 Introduction
Change! What is it? Why
are we concerned about it? Why would a leadership program list
skills in planning and implementing change as required competency
for its graduates? And why would anyone choose to spend two intensive
days focusing on change issues?
Looking at the etymology
of the word "change" may be informative. My "Webster's"
suggests that the word comes from changier in the Old French and
cambiare in Latin -- both meaning "to exchange." The
dictionary goes on! "Change" is akin to the Old Irish
camm and Greek skambos -- both meaning "crooked." And
it is probably similiar to the Swedish skimpa which means "to
hop." And the Lithuanian kibti which means "to hook
on." Which meaning resonates with your concept of change?
I can immediately see connections
between the changes I face on a personal level and each of the
meanings presented above. For example, when I walked into my office
yesterday, I discovered I had a new computer (I had asked that
it be installed while I was away so that my work wouldn't be interrupted).
My old monitor was "exchanged" for a wider, easier-to-read
screen. My old reliable CPU was "exchanged" for a tall
upright one. My usual habits were immediately challenged when
I switched "on." The screen looked different. My straight-forward,
easy pathway had become "crooked." I didn't know how
to connect to the Internet (and still don't for that matter)!
And I'm beginning to resent those well-meaning but very "crooked"
people who decided I should be "up-to-speed"!
But then I pause -- I wanted
this change. I only wonder how long it will take for me "to
hop" from task to task and place to place as I used to. And
maybe change is just that -- "hopping" from one thing
to the next -- learning new ways of "being" and "doing."
And loving it! "Hopping" conjures up images of spirited,
happy behavior -- but then I wonder why I'm not happy! This change
-- this new computer -- why couldn't they have just "hooked
on" some new parts to make my old one go faster. I desperately
want my old keyboard -- I liked the sound for the keys and it's
gone... gone... gone...
Change! On a personal level!
On an institutional level! What is it? In our time together you
can trust me to share historical approaches to change in education.
For twenty-some years we have been challenged to change education.
They cynics tell us that "the more we change, the more we
stay the same." The optimists keep looking for the latest
innovation as the answer to our problems. But thankfully we are
beginning to grasp the reality that there will be no real change
until we focus on the teacher -- the individual.
No real change can occur
unless individuals change! And how does that happen? By someone
imposing different expectations? By individual people making determined
efforts to change? Think about some behavior you've tried to change
recently!
And no real institutional
change can occur unless individuals within the institution change!
But now my biases are starting to show through! Oh no!! I want
this experience to be a model of how professionals construct knowledge
together. I want us to be involved in a shared process of figuring
out what "change" is. Do we collectively know something
about "change"? Of course we do! And as we compare what
we "know" with the experts; I believe we will discover
the expert within us. A new concept? Maybe! But as we work together
I expect we will discover anew the thrill of "knowing"
for ourselves -- of "believing" on a deep level -- of
owning our experiences -- of knowing that to "change"
is to grow. What is change? Change is muddling through the chaos
of personal and corporate lives -- getting answers from each other
and oneself -- or is it?
Course Information
Welcome to an experience
in discovering and sharing concepts about "change".
I'm including a number of articles that I hope you'll take time
to read before we meet. As you can see, I intend to try to get
a balance between what is already "known" about change
and what we might be able to put together as we share our successed
and frustrations.
Let's start by raising questions!
In the next few weeks, please share at least five questions with
me and the others in the group. These should be real questions
you hope to have answered during the time we spend together. If
you have a group address, just send them to everyone.
Also start thinking about
successful activities that you can share with the group -- these
should be activities that you have personally used or seen used
at a conference etc. I'm thinking in particular of the kind that
help to "unfreeze" groups and get them ready to work
on the more difficult issues. They may be something that just
adds humor and gets groups to "lighten up". We'll share
these throughout our time together and I'm willing to bring them
back and have a grad assistant type them up in a nice format so
that we might share them with the other cohorts at the Leadership
Conference this summer.
The bibliography is only
a small beginning - you may read other books as we talked about
earlier. These references are to help us begin to understand the
way "change" issues have been addressed in education
in the past several years. It is not meant to be a comprehensive
bibliography by any means! You'll want to also think about the
booklist that I gave you earlier.
For those of you who are
planning to take this for credit - or may have already registered
for credit, here are some general guidelines:
For 2 credits -
- read and react to one
book of your choice on change - keep and journal and make personal
application of the principles
- write a case study of
change that you've been involved in - develop questions to provoke
a discussion about the issues
- compare several different
models of the change process and critique them (I have included
several in the handouts and will bring more when I come
- begin to compile a list
of principles you think are important to understand as a facilitator
of change
- anything else?
For 4 credits -
- same as above
- initiate a "change
process" in an organization - reflect on what happened and
why
- develop your own "model"
that explains "change" - integrate it with what others
have said about change
- anything else?
I'm intentionally leaving
these open-ended. I'd like you to do something that makes sense
to you so don't be afraid to negotiate alternatives.
Bibliography
Arnold, R., Burke, B., James,
C., Martin, D. & Thomas, B. (1991). Educating for a change.
Toronto, Canada: Doris Marshal Institute for Education and
Action.
Berman, P., McLaughlin,
M. W., Bass, G., Pauly, E., & Zellman, G. (1977). Federal
programs supporting educational change: Vol. 7: Factors affecting
implementation and continuation. (Report No. R-1589/7-HEW).
Santa Monica, CA: Rand. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.
ED 140 432).
Caine, Renate Nummela, and
Geoffrey Caine. (1997). Education on the edge of possibility.
Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Fullan, M. (1993). Change
forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. London,
UK: The Falmer Press.
Fullan, M., and A. Hargreaves.
(1996). What's worth fighting for in your school. 2nd ed.
New York: The Teachers Press.
Fullan, M., with S. Stiegel
bauer. (1991). The new meaning of educational change. New
York: The Teachers Press.
Hall, G.E., George, A.A.,
Rutherford, W.L. (1986). Measuring stages of concern about
the innovation: A manual for use of the SoC Questionnaire.
Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
Hargreaves, A. (1994). Changing
teachers, changing times. Teachers' work and culture in the post
modern age. London: Cassells/New York: Teachers College Press/
Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Hargreaves, A., L. Earl,
and J. Ryan. (1994). Schooling for Change. London and New
York: The Falmer Press.
Joyce, B., Woolf, J. &
Calhoun, E. (1993). The self-renewing school. Alexandria,
VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Developers.
Leithwood, K.A., Ed. (1986).
Planned educational change: A manual of curriculum review,
development, and implementation concepts and procedures. Canada:
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
Loucks, S.F., Newlove, B.W.
& Hall, G.E. (1975). Measuring levels of use of the innovations:
A manual for trainers, interviewers, and raters. Austin, TX:
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
Louis, K. S., and M. Miles.
(1990). Improving the urban high school: What works and why.
New York: Teachers College Press.
Miles, M. B., and A. M.
Huberman. (1984). Innovation up close: How school improvement
works. New York: Plenum Press.
Newmann, F., and G. Wehlage.
(1995). Successful school restructuring. Alexandria, VA.:
Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Rudduck, J. (1991). Innovation
and change: Developing involvement and understanding. Buckingham:
Open University Press.
Sarason, S. (1990). The
predictable failure of educational reform. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Stacey, R.D. (1992). Managing
the unknowable: Strategic boundries between order and chaos in
organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Stoll, L., and D. Fink.
(1996). Changing our schools. Buckingham and Philadelphia:
Open University Press.
Whitaker, K.S. & Moses,
M.C. (1994). The restructuring handbook: A guide to school
revitalization. Needham Heights, Massachusetts: Allyn &
Bacon.
Wilson, K.G. & Davis,
B. (1994). Redesigning education. New York: Henry Holt
and Company.
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