PrOD's Full Paper@Malaysian-Oman Seminar

Best Practices of Organizational Development Program (PrOD)
in SMK Seri Bentong

Presenter
Abdul Rahim bin Mohd Yunus
Principal of SMK Bukit Rangin, Kuantan, Pahang.

Abstract
PrOD, the Malaysian version of school organizational development program was launched in 2008. The program is based on a model created by a team of Senior Consultants of Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB), Ministry of Education. The pilot program involves 40 secondary schools from all over Malaysia, using andragogical approach with the blend of workshops, syndicate discussions, benchmarking trips, and on-site consultations. The implementation of the ambitious program is supposed to be in three phases until 2010. This descriptive paper focuses on the experience of Seri Bentong Secondary School in Pahang (Seri Bentong) in implementing the program. PrOD seek out to bring about the necessary changes in the organization starting with strong moral imperative to shape personal effectiveness at all levels of leaders in schools: top leaders, middle leaders, emerging or new leaders and students’ leaders. The chemistry of a unique program (PrOD) put into action in a unique school setting of a Special Model School which consist of primary and secondary students (between 10 and 17 years old) proved to present a unique experience. This paper also discusses critical factors underlying the early positive impact of PrOD in Seri Bentong.

Introduction
Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB) launched a new initiative in the country’s education to enhance the performance of schools in line with the Education Development Master Plan. The initiative by IAB is aimed at improving the performance of the schools involved; using a model of organizational development created by a team of highly resourceful IAB’s Senior Consultants. Simply called PrOD (for Program of Organizational Development) the program is under the supervision of Educational Leadership Assessment Centre, IAB. The concept paper of PrOD was introduced during the International Conference on Educational Innovation (ICEI) at Legend Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on 6-8 May 2008.

A model created by a team of IAB’s Senior Consultants showed a clear domain of organizational development initiative. Definition of organizational development by Michael Fullan was used because it is more relevant with the school context. Basically school organizational development must be systematically planned to achieve the level of self-analysis and the much-needed change. The focus of change is on procedures, processes, norms, normal and non-formal structures based on concepts and methods of behavioral development. The main target of organizational development is to fulfill individual needs (quality of life) and to enhance the function and impact of the organization. (Perunding Kanan Institut Aminuddin Baki, 2008).

The main purpose or core of the model of organizational development for Malaysian schools is students’ achievement. The eight domains in focus are:
• Leading and managing change
• Building capacity
• Personal development
• Leadership
• School management system
• Knowledge management
• Culture and values
• Team relationship
(Perunding Kanan Institut Aminuddin Baki, 2008).

The three-year plan (2008 to 2010) of PrOD involves 40 schools for the first cohort.. The coaching program systematically used syndicated discussion, professional dialogues on best practices, lectures, case study, benchmarking trips, action planning, and followed by consultations visit by IAB’s Senior Consultants. Phase 1 of the program started on 2008 and the main theme was on personal development and leadership. The Second Phase starts on 2009, based on the PERFORM Model by Blanchard.

This descriptive paper is based on my experience as the former principal of SMK Seri Bentong (Seri Bentong). My Senior Assistant of Administration and I were trained for PrOD since 2008 and we tried our best in making PrOD an accepted and trusted new entity in school. Even though I was transferred back to my hometown in 2009, thus unable to complete the planned program, PrOD is still “alive” in Seri Bentong. Based on the initial design, all principals involved in the program will implement PrOD in the new schools they were assigned to. The beauty of this design is that PrOD’s message will cut across the nation and eventually helping other schools to develop for the better.

School Background
SMK Seri Bentong (opened on 1997) is a rural Secondary School with many faces. At state level it is a Special Program School, a controlled school under the Pahang State Education Department. The enrolment of students is controlled and so that only selected students with medium (3 A’s) to excellent (5 A’s) results can enter. All excellent students in the primary school public examination in Pahang who were not selected to study in Boarding Schools will be placed in the 23 such controlled schools. (Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Bentong, 2009).

At national level, Seri Bentong is a Special Model School since year 2000 which consist of primary (Year 4 to 6) and secondary students (Form 1 to 5). The age of students between 10 and 17 years old under one roof proved to present a unique education experience and challenges. So, this blend of primary and secondary school is under the administration of one principal. Under this Special Model School project, we have 6 classes for the primary school students. The maximum classes (so far) for the secondary school students is 18 for the Form 1 to Form 5 students.

Privileged for admission are rural students with low socio-economic status from a few districts of the state; namely Bentong, Temerloh, Raub, Kuala Lipis and some time ago from Cameron Highlands.

There are only 11 such schools in Malaysia and 4 of them are in State of Pahang. The main idea is for the primary school students to be self-dependent and matured earlier through interactions with secondary school students. It is also hoped that after 8 years in such schools, the students will excel in various aspects; academic and co-curricular activities, socially and emotionally resilient and competitive.

Initially, with 100% of the students staying in the hostel, Seri Bentong will have some advantages because of the controlled setting similar to the Boarding Schools.

Challenges Facing Special Model School

Every year, Seri Bentong will need 60 students for Year 4. They will receive full aids and a special grant for hostel fees from Pahang State Foundation. However, the quota of 60 new students every year were never met. Some of the problems noted are:

1. Some of the students cannot adapt to the hostel life due to the emotional attachment to their families,
2. Parents are reluctant to part with their children at such a tender age. Hostel is not an ideal setting for their children’s education,
3. Teachers and administrators in primary schools did not encourage students to apply for admission due to the lack of information on the purpose of Special Model School,
4. Competition (Red Ocean) among primary schools. Schools want to keep their best students to maintain, improve or better their records of straight A’s students in public examination,
5. The stress on academic achievement ranking at district and state level and the role of mass media in recognizing excellent schools have brought about some level of discomfort among school administrators. They might be grilled over the unachieved target (read:ETR-‘Expected Targeted Result’); hence will not encourage their best brains to transfer to other schools.

Accepting the reality threatening the concept of Special Model School after exercising our environmental scanning, by 2007, Seri Bentong started to reposition itself. While maintaining our status, we took some bold steps to promote our school as a centre of excellent rural students by making all the feeder schools our strategic sharing partners. We did some outreach sessions in Bentong District Education Office for headmasters of primary schools and centralized briefings in other schools and districts.

However, the aim of maintaining our students for the whole 8 years proved to be a challenge because after achieving all A’s in public examinations (Year 6 and Form 3), they will be offered to Boarding Schools and Colleges or Technical Secondary Schools.

Realistically, we must accept the fact that they deserve better schools of their choice and our capacity of producing excellent students earlier than expected (after 3 to 5 years) is a comforting thought. It is an accepted norm that we will lose at least one class of students or more after Form 3 public examinations. We will have our share of “brain drain” but it is “success” to us especially when we will have many satisfied customers and stakeholders.

Before PrOD: Searching for Recipes I was assigned to this school in July 2005 as a fresh principal (a rookie) with a clear mission but very little instructions. Being a principal in Seri Bentong means a never-ending quest for the right recipes because of the unique status of the school and also the higher expectation of performance compared to other daily schools. I have to be observant and to be able to enhance my professional awareness to handle all situations in school.

“Awareness is a priority because it drives what we are in a position to affect and control, versus those issues or realities about which we are unaware, which tend to exert control over us.”
(Kohn & Connell, 2005).

Realizing the need of forming a team and later developing the members (Maxwell, 2001), I spend almost 6 months “blending” into the environment and trying to be visible to all, as much as I can. With a strong support from the School Management Committee, I was able to pull together a team of young, dedicated wardens in early 2006 to focus on the “fortress” of the school: the hostel.

The newly formed team agreed on some very important points or issues:
1. We must improve the quality of hostel life before we can improve the academic performance of the school,
2. The principal is a hostel team player and will be regarded as one; not to be left out in any situation,
3. There should be no barrier in communication and everyone is free to voice out for the benefit of the hostel,
4. All necessary disciplinary actions on the students misbehaviour will be taken according to rules and regulations and must be properly documented.

Later we realized that we have agreed on very strategic issues that set the steady pace of developing the fortress that seemed impregnable at first glance. We made a right decision on “conquering” the hostel because that was and is the place where all our students spend most of their schooling time.

Approach on improving the basic physical needs or facilities and assuring the students and parents that the rules and regulations of the hostel are for the benefit of all parties eventually won the hearts of many students and gained some parents’ confidence in the school system. I still think that our approach was a “fertile soil” for the seed of PrOD that came on 2008.

Some other very important aspects that set the tone of the school were PKKP, military approach on management, and Islamic leadership.


PKKP
Program “Peningkatan Kurikulum dan Kemajuan Pendidikan” (PKKP) is Pahang State Education Department’s gold mine for improving school performance. This Curriculum Improvement and Education Development Program is mainly focused on strategic planning for academic excellence but at the same time stressed on co-curricular activities, human development, office management, cleanliness and physical conduciveness, and security. Headcount analysis for every student is still used since it was first introduced in the 90’s. In Seri Bentong, school activities are within the framework of PKKP. The concept of Collaborative, Participative and Ownership (CPO) for continuous improvement embedded in PKKP is definitely complementary and in line with PrOD.

Military Management
Soldiers and army organization always fascinate me since my childhood days. During my secondary schooling for 7 years in all-boys boarding school, I picked up some aspects of military discipline. As a teacher, I taught history up to the A Level and had information on military campaigns from all over the world. Under the IAB’s Twinning Program for my second degree I was also exposed to some materials and books including “Art of War” by Sun Tzu and “Marketing Warfare” by Al Ries and Jack Trout which was inspired by “On War” written by General Karl von Clausewitz. Some strategies were tested and proved to be effective in the battlefields as well as in the hostile corporate world. Military organizations are most effective organizations in the world (Sullivan & Harper (1996).

So, in search of new recipes mentioned, I was (some way or another) influenced by war and military approaches:

1. Tun Perak was a headman in Kelang when the Sultan of Malacca summoned him to fend off the Siamese military invasion. He took with him his followers and their families to defend Malacca in the 15th century. The rational: warriors going to war to defend their families will fight fearlessly. I transferred all my children to study in Seri Bentong by 2006 and encourage (even challenged) all teachers to bring in their children. Surely we want our “flesh and blood” to excel, so in the process we will definitely exercise special care for all “our children” or students.
2. During meetings, I tried to familiarize and convince teachers with “After Action Review” (AAR) as an effective feedback technique and “Investigate, Identify Institutionalize” method which are practiced by the military (Sullivan dan Harper,1996 and Townsend and Gebhardt, 2004). Basic questions asked are “what happened and why?”. I added in “Nothing personal” and “Purely professional” to cushion the impact of such direct questions and to maintain focus. Not as easy as it sounds and even harder to “swallow” for some people. According to Townsend and Gebhardt, the army use the phrase “No hurt feelings” for the same purpose.

One of my friends in the State Education Department did not really approve of my use of the word “war” when referring to our work but I am attracted to the serious approach spurred by “lives at stake” in case of failed military missions. I went even further to use “battlefields” as a metaphor for classrooms when I conduct orientations for my new teachers. To win every battle we must have winning strategies. Our enemies: Ignorance or lack of knowledge, not our students!

The sense of mission and urgency to accomplish missions by the military earned salutes from the business and corporate world. Even in di Malaysia, Ministry of Defense tops the list of “Star Rating” for public sector management and administration. Undisputed victor.

Islamic Leadership
Naturally the approach of leadership and management was based on Islamic perspective since the motto of Seri Bentong is “Iman, Islam, Ihsan” since its establishment in1996. I referred to Paradigm of Prophet Muhammad’s Leadership (1999) on three elements of leadership: “Syura”, Justice and Freedom of View (based on ‘adab’). I tried to emphasize on special personal qualities of all Messengers of Allah: “Siddiq”, “Amanah”, “Tabligh” and “Fatanah” which we must try to emulate in order to succeed in this world and the hereafter. Those qualities are fit for the status of “khalifah” or ruler of this world as well as the status of “’abd” – the humble servant.

Our Management Committee was formed on the basis of “syura” which value all views of its members and any interested individual or party in the development of the school. Committee members are seriously directed to make sound decisions at the school’s highest level. Hopefully, the skill and experience of decision-making through consensus will be a great help if any of its members were to be a school principal in the near future.

Reminders or “tazkirah” on glad tidings and threats from Allah and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) regarding responsibilities of leaders and teachers’ role as “murabbi”, “muallim” and “muaddib” will certainly turn any discussion into a more serious mode.

Our “musolla” or “surau” has always been the centre of daily hostel activities. All students must attend daily congregational prayers. Most announcements of events are made in the “musolla”. We lead congregational prayers and take turns to deliver “tazkirah” daily between Maghrib and ‘Isyak prayers. The scheduled “tazkirah” will have the principal, senior assistants, chief warden and wardens pick their own topics to motivate and guide students. The practice of personal and leadership development through religious means has always been our most valued asset in Seri Bentong. Later, PrOD enhanced our effort to be more focused and detailed.

PrOD: Practice and Experience of Seri Bentong
To some extent, organizational development was practiced in Seri Bentong even before we were chosen as one of the school for PrOD. The big difference was the focus on moral imperative for leaders at all levels (from the student leaders up to the principal). Quest for professional will and personal humility was not easy but in the process of bringing out the best inside us we brought about awareness and changes not only to our school but also to the district and state level.

PrOD sharpened our focus to be more sensitive and alert of our responsibilities. We were sure that we were on the right track in winning hearts and minds of all members of the school community. All materials or in put for training in IAB became topics of our discussions at all levels of leaders suggested by PrOD: top leaders , middle leaders, new or emerging leaders and student leaders.

Whenever asked on what was really working for us in the first phase of PrOD (2008), I would single out the aspect of “Personal Effectiveness” summed by two leadership qualities of Level 5 Leaders:

“Self-effacing, quiet, even shy-these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. They are more like Lincoln and Socrates than Patton or Caesar”.
(Collins, 2001)

Williams (1997) cited that being humble as an ingredient for great leaders. I was glad that combined with professional will, personal humility changed the way we see ourselves as leaders in school. Quite interesting too (for me) that Collins mentioned that those exceptional leaders are more like statesman and philosopher (Lincoln and Socrates) than Patton (a general) and Caesar (conqueror/empire builder; leaders with military background!

Principal and Senior Assistant of Administration
As leaders in school, my Senior Assistant of Administration and I had first-hand experience on PrOD. We worked on the buy-in process among teachers, non-academic staff and students without much stirring of the “nest”. Of course we had some skeptics and critics out of primary fear of having to put extra effort or unwilling to “go the extra mile”.

The concept of personal effectiveness is always interesting and easy to mention but the process can be long, uncomfortable and even painful to some people. Sacrifices will surely be in order because we are talking about changes of thinking, perception, habits, and practices. So, on our relationship as principal and senior assistant, I put it in this “simple” way: she will assist me in all tasks stated in my work procedure manual. I will have to rely on her “seniority” to assist me. I expected her to be my right hand (in Malay Language, Senior Assistant is “Penolong Kanan”: literally translated as “Right Assistant”). She must be regarded and seen as a senior in ranking among teachers and must be able to correct me if I make mistakes; loyalty without blindness. I will not exempt her of any task unless on unexpected circumstances (it was not that “simple” at all!).

We did environmental scanning and assessment using SWOT analysis on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats on ourselves, Management Committee and all other levels of leaders. We identified strategic issues of leadership and drafted an action plan of PrOD for Phase 1. Gantt Chart was put up as a tool for controlling and monitoring the progress of PrOD implementation throughout 2008 to 2009.

One of the most important task of a school principal is to protect instruction time (teaching and learning) from interruptions. Classroom supervision is very important to ensure that the basics of schooling is happening: teachers are teaching and students are learning. I set a new personal target to fully supervise at least one class a day. Early assumption that full supervision was hard to do proved to be wrong because in one week, I was able to supervise six classes. That figure was hard to achieve before, even for the period of one month .

I made it a habit to buy books as gifts to all my senior assistants because I believe I can spark their interest in personal and profesional development. After all, reading was always promoted to all teachers and students.

Other personal efforts inspired by PrOD training were:
• Meetings and training sessions for Hostel Executive Committee and Hostel Prefects,
• Scheduled discussions with students by forms,
• Writings in form of essays, anecdotes, self-reflections, poems and presentations related to duties. Most of them were published in School Resource Centre Newsletter. Soon teacher and students contributed their writings as well and in 2008 we published 7 editions of Arena Seri (the last one before my transfer was a special edition on PrOD),
• Choosing a professional theme song (students called it Principal’s Song) - “Ayat- Ayat Cinta” (Signs of Love) with verbal and written interpretation for all to ponder upon. Until now, students will cheer whenever they hear it because they can relate to it. I “twisted” the literal meaning to remind them of teacher’s love and responsibilities,
• Handling workshops and talks on MindMap for teachers and students,
• Frequent day and late-night checks on the hostel,
• Investigating and handling students’ disciplinary cases together with wardens and teachers,
• Taking charge of Students’ Detention Classes called “Gerak Seri” with special module consist of reading project, poem-memorizing, and small DIY projects,
• Adopting dormitory and classroom to maintain conduciveness,
• Sending sick students to clinic or hospital whenever wardens were engaged to other tasks,
• Opening channels for discussions and written suggestions from students (bottom up). Some students came up with frank and mature suggestions on improving hostel life and academic initiatives,
• Always choosing or volunteering for the hardest tasks in team projects,

Management Committee
As the school main team or the school think-tank, this G12 committee will meet on every Wednesday. G12 members are the principal, three senior assistants, coordinator for primary students, master teacher, four senior teachers (heads of departments) and two school counselors, Experts on team building agreed that a team “works best at somewhere between 15 and 20 people.” (Meier, 1995). We were close to that number but confident with our strength.

I tried to put the best person in the committee and entrusted them with various tasks and responsibilities; not solely based on positions. It will take some time before the team will function at its best (Maxwell, 2001), so we need fine-tuning from time to time. For any project or program we exercise borderless management. We can work under the charge or instructions of any team member.

Even though decisions are through consensus, we stick by the rule of making decisions based on right information or facts. Wrong information will lead to wrong decisions and management will end up with problems. We need to be thorough, fair, and rational.

“I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
(Sherlock Holmes: “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Doyle (2000)

Standard “package” for input other than the usual meeting agenda were:
• Instructional Leadership,
• Prophet Muhammad’s Leadership Paradigm,
• Ministry of Education’s Work Ethics,
• 12 Pillars (of Civil Service),
• Status report of current situation compared to our vision and mission,
• Raising sense of urgency through interpretations of data,
• Ability and capacity of multi-tasking.

We took to task on raising the need to be responsible and also to satisfy the needs of stake holders. Awareness of teachers and students on this issue must be clear. We have to accept the brutal truth that only excellent outcomes are expected of us. This serious reflection has always been a strong base for this committee.

Minutes of the meeting was standardized and we had 19 to 21 meetings each year. School counselors became our “State Secretary” and they were trained to produce the minutes within 3 days after a meeting.

Based on current or upcoming issues, this committee will not only meet its usual members but sometimes Heads of Panel for certain subjects, chairperson of units or secretaries will be called to the meeting to inform, enlighten, to brief or debrief us on activities. In a nutshell, our meetings will review delivery systems and processes on a regular basis.

We agreed on a decree or ethics for this management team. In forming a strong team, I believe the 11-point Vows of Management Initiatives tabled on 2008 had shown tremendous positive impact on seriousness of working and becoming our source of internal motivation. One of the highlights of the initiatives is to put professional attitude before personal attitude.

PrOD managed to bring forth some new ideas tailored for schools’ needs. Recommended books like :”The 360º Leader”, “21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”, “Good to Great”, “Blue Ocean Strategy”, and “6 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders” and many more became my personal collection of books that I shared with the members of the management team and teachers .

PrOD convinced us that with higher position we must be prepare to lose more personal rights. On seeing that, people will work with leaders. We don’t need special treatment because of the position but we have to be there to sacrifice and stand up for others. Our G12 did just that. Most of them are on the higher grade of service with special allowance. They were willing to donate more than 10% of the allowance every month for the welfare of students from poor families, orphans, partial sponsor of learning trips, and entertaining visitors and guests. Personally, I was impressed by their commitment to see our school gaining “the extra mile”.

G12 meetings were regarded as the dynamo for school activities. Power of personal influence of G12 members were dominant in getting units and departments to move on. PrOD brought this team closer on the basis of responsibility and a conscious choice. The team is capable of performing even in the absence of the principal. It is not a perfect team but I am proud to be a part of the team that sees and seizes the opportunity to improve.

Teachers
We started introducing PrOD to teachers in stages, starting from basic information and activities. Since 2006, we have our “Monday Sharing” on alternate Mondays for teachers to share information and conducting professional in-house training and motivation. On other Mondays we just have ten minute-sessions of reflections and housekeeping. These sessions instilled some sense of respect to views of others and readiness to listen. So, getting the PrOD message across was not a problem. We assured the teachers that there will not be any big changes but awareness of our responsibilities towards our “children” was a critical issue.

Activities conducted for personal development are:
• “Personal Vision” - writing letter to ourselves which can be quite an emotional experience to some teachers,
• Documenting analysis (SWOT) on leadership environment. Before PrOD, the last analysis documented was on the year 2006 for academic aspect. All personal reflections are put in writing and it was clear to us what we are capable of, barriers and other aspects that may influence our personal effectiveness,
• “Ticket to Leave” – getting written feedbacks on activities and programs,
• Celebration and recognition of teachers’ achievement (Datuk Mary Yap, Senior Consultant of IAB always remind us to “celebrate in style”),
• Induction package for new teachers – to familiarize them with the workplace. Facilitators involved are from the Management Committee, non-academic staff and teacher with special duties such as Media Teacher or ICT Coordinator. Newcomers will be briefed on customers’ expectations, school facilities and duties. The package is simply information on operation at “ground zero”; including “things that they did not teach you at teachers’ training colleges or university”.
• Promoting professional discourse - sharing of books and book reviews on teaching and organizational changes: “Thank You Teacher” “Minute Motivation for Teachers”, “Good to Great” and “Our Iceberg is Melting”. Our last book review was on early 2009 - “Good to Great” by Jim Collins.
• Workshops on best practices – our last one was checklist for event management; “presented” to me on my last day of duty in Seri Bentong.
• Brainstorming sessions for academic activities – for “stronger sense of unified purpose” (Holliday, 2005). The best example was on English Language which required every member of the session to come up with at least 5 activities that can enhance students performance. One week later, I received a list of 42 suggestions - the best so far. Most of the suggestions were implemented and some are still running,
• Work slogan - “Our Job Is (like) The Prophet’s Job”. The slogan was meant to motivate teachers so that we may achieve the elusive level of “ikhlas” and full commitment. In certain cases, teachers were low on motivation due to “students’ attitude towards learning” – a cliché whenever we discuss of their declining performance and unruly behaviour. We stressed on “du’a” and “munajat” (prayers) among teachers and also to reflect on our sins (to repent) so that we can work with clear conscience and conviction. With true intention (“‘azam”), hard work, and “du’a”, just like the way of all prophets, then we will surrender everything (“tawakkal") to Allah. We must continue our job of educating students as an ‘amanah’ (questionable in the hereafter) and hoping for our own share of benefits only from Him.
• Workshop on facing or handling challenges in the classroom – using the metaphor of battlefields in a war which was later developed into a one day-workshop to train Untrained Temporary Teachers at district level. Our team were appointed as lecturers and facilitators,
• Setting minimum standards or requirements for activities, documentation and reports. All activities must be documented systematically but we leave it to the creativity of teachers and students on the part of presentation,
• Suggesting and promoting teachers - to contribute to programs and activities at district and state level,
• Crisis and “self-attack” – We use customers’ complaints (with facts and figures) to stimulate emotion and sense of urgency among teachers. Data and its’ presentation can influence emotions and can change our way of thinking and behaviour Kotter (2006). Crisis and self-attack are military approach and used in business marketing management. “The best strategy is the courage to attack yourself” (Ries & Trout, 1986). I prefer a “controlled and healthy dose” of both to test teachers; especially my Management Committee.

Curriculum/Academic
Curriculum leadership is a responsibility of every teacher, not just the principal. PrOD recognized the exposure to Instructional Leadership concept and in Seri Bentong all the eight senior middle leaders in G12 were assigned as Form Managers. Almost all of us (counselors not included) were senior subject teachers and must be able to take charge of curriculum matters. At first, the role of these managers was vague (I was fond of referring to professional football team manager as an example) but we agreed on some guidelines of duties:
• In charge of the respective classes on curriculum planning and all the supporting activities (seminars, motivation, extra classes, consultations with parents),
• Review and analyze data and performances: data on fingertips,
• Coming up with ideas and suggestions on improvement or well-being of the team; not just reporting,
• Initiating discussions with form teachers and subject teachers on students’ overall behavior (mood, motivation, communication)
• Helping to create conducive environment for teaching and learning and at the same time creating the early sense of urgency to perform well.

In 2008 the team managers were as follows :

Year/Form Manager
Year 4 Senior Assistant of Students Affair
Year 5 Senior Teacher of Humanities
Year 6 Coordinator of Primary Students
Form 1 Senior Teacher of Technical & Vocational
Form 2 Senior Teacher of Science & Mathematics
Form 3 Senior Assistant of Co-curricular
Form 4 Senior Assistant of Administration
Form 5 Senior Teacher of Languages

During academic consultation with parents and students, all teachers are required to be well prepared to answer, explain, and suggest professionally. It was easier said than done because on occasions teachers tend to be defensive in explaining reasons of students’ poor performance. We will explain the “attitude problems” of students only when parents asked for it. Students with serious attitude or discipline problems will have closed door consultation with the principal and the discipline coordinator. We won many hearts that way.
We also tried to improve our approach towards consciousness of academic excellence (internally and up to the district level) through:
• “Harapan Seri” ( Seri’s Hall of Fame) – display of photos and results of excellent students in internal and public examinations,
• Seniors’ Guidance Program - after their public examination Form 3 student will be tutors for Form 2 students,
• Strengthening the repositioning of our Primary School – preparing standardized materials for outreach program and sending our compliment letters to feeder schools on their ex-students’ excellent performance (with photos) for their effort to prepare strong foundation for their students; enabling them to excel in Seri Bentong. Copies of the letters were sent to the District Education Office.
• Offering our school as venue for district’s academic program with complete school facilities and hostel accommodation.

Students’ Affair and Hostel
The most important and busiest affair in school needs ideas and support from teachers and students. PrOD raised our commitment of developing the school through:
• Perfect Prefects - aimed to build a strong team to help the school and to become the role-model. Sessions for training were planned, including crowd control, communication, report-writing, and management of activities,
• Hostel orientation throughout the year in form of physical training during weekends conducted by students leaders under teachers’ supervision; with pep talks,
• “Qiamulail” and monthly religious talk,
• Brainstorming sessions - students come up with their own suggestions on activities other than those prepared for them . This sessions will enable the school to see the development of the hostel through the eyes of students. Students just love it. Some of their ideas were accepted, such as “Mind Rest”, “Explorace”, “Boys-Free Night” (girls’ idea of their own “talent time” which kept the boys wondering what that was all about) and study trips. We won more hearts.
• “Excellent Exco Program” for students’ representatives – leadership training in school and at district level,
• “Hostel Fellowship” which saw all teachers having their own foster dormitory,
• “Character Building Module” basically to inculcate Islamic moral values so that we have a special breed of hostel students which involved “usrah” sessions, “halaqah” for recital and memorizing the Holy Quran, al-Ma’thurat, Asma ul-Husna, and other basics of “’ibadah”,
• Recognition of students’ achievement in all areas during assemblies, meetings, announcements, reports in the newsletter, school magazine, web site and display boards,
• Sharing success stories with ex-students on their efforts to succeed in colleges and universities. Students learn easily from their friends,
• Drafting and amending hostels’ rules, regulations and procedures to prevent or minimize disruptive behaviour and to create more conducive “second home”,
• Setting up teachers’ own fund under Staff Club to help students who need financial aid (before getting government loan or scholarship) to further their studies (we have students from broken and poor families).

Early Impact of PrOD
PrOD opened new hope for Seri Bentong towards the next level of excellence. It has been a catalyst and booster for us to be more sensitive to our working environment, to be more objective, focused and at the same time being realistic. On-site organizational development really works because the training given are applicable to our school setting.

Our state Head of Quality Assurance Sector promoted PrOD at state level and received warm welcome from our education community. The sharing of input during PrOD’s seminar had spilled over boundaries of districts. That is already an early “praise” for PrOD.

Seri Bentong showed early signs of success of PrOD when teachers tried their best:
• We were the benchmark to an education team of Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) for a proposed project of a Special Model School (they intended to enroll students at the age of 9)
• Chosen as one of the place for school management visit by Oman’s officer from Ministry of Education and a group of Oman principals,
• Nominated for Excellent School Award by District Education Office and later represented Pahang at national level in the Rural School Category,
• Offered to be a nominee for Cluster School of Excellence by State Education Department,
• Receiving various awards at district, state and national level.

It is too early to conclude that PrOD had directly responsible for the record-breaking achievements in academic excellence in 2008. The School Average Grades (SAG) for public examination: 1.08 (our best SAG so far) for our primary school students, 1.42 for the Form 3 (not the best ASG but maintained 100% passes for two consecutive years and had increased straight 9A’s students from 2 to 15). SAG for Form 5 was 3.05 ( the best SAG - improved over the period 3 of years). We were just one step below our benchmark: SMK Abdul Rahman Talib Kuantan – a Cluster School of Excellence.
The rest is history.

Teachers are working more confidently with students to achieve excellence amidst the raising demands from stakeholders. I am confident that if PrOD Phase 2 is launched, with application of “Six Paths Framework” and “ERRC Grid” of Blue Ocean Strategy, the impact might be better and greater.

Critical Factors
The early positive impact of PrOD in Seri Bentong was due to:

1. Efforts and readiness of the school,
2. The principal was highly visible,
3. Openness, responsiveness and sensitivity at district and state level; especially on the part of Head of Quality Assurance Sector, who participated and supervised the process,
4. Continuous support from Pahang State Foundation in form of financial aid and moral support,
5. Financial allocation for In-House Training by the Ministry of Education – fully utilised,
6. Most teachers (43 out of 52 – 84.31%) were between the age of 30 and 40; experienced and productive in service,
7. An able team of management; united, committed to task, ready and quick to learn, able to work under pressure,
8. Good to excellent rural students as young as 10 years old in a controlled environment of rural hostel,
9. Strong and supportive Parents’ and Teachers’ Association (PTA),
10. Strong support of the community: District Office, Public Works Department, Royal Malaysian Police, Fire Department, Drug Rehabilitation Centre, Health Centre, politicians, and excellent help from Institut Aminuddin Baki, Community College, and International Islam University in profesional guidance for teachers and students,
11. Good ICT facilities- well-maintained SchoolNet and wireless connectivity.

Conclusion
Based on our experience and sharing among schools involved in PrOD, Seri Bentong had tried its’ level best in a unique setting of a Special Program and Special Model School. The whole process of planning, implementation and control showed positive early results in the first year. Seri Bentong had experienced part of the whole program and we are proud of PrOD.

What’s Next?
“When we finish one product-development program, we raise our heads and look around and see what to invent next.”
Ed McCracken, Harvard Business Review, November-December 1993.

I am sure that IAB, as a highly resourceful institution of leadership training, will continue to come up with other great ideas for schools.

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