Change in education can be a tricky thing. When we look around, we see that in a lot of ways education still uses many traditional methods in the way we currently educate students. Educational technology has the potential to be a disruptive force, but in too many cases it has only been used to enhance education or provide a digital notebook.
When we talk about change in education, a frequent point of discussion is resistance to change. Schools and districts around the country are working to determine the best methods to work with the teachers who resist change and don’t want to try new things. Helping the resistors move forward and change has been the subject of many discussions and implementation plans.
Recently in the #GoogleEI, Google for Education Innovator, chat, Jamie Casap, the Chief Education Evangelist for Google @jcasap, made a point that resonated with me. Mr. Casap brought up that people are not change resistors; they are pain resistors. When we come to someone with a change that benefits them, they are completely on board. However, when we propose change that causes pain for them that is when we run into issues. We need to ask, “What are their pain points?” Once we determine the pain points, ask, “What pain can we alleviate? We have to start not with the change itself but the outcome of change. Present a case for why the outcome of change is good.” Help teachers to understand the why before getting to the how.
“Focus on the group that wants to change. Help them bring education to the next level.” Initiatives are not usually successful because teachers were forced or told to make a change. Start with those who are motivated to change; give them the needed training and support. Focus on the needs of each learner. When they make the change successfully, those teachers who were reluctant may feel like they should join the movement for change because they see and hear about it working. No matter what you do, there may always be a group of teachers who hang behind to avoid change. Then, it is up to the administration to decide how to handle those who refuse to join in on learning and changing.
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