Mission+Barriers+to+Change

==Michael Fullan has noted, "the way teachers are trained, the way schools are organized, the way the educational hierarchy operates, and the way political decision-makers treat educators results in a system that is more likely to retain the status quo."==

(1993, p. 3)
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Would you add any other barriers to change? List them here:
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== Apple (2009) and others (for example Sitch, 2005) have noted that the teaching profession has faced a decline in autonomy, as the locus of control in education shifts away from the classroom practitioner. Apple calls this a separation of “conception from execution” (p. 199). In other words, the central questions around the //what, why, how// and //when// of learning is concentrated more and more in the hands of government, leaving teachers to execute curricula over which they have very little control. ==

==One by-product of this loss of control is **what Apple calls the “intensification” of teaching**. Provincially mandated “duties and instructional time, restrictive curriculums and standardized testing” (Sitch, 2005 p. 2) require teacher-time to be more and more consumed by bureaucratic and management tasks (Apple, 2009, p. 205). This leaves teachers with less time to keep up with their field. They have less time to reflect, question, or engage in meaningful dialogue with colleagues. This lack of time stands as a clear barrier to teachers acting as effective change agents. Apple quotes one teacher as observing, “I don’t have time to be creative or imaginative.” (p. 206). But change necessarily comes from a desire to create and imagine new possibilities. ==

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=We also have to consider the personal reactions teachers may have to change. Change brings uncertainty, and requires risk-taking (Oberg 2009, p.14). Teachers may ‘push back’ against a change that challenges **what Mitchell and Sackney (2001) term the //professional narrative// of a teacher’s work**. Unless properly supported in a collegial, collaborative environment that validates diverse perspectives, some teachers may put up roadblocks to change. =

==At the school level, organizational structures and school culture may also present barriers to change. For example, **Ross and Hannay (2001) observe that the tendency to organize schools around subject-based departments can stifle creative or innovative ideas (p. 4).** “…Homogeneous networks limit the amount of new information or different ideas to which members are exposed” (Mitchell and Sackney, 2001, p. 3). “Group think “ becomes a danger. ==

==Oberg (2001 and 2009) highlights the importance of building a positive culture in nurturing effective change. Oberg also suggests that the norms of teaching – conservatism, individualism and presentism can make change in schools very difficult to achieve (2009, p. 12 – 13) as each tends to support the status quo. ==

The norms of teaching explained (Oberg, 2001):
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 * ==conservatism: teaching tends to attract people who enjoyed their own school experience. They are not likely to see the need for major changes.==
 * ==individualism: we tend to view teaching as a personal, idiosyncratic art. We may resist change that challenges our 'tried and true' methods. We may also become trapped in a sense that we must "go it alone," rather than tapping support networks, working collaboratively or engaging our colleagues.==
 * ==presentism: the rewards of teaching aren't really tied to effort or outcomes. Instead, they are tied to years of training and years of experience.==

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==Of course, we can’t ignore what - for teachers at least - are arguably the most challenging barriers to change: those that occur at the level of political decision-makers. **Case (1994)** has argued that a persistent problem with educational reform is that there is a “tendency in education systems to attempt systemic reforms by responding in simpleminded ways to complex challenges” (p. 2). ==

==One example of a simpleminded response would be the strong reliance on ‘buzzwords’ or slogans; **“The danger with educational slogans—and slogans are ubiquitous in education—is that they are seductive and urge action without providing direction”** (Case, p. 3). Any educational change will quickly derail without a carefully though-out plan for effective implementation. ==

==Furthering that idea, Fullan (1998) charges that “the state gets pre-occupied with ‘adoption’ —getting the policy on the books—and at best leaves implementation to compliance strategies that can never work because they neglect (in fact adversely affect) the very capacities which are essential to success.” (p. 6). These capacities, he believes, are those occurring in a local context, as “there is no substitute for internal school development.” (The Three Stories...). == = =

==**Fullan** (1998) also identifies teacher education (both initial and continuing learning) as another barrier for effective reform in education (1998). He **calls teacher education “the worst problem and the best solution” (p. 2)** and calls for action that would: ==
 * ==Provide a stronger knowledge base for teaching and teacher education ==
 * ==Attract able, diverse and committed students to the career ==
 * ==Redesign teacher-education programs to strengthen links between arts and sciences, and to the field of practice ==
 * ==Reform working conditions in schools ==
 * ==Develop and monitor external standards for programs and for teacher candidates and teachers ==
 * ==Create a rigorous and dynamic research enterprise focusing on teaching, teacher education, and on assessment and monitoring. ==

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=//B////arriers, and the challenges they present, can also represent opportunities; opportunities to challenge the status quo, to engage in debate, and inform the work we do.// =