FUSION ColleCtion The Fusion Collection published by Presses de l’Université du Québec is the product of observations and concerns about the need for innovation, the possibility of transposing ideas for training, and the crucial importance of bringing about change in a variety of fields. This general interest collection, edited by Louise Lafortune, features works on training and accompaniment that explore themes, theories, reflections, and theoretical and practical perspectives. professional accompaniment model for change FUSION ColleCtion Professional Competencies for Accompanying Change A Frame of Reference Louise Lafortune 2009, 206 pages, isbn 978-2-7605-1609-0 GUIDE FOR ACCOMPANYING CHANGE Louise Lafortune 2009, 110 pages, isbn 978-2-7605-1611-3 Presses de l’UniversiTé dU QUébeC le delta i, 2875, boulevard laurier, bureau 450 Québec (Québec) G1v 2M2 Telephone : (418) 657-4399 • Fax : (418) 657-2096 email : [email protected] • Website : www.puq.ca diffusion / distribution : CANADA and other countries Prologue inc. 1650, boulevard lionel-bertrand boisbriand (Québec) J7H 1n7 Telephone : (450) 434-0306 / 1 800 363-2864 FRANCE BElgIqUE SUISSE AFPu-diFFuSion PAtrimoine SPrl ServidiS SA SodiS 168, rue du noyer Chemin des Chalets 1030 bruxelles 1279 Chavannes-de-bogis belgique suisse WARNING The Copyright Act forbids the reproduction of works without the permission of rights holders. Unauthorized photocopying has become widespread, causing a decline in book sales and com- promising the production of new works by professionals. The goal of the logo is to alert readers to the threat that massive unauthorized photocopying poses to the future of the written work. UNAUTHORIZED PHOTOCOPYING KILLS BOOKS professional accompaniment model for change FOR INNOvAtIvE lEADERsHIP Louise Lafortune With Chantale Lepage, Franca Persechino, Kathleen Bélanger and Avril Aitken Preface by Sylvie Turcotte Afterword by Margaret Rioux-Dolan With the participation of Nicole Boisvert, Karine Boisvert-Grenier, Bernard Cotnoir, Bérénice Fiset, Sylvie Fréchette, Grant Hawley, Carine Lachapelle, Nathalie Lafranchise, Reinelde Landry, Carrole Lebel, France Plouffe and Gilbert Smith 2009 Presses de l’Université du Québec Le Delta I, 2875, boul. Laurier, bur. 450 Québec (Québec) Canada G1V 2M2 Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and Library and Archives Canada cataloguing in publication lafortune, louise, 1951- Professional accompaniment model for change : For innovative leadership (Collection Fusion ; 5) Translation of : Un modèle d’accompagnement professionnel d’un changement : pour un leadership novateur includes bibliographical references. isbn 978-2-7605-1610-6 1. employees - Coaching of. 2. Organizational change. 3. vocational qualifications. 4. employees - Coaching of - Québec (Province) - Case studies. i. Title. ii. series : Collection Fusion ; 5. HF5549.5.C53l3313 2009 658.3'124 C2009-940401-X We are grateful for the financial assistance received from the Government of Canada under the book Publishing industry development Program (bPidP). Publication of this book was made possible through the financial support of société de développement des entreprises culturelles (sOdeC). layout : inFoScAn collette-Québec Cover : richArd hodgSon 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 PUQ 2009 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, translation, or adaptation without authorization. © 2009 Presses de l’Université du Québec legal deposit – 2nd quarter 2009 bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec / bibliothèque et Archives Canada Printed in Canada PREFACE A foundational project of great ambition In 2002 an accompaniment team was set up for the province of Québec, marking the start of an Accompaniment-Research-Training Project to Implement the Québec Education Program, which began in 1998 and will be complete in 2010. The program is a partnership between Québec’s Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS)—for which I had the privilege of working as project manager—public and private educa- tional organizations, and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). Available across Québec’s entire educational system, the project ran for six years, from 2002 to 2008 in a context of educational reform. Its chief aim was to develop expertise among school principals, consultants, and teachers tasked with accompanying and supporting program implementa- tion in their workplace. It sought not only to provide participants with training and accompaniment, but also greater autonomy and professional assurance by giving them the confi dence to take action in their workplace and set up sharing networks on a local, regional, and provincial basis to help them move ahead, as a team, with implementing the reform. Once trained, they were key resources in the reform as their role was to viii Professional Accompaniment Model for Change accompany and support other members of their respective workplace communities so that the effects of the accompaniment process were felt as far as the classroom. Participants from all across Québec took part in the program at one point or another between 2002 and 2008, representing nearly 60 French and English language school boards and private teaching institutions (over 60 institutions and one English language association from the private sector). Together, these groups made contact with close to 1,000 people over the years, more than half of them consultants, but also school principals and teachers. The project’s provincial accompaniment team involved some 20 professionals, namely the UQTR research profes- sor in charge of the project, employees from the educational network seconded to MELS, and UQTR professionals and research assistants. Another aim was to identify a structured, foundational accompani- ment model for employees called upon to not only implement a major change requiring an overhaul of their practices, but also to develop greater professional autonomy. As outlined in this book, the model in the broadest sense, along with its components, is in my view a fi rst—no other accompaniment project for an educational change has to date in Québec been subject to such systematic followup, and all thanks to the unwavering commitment, expertise, and thoroughness of the project team led by Louise Lafortune. This is obviously not a recipe book, and pity the reader who expects to fi nd all the answers and solutions to the complex range of measures and actions to be taken in order to truly accompany a change. I never- theless remain convinced that the valuable concepts outlined in this book, along with the concrete descriptions of practices and conditions conducive to successfully accompanying partners in a change implemen- tation process, will open up a considerable number of avenues of refl ec- tion and action that go well beyond the educational setting from which they have arisen. Given the number of people affected by the educational change being implemented in Québec, the project has laid foundations that I hope will continue to structure educational intervention for many years to come. It is my wish that this book and the book on professional com- petencies for accompaniment will be a step in this direction. MELS is therefore making both books available to the educational network so that the expertise honed over the past few years will outlive the project. ix Preface Through its accompaniment model, the project has encouraged educators to engage in a change process, receive training on how to accompany a change, and exercise accompaniment leadership. This undertaking has also furthered understanding and allowed staff to better deal with questioning and resistance in their work tasks. It has also contributed to exploring and developing new concepts and laid the foundations for tomorrow’s leaders in the accompaniment process. Together, all these people have put their shoulder to the wheel to make Québec’s school system even better and ensure that the adults and young people who come into contact with it—be they students or staff—develop to their full potential. Sylvie Turcotte1 Director, Direction de la formation et de la titularisation du personnel scolaire Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport 1. Sylvie Turcotte was director of Direction de la formation et de la titularisation du personnel scolaire throughout the duration of the project.