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Change is something that has many pros and cons. Creating a change within a community can invite innovations, but also some push back.

Too much change in a short period of time may come with some refusal due to information overload. This can cause a decrease in motivation to learn something new. On the other hand, too little change may result in falling behind on the latest ideas or tools.

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Change is a process. If not all steps are taken when implementing a change, the idea could fail. Whether the change is big or small, you must have buy in from your community.

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5 Steps in the Change Management Process | Business: Explained

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Change can only happen when you have community buy in. Just one individual can disrupt the vision of trying something new. If school administration does not have the respect and trust of their teachers, they will fail when trying to implement something new.

Same goes for students in the classroom. If there is no change, class becomes boring and repetitive. However, too much change can result in confusion. Being able to find that happy medium within the classroom to keep it new and interesting, while also consistant, is key.

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6/11/2024

As educators, you know one constant in education is change. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, much has changed about teaching, but transitions and new challenges have been part of this profession for a long time.

One of the most holistic changes you can experience is a transition in leadership. Changes like this can cause unease and uncertainty, especially in schools where leaders have established a reliable approach over time. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, "Roughly 1 in 10 (11%) public school principals left the profession between the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school year" (n.p.).

The NCES reported a greater number of principals older than 55 were leaving the profession and an additional 20% of administrators were changing schools. This is a higher rate of transition than was reported five years prior to the 2020-2021 school year.

With so many changes, it is important to remember you have a valuable role to play in supporting transitions and your voices and work are essential for schools to be healthy places where learning happens.

While some changes are outside an educator's control, there are some areas teachers can hold steady. This work of maintaining quality instruction and a sense of welcome is important for students, families, teachers, and their colleagues.

This blog post serves as a reminder for teachers that they can always find some consistency and classrooms can still be comfortable spaces where learning occurs. No matter what transitions and shifts occur in schools or districts, you can still make positive changes of your own.

The voice of an educator can be a voice of calm when other parts of the school day feel up in the air, and you can rest assured your presence and work is sorely needed.

Welcoming Spaces

Chief among the work educators do, providing a space of welcome and sustained focus is critical for schools to function and for students to feel productive and capable. This sense of welcome is also important for new leaders. Our administrators feel the same worries and uncertainties we do when beginning work in a new place.

You can extend a sense of welcome as you share insight from your experiences at the school level. Teachers and administrators can also support one another during changes. Change is not one sided.

In addition to sharing your insight, you can get to know the vision of new leaders and work to support that vision. It is important to remember administrators and teachers are colleagues working together for the best outcomes for students. Finding connections and areas to support a school vision is powerful work.

Teachers are vital shapers of space at the classroom level and beyond. Part of the discussion around new leadership and the attitudes that become part of daily conversation stem from the educator. While leaders can communicate their vision at times, educators have an important role in shaping the mission of the school and sustaining the work of learning and connecting.

Ask yourself:

1. How am I learning about and supporting new leadership?

2. How am I communicating my professional vision and how it lines up with the vision of leadership?

3. How is my classroom a consistent safe harbor for students in any storm my school experiences?

Recognizing An Educator's Value

Educators are not easy to replace and should never feel disposable. The training and content knowledge aspect of teaching is only one dimension of what you do. The temperament and human element of classroom work is also vital, to say nothing of the relationships you build with colleagues, students, and families.

While changes can create a sense of insecurity, especially when we are no longer collaborating with people with whom we have long-established professional relationships, teaching is unique and comprehensive work. Teacher communities can provide a sense of coherence in confusing times not only in terms of the social and emotional temperature of a school, but in terms of its academic goals.

Teachers are also instrumental in creating the buy-in for new leadership. You can be a historian and communicator about what works best in your school.

Keeping Literacy and Learning the Focus

In addition to the emotional climate and mission/vision of the school, teachers are the trained experts who work with students each day. Without your expertise, leaders cannot hope to accomplish student learning goals. There is too much work to do for too many students with too many needs for a small group or single leader to accomplish the objectives of a school.

Gathering data, analyzing data, and shaping instructional plans in response to the needs of learners are all just part of what you do day in and day out. Leaders set the vision and educators, including teacher leaders, engage in the work of helping students master skills and build confidence.

By closely examining data and the daily happenings in the classroom, you can feel secure in the knowledge you have a vital contribution to make to school culture, including curriculum. Teachers should have open communication, including the ability to approach leadership with learning-based needs for quality materials that meet instructional goals.

In the face of change, you can focus on (a) what students need and (b) what materials are available/are needed to accomplish instructional goals.

Maintaining Positive Mental Health and Satisfaction

As noted earlier, the relationship of teachers and administrators is one of partnership and collaboration. School and district leaders have the charge of supporting students and families, sharing vision-and creating space for teachers to flourish.

With this in mind, the work of education is not and cannot solely be placed on teachers. Quality educators need support to focus on the work that matters most, and providing high-quality tools to equip professionals is an important aspect of this work. Teachers must also have protected time to build learning experiences, reflect on data, and make use of curriculum and materials.

You should feel you have the space to have honest conversations about the pressures of the work, educational policies, and any concerns they have related to your work. Mental health is more than a buzzword-it is a must-have ingredient for a successful professional and a positive professional environment.

It is important for you to take time for yourself and be informed about sources of support you can draw on, including what districts make available for mental health needs. There is nothing unprofessional about having boundaries and a keen sense of personhood-in fact, these are extremely professional attributes.

Conclusion: In This Together

Schools need quality teachers who can support the vision of new leadership and maintain a focus on student literacy growth. With a healthy perspective from teachers and leaders and a shared vision, school and district leadership turnover can be weathered-you can be prepared and keep the classroom stable for students.

Moreover, you can be confident in your training, aptitude, and the importance of the teaching role-not in spite of change but in support of what can be accomplished. All of this confidence can be a strong place to build on as you keep learning and growing with quality materials and professional development. With all of this in mind, you can be unintimidated by large-scale change-and actually participate in leveraging that change for the better.

As an educator, you are not simply a bystander when it comes to managing leadership transitions, you are a knowledgeable and capable leader in your school and classroom.

It might be argued teachers are one of the most-or the most-important part of school change.

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Change Happens-What Educators Can Do for Positive Outcomes | Lexia

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Educators are experiencing rising rates of change in schools. Navigating a change in leadership can be especially harrowing. This blog post offers teachers encouraging tips and insight for navigating leadership transitions.

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You must have an open mind and be willing to change perspective in order for change to have a fighting chance.

Creating a safe environment for teachers and/or students is the first step. If there is no relationship, no trust, there will be no change or "buy in".

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Growth opportunities are endless when it comes to education. There is always a new tool, grading system, classroom management strategy, etc.

At the school district I teach in there are constantly professional development days and/or courses teachers can take to broaden their knowledge. I absorb information best when learning hands on. This can be anything from observing other teachers or trying something new with one of my own classes.

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Listed above are some different ways any teacher, no matter the subject, can grow professionally. Remember - not everyone starts as a A+ teacher, there is always room for improvement. You must find what works best for you and your students specifically.

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How Can a Teacher Grow Professionally? 5 Tips to Succeed

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If you’re wondering how a teacher can grow professionally, we have a few tips that will help you stay engaged and fulfilled in your career.

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There are so many teacher professional development courses out there!

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400+ Best Teacher Professional Development Courses and Certifications for 2023 | Class Central

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Best online courses in Teacher Professional Development from Harvard, Stanford, MIT, University of Pennsylvania and other top universities around the world

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Canvas Queen

YouTuber who posts TONS of different tutorials for different technology tools that can be used in the classroom. Starting from scratch using a new tool can be scary! However, there are many easy ways to learn how to navigate these new programs.

As a new teacher, I LIVED off of Canvas Queen's YouTube videos. She was so helpful and her videos are easy to follow.

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"canvas tutorial for teachers" "k-12 canvas tutorials" canvaslms "canvas lms" "teacher tips" "teachers using canvas" "teachers using canvaslms" canvaslmstips...

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Canvas Advocate | Education Consultant | M.S. in LxD | Content Creator

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Canvas Queen tutorial video over Canvas for teachers

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Master Canvas LMS: New Teacher Training Course | Free Demo + Giveaway!

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No! Growth and change look different based on a number of factors: culture, community, environment, etc. For example, two schools in the same school district may try to implement a new idea. One school has teachers who are "bought in" and welcome the new idea; while the other school's teachers are hesitant to get on board with making a change.

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As educators, our goal is to create a growth mindset in each of our students. Instilling motivation, self confidence, and encouragement.

A growth mindset in school will carry over into life skills. Being able to take problem solving skills and curiosity learned in school to real life is the true goal of education.

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Nik Miller talks about how change and growth go hand and hand. Making a change is growing.

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Nik Miller: Change is Growth | Nik Miller | TEDxHieronymusPark

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Growth and change - they are not the same, but you can't have one without the other. In order to grow, one must allow room for change.

Growth is something that we as individuals gain from change. Change is constantly happening. Personally, I used to struggle with change. I like my routine and when things don't go as planned it used to bother me! Now that I am in education, I have learned to be patient and flexible with change which has allowed me to grow as a teacher and human.

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"Growth means change — but it doesn’t mean you change your intrinsic nature or characteristics"

There is an analogy of a plant to life and individual growth. This blog does a great job of breaking down personal growth and what that means.

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I love houseplants.

It's because I love them so much that I cringe inwardly when I receive one as a gift. It makes me sad to think that the pretty little plant will soon be a dried up little dead thing. I don't have the green thumb to match my love of greenery. I even once bought a book called 37 Houseplants Even You Can't Kill. Yeah... it didn't help.

But there is one hardy little houseplant that even I haven't killed: my philodendron. In fact, I once left the poor thing in the back of a moving truck for three days. When we opened up the truck, the plant only had four sad leaves left. But it liked the south-facing window in our San Diego apartment, and after a few months it had grown long vines. Someone told me to snip the ends and put them in water, wait until new roots grew, and add the new shoots back to the pot. Fourteen years later, not only is that same plant still living (miracle of miracles!), I now have four happy philodendron pots with several plants in each.

That's what I call growth.

Growth is one of the seven characteristics of a living thing. My daughter, Adessa, once said, "I grow every single day - you just can't see it!" As adults, we sometimes forget that we grow. Because we are no longer getting taller we lose sight of how our bodies and our brains are developing and renewing every day. In fact, we call ourselves "grown ups," as if the growing is all done.

We like to pretend that who we were yesterday is exactly who we are today and we get really uppity when someone (like a nonverbal communication coach) asks us to stretch outside our comfort zones. We make up all sorts of excuses as to why we can't grow. We accuse people of trying to change us. But there's more to you than you think.

"This is just who I am," a man in a recent coaching session said. "People may not like it, but it's me. I could try to do things to make people like me better, but it wouldn't be 'me.'"

Growth means change - but it doesn't mean you change your intrinsic nature or characteristics. It doesn't change who or what you are. Take my happy little philodendron, for example. It was a philodendron when it was just four sad leaves. In fact, it was a philodendron when it was just a seed! But it grew. It didn't stay a seed. It didn't stay four sad leaves. When I gave it water and light, it grew into a huge plant - not just one, but several!

Growth likely DOES mean you'll change the way you look, i.e., the way you appear in the world, your nonverbal presence. My plant looks differently now than it did when I first got it. It certainly looks differently than it did when it was first planted!

Kids are another great example - when my babies were each born, they were hardwired with genetic code that would determine many aspects of their personalities and their looks. Over the years, they have grown and changed, but who they are is still who they were when they were born. But now they're bigger and stronger, they look differently, they act differently, and various aspects of their nature are starting to be seen with greater clarity as they mature.

If you are given the things you need to grow - in the case of my plant, water and light; in your case, feedback and instruction - you owe it to the world to make use of it and GROW. And yes, you might look a little different on the other side of that process, but you will still be YOU.

If you are alive(which I assume you are if you're, uh, reading this), you have the power to grow - not only to grow, but to flourish. No one else on the planet has the same combinations of gifts, strengths, lovable quirks, and aptitudes that you do. Develop those so you can be the biggest, boldest, most powerful version of yourself you can be. Take in the nourishment. Get bigger and stronger. Spread out. Reach.
Grow. Change your communication, change your life.
I'm Rachel Beohm, a writer, speaker, and coach. Through nonverbal communication, I empower clients to show up as their biggest, boldest selves.

If you haven't done it yet, go sign up for 21 Days to Build a Better Life. It's a FREE 3-week email coaching program that I wrote to help you change your communication and your life.

This blog was first posted on my website. Click here to see the original.

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It's because I love them so much that I cringe inwardly when I receive one as a gift. It makes me sad to think that the pretty little plant will soon be a dried up little dead thing. I don't have the...

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It's all about perspective. Growth and change can look different depending on ones environment and upbringing. David Schneider does a fantastic job sharing his story and relating his experiences.

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A Different Perspective Can Change Everything | David Schneider | TEDxGrandCanyonUniversity

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With change may come some push back. There can be many reasons for this resistance.

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Have you ever had someone give you push back when you were trying to implement something new? Have you been ever questioned about a change you were trying to make? Have you asked yourself why the change needs to occur?

Pushback or resistance to change can show up in many ways. A person can get defensive in trying to get their point. Whereas another person, may choose to be defiant and not do what they have been directed to do. Individuals may procrastinate in moving forward with their part of the change and do things last-minute or miss deadlines completely thus sabotaging the change.

Even though push back and resistance to change can be frustrating, it is important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Ask yourself:

Why might this person be challenging or questioning me?

Is there value in what they are saying?

What is the impact that they see that I may not?

Sometimes we think that the person who's playing the devil's advocate is resisting change but what they're really doing is looking at the situation from different angles. It is important to differentiate whether this person is pushing back or resisting change or are they providing you with valuable shifts in perspective?

Don't get me wrong...

There are people who resist change. Instead of seeing change as progress, they see change as paralysis.

There are several reasons people resist change and the questions you should be asking yourself?

Lack of Control When people feel that things are done "to them" rather than "with them", they feel a loss of autonomy. Sometimes these changes are a surprise and the ideas of change are imposed upon them. What information do they need to feel more in control?

Fear of Failure If you've ever been a part of a group or an organization with seasoned members, you may have heard the phrase "We've done it before and it didn't work". These individuals often operate from a place of fear - the fear of failure. They come from the premise that because it didn't work before, it may not work again and they don't want to fail. However, they fail to recognize that even though the concept has been used before, it didn't mean that it was the right time, the right resources were available, or that organization has new people and has gone through a many new experiences. Just because something didn't work before doesn't mean, it might not work this time. Have you ever been a part of a group or organization like this? How did it make you feel? What opportunity can you offer for someone to try out their idea?

Too Much Uncertainty Some people resist change because the uncertainty or the "not knowing" makes them feel uneasy and fearful. They do not want to step out of their comfort zone. When people make decisions out of fear, they move into a fight or flight mode and cannot think rationally. They also may make decisions hastily without thought.

We forget we wake up every day with a whole to-do list of different things not knowing what the entire outcome will be. Life would be pretty boring if we knew everything that was going to happen. There would be no excitement or anticipation. There may even be a lack of motivation or effort to pursue and achieve a certain result. What can you do to support your customers or the people you work with when faced with uncertainty?

People are Creatures of Habit We fall into unconscious routines and are creatures of habit. We rely on structure of schedules, calendars, and processes to carry things out. One change can make everything feel completely different. When everything is different, we feel uncertainty creep in. What processes or structures will stay the same and what will be different? What will the "new normal" look like?

Change creates work. People may not buy-into the change, thinking that the change is not necessary or change is occurring just for the sake of change. You may see this when people are suffering from change fatigue. They may be unwilling to learn one more thing. Change is happening so much that they do not have the time to adjust and adapt to the change because what they just changed is changing again so they start thinking, "What's the point?" We need to be aware of having too many changes to a process. It may mean that the change needs to be thought through a bit more. What impact will the changes make? Are the changes being made necessary? What else do you need to consider when making the change?

"In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." - Eric Hoffer

Change represents progress and growth. If you are not changing and adapting to the world that is going on around you - you may get left behind.

"You must embrace change before change erases you." - Rob Liano

Anchor yourself in the vision, mission, and core values that you live and abide by - this grounding exercise can provide you with the familiarity you seek. When you feel you are asked to do more with less and resources appear scarce, it is time to innovate and get creative. Do not hold back in trying to understand what is behind the push back. You may be too close to the situation to see the value in what the "devil's advocate" is offering you.

Share the vision for what you want to achieve. Engage the individuals the change impacts whenever possible. The more they are part of the process, the less resistant they will be to implementing a change. Appreciate their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions by allowing them to share the possibilities. By gathering information from diverse groups and individuals, you strengthen the strategies for managing transition. Use push back and resistance to change as your opportunity to gain insight to the larger picture.

Have you experienced push back or resistance to change - share your story about what you did?

Share this article with someone who may be experiencing this right now!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. She is a contributing writer for Diversity Magazine and Fabulous at 50 magazine. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. www.deb

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5 Reasons People Push Back or Resist Change - Debra Kasowski

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Have you ever had someone give you push back when you were trying to implement something new? Have you been ever questioned about a change you were trying to make? Have you asked yourself why the change needs to occur? Pushback or resistance to change can show up in many ways.

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According to PBS, "The average adult is estimated to make around 35,000 decisions each day, including both conscious and subconscious choices."