staff training to include; updating teachers on changes in the field of education, improving their classroom management and teaching skills, improving their positive outlook to work as well as encouraging them for better performance for school improvement. Bateman, Philp, and Warrender (2016) thus recommend that team leaders need exceptional mentoring and coaching for developing the leadership skills that are necessary for empowering CI. Bititci, Cocca, and Ates (2016) note that successful long-term implementation requires an accompanying change in organizational culture.
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