ABSTRACT
In previous chapters we have been attempting a kind of grammar of school improvement in which the nouns are the key factors of school effectiveness and the verbs the key processes of school improvement. We have also provided some adjectives in the form of descriptors of successful practices. However, to change the meaning of the sentences and paragraphs that make up the story of school improvement we need to look at the punctuation marks and the construction of the adverbial clauses. In particular, the subtleties are to be found in those small interventions or punctuations that have a disproportionate effect on meaning and change. We call these small interventions ‘butterflies’ after the work on chaos theory which has produced the concept of the ‘butterfly effect’. This teaches us that tiny differences in input can quickly become overwhelming differences in output. In weather, for example, it is argued that butterflies stirring the air today in Peking can transform storm systems next month in New York. The adverbial clauses of school improvement are those larger critical interventions which are part of an integrated and focused programme of change which may take up to a year to implement and perhaps longer to embed thoroughly in the culture of the school. They are part of the school’s improvement strategy and reflect the deliberate actions taken by the school in order to plan for future development.
