tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381187568583718836.post50178900426061156..comments2014-06-08T23:10:56.076-07:00Comments on Remi's Random Ramblings: Why is change hard?Remihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17627852226185370848noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381187568583718836.post-66058546616999473652010-09-20T08:15:49.340-07:002010-09-20T08:15:49.340-07:00How I wish more principals were open to the challe...How I wish more principals were open to the challenge of bringing change to their schools. I applaud you for this step you want to take.<br /><br />You said, "I guess what is toughest is how to address the question of comfort." I know that was one of the major difficulties I had as a principal. Working with teachers who not only had a high degree of confidence in their performance themselves, but also a high level of confidence from their peers and the parent community. The trouble for me sometimes was seeing these very strong teachers caught up in routines and practices that did not change from year to year, despite a changing need from students for different approaches. In our business as principals it is sometimes to easy to say, "Well, satisfactory is satisfactory."<br /><br />I'm not certain that bringing in experts or having mandated pro-d is the solution. Your other suggestion - time - has been something I have seen to be more effective. Find the teachers who have adopted change in their environment, and give them the time to spend with others. And, make that time class time. I am not sure what amount of teaching you may have as part of your assignment - where I live, principals have to teach themselves a fair amount - but if you can do it, cover the class for an in house mentor and let them help others to investigate change on a peer to peer basis.<br /><br />Enjoy your work ... retirement may come too soon and then you will really have change to adapt to.Bob Cotterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543978585955071811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381187568583718836.post-52391235676838440232010-09-20T07:57:12.438-07:002010-09-20T07:57:12.438-07:00Remi - great to see you thinking / writing about t...Remi - great to see you thinking / writing about the difficulty of change. I want to challenge the statement you made in your last para. You ask "How do we faciitate change?" then answer it with "By showing how it will be better for the kids and not an add-on but rather a supplemental strategy". I suggest that is only one aspect. I think that we're seen more changes, driven by technology, that are becoming completely disruptive to current practices or ways of thinking. Think about the iphone or ipad... these are filling a need most people didn't know they had. ipad type devices are likely to be the displacement device for textbooks as we know them. As virtual reality matures and embeds itself in all learning and teaching, major changes will come rapidly. <br /><br />That said... your reflection on some of the things that cause us to not engage in change are accurate... in education. I think the response of education to change will itself change, is changing. Look at yourself - using twitter, blogging, that's pretty radical for someone who claims not to like be "out there". If you can do it, others can and will.<br /><br />The other reality with change is it's a slippery slope... as we adopt one change, making another incremental change gets easier, until we're way past (disrupted) where we were. History proves this time and again.<br /><br />Love that you're writing about one of my favorite topics! Keep going...Brian Kuhnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12565982072371979984noreply@blogger.com