School development in a challenging environment: A case study

School environment is constantly under reforms. Reforms may be the result of government initiated education policies such as the School Management Initiative (SMI) or changes in school attribute. Because of the reforms, schools need to develop within themselves so that they can face changes effectively. The question is how schools should develop themselves for such changes and how to ensure that the development is effective. To cope with changes, both schools and teachers need to adopt new strategies to achieve professional competence. The objective of this paper is to investigate school development needs in this period of fast changes. Data were collected from 10 primary schools by asking teachers and principals to answer three open ended questions. The first question aims to study how teachers and principals are clear of their school mission. The second question studied their view on their school missions and the last question tapped the perception of their schools' development needs. Development needs of each of the 10 schools were analyzed. Theme of schools needs and school misions are matched so as to explore possibilities of related school development. The analysis started with categorizing schools according to the level of consistence and clarity of school missions among staff. The study showed that a higher degree of consistence in school mission and clarity in school mission shape a more focus school development needs among teachers. More findings and results will be discussed in the main paper. Strategies are also proposed for schools to engage in effective school development. It is hope that the present study will provide insights for school administrator when they are devising their own school development plans.