Abstract
There have been a series of educational changes in Nigeria before, during and after colonial administrations, which have been described as inefficiently successful because they have not met the needs and aspirations of Nigerians. This has led to the current deplorable state of education in Nigeria. Consequently, her citizens, legislators, teachers’ unions, students’ unions, and the executive are clamouring for a declaration of a state of emergency in education with the intention of bringing about system-wide change. System-wide change provides a framework for an all-inclusive model change that relies on locally driven, system-wide change guided by stakeholders through ongoing collaboration and joint ownership of the reform process. Stakeholders’ involvement is essential for successful implementation of any educational innovations and for a new educational system to succeed, all stakeholders must be part of the process. For that reason, the aim of this study was to explore stakeholders’ experiences and perceptions of the introduction and implementation of system-wide change in the Nigerian basic education system. I used system theory as the theoretical framework to inform the study.
Through the lens of a constructivist research paradigm, the study is located in a generic qualitative research design with the use of one-on-one semi-structured interviews for the data collection and the use of qualitative content analysis techniques for analysing the data. Research quality is achieved by providing an audit trail, maintaining a high level of confidentiality, keeping a reflexive journal, and writing thick descriptions.
The findings of the study present the stakeholders that should be involved in a system-wide change processes, the challenges the stakeholders faced in the introduction and implementation of system-wide change and effects of not adhering to the tenets of a system-wide change processes, as well as how the stakeholders felt the introduction and implementation of system-wide change could be best managed in a satisfying and sustainable way. These findings provide the basis for recommendations concerning the application of systemic change in future Nigerian education system change initiatives.