Skip to main content

Change




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.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank you for challenging me George Couros

     I admitted before that sometimes I tend to take too long to think about things.  Well Mr. Couros, I spent a lot of time thinking about what you said in your session, "Leading Innovative Change"at ISTE13.  I already agreed with you about the smartest person in the room being the room.  Focusing on relationships wasn't something you had to convince me to do.  I experience too much "mind your own business learning" around me so I was still with you.  We are on the same page with learning being the focus over technology.    I was with you through that presentation.  Then, you pushed me out of my comfort zone.  You asked us to raise our hands if we thought we could teach you something.  I must admit I did not raise my hand.  You managed to hit on one of my insecurities.  I have no problem teaching those around me because they are not very tech savvy.  When I come to large conventions though, I don't feel like I am able to teach others because I see so many
4 comments
Read more

Humbled and Amazed by #LAedchat

     So let's be honest here.  I stink at blogging.  I have made multiple attempts to get started and never seemed to get going.  This is an area I need to improve, but too often it feels like one more thing to get done.  I also tend to think too long about things before I am ready to put them down.          I am sitting here tonight truly humbled and amazed.  In February, I was at a Google in Education Summit #giesummit.  Paula Naugle (@plnaugle) brought up that Louisiana was one of ten states that did not have a state ed chat.  She asked Nate Kellogg (@nkellogg) and me (@mrsmhebert) if we would be willing to start up a chat.      Less than two months later, here we are with a successful first #LAedchat under our belt.  It was a little nerve wracking before we started wondering if we would have enough people for a thriving conversation.  Turns out, the time and feed went speeding by.  New connections were made between educators from Louisiana, all around the U.S. and even
2 comments
Read more