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Change is scary. As human beings, we seek stability and control. We often want everything to remain the same so we don't have to leave our comfort zone. However, change in inevitable. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending upon your mindset) nothing stays the same forever. While this can be scary, ultimately, stepping out of our comfort zone and accepting change so that we can grow is the only way to progress. All that being said, if we as educators want to be truly innovative, we need to not only accept change, but embrace it

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This is a really great Tedtalk about accepting change. We can either spend our energy fighting against change, or we can learn to accept change and everything that it brings. This is the way for us to truly grow as educators and as people.

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Embracing Change | Marco Marsans | TEDxDeerfield

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Growth and education go hand in hand. Most, if not all, of our school districts not only offer, but require we attend professional development seminars which are designed to help us change and grow as educators. We also undergo assessments as educators which are not meant to punish, but rather to show us areas in which we can improve. Finally, my school employs full-time performance coaches whose entire job is to maximize our performance and help us change to be more successful as educators.

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Having a growth mindset means knowing that we are not done learning. One way for us to grow as educators is by seeking higher education for ourselves. Everyone in this class has already taken the first step in the right direction in this regard. By pursuing a master's or doctoral degree, we can further our own growth the better serve our students in a changing world.

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This is a link to a cool article that helps reframe how we as educators think of change. Once we accept that we must be willing to change and grow, we must come to terms with not only the way that change happens, the but the speed at which it comes about.

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New teachers often become disillusioned because of their inability to effect change in the education system. A new book, The First Five, has some helpful advice.

To sustain myself in the profession, I had to process my own beliefs about change. I know I'm not alone with having an unspeakable frustration with the ways our country and systems leave the needs of children and teachers out to dry. I have a witness out there? Our frustration with the system is one of the biggest reasons why teachers quit and a part of this is a misunderstanding of how change happens. I want you here for the long haul. So it can be helpful to examine what happened through the lens of emergent strategy.

Effective change is slow and small.

Change is about relationships, not just about strategy.

Change reveals our interconnectedness.

Systems of power are upheld by people.

Change is constant.

Informed by adrienne maree brown's core principles, here are my beliefs about change in schools:

Effective Change Is Slow and Small

I label myself a fantast. This means I am a dreamer. I ask myself big questions that I don't have the answers to. I think of big plans that some people raise their eyebrows in "I don't know about all that" energy. My solutions are usually just as big as my dreams and my questions.
Courtesy of Patrick Harris
Just burn it all down and start over. I mean, that's the easiest way right? But I have learned through failure, through conversations, and through relationships that dreaming big means thinking small. Brown teaches us that small change is still a reflection of the larger system. As cheesy as it sounds, planting the seed still matters. So, that risk you take in your classroom still counts. Developing a plan even though it does not get adopted still matters. Organizing a protest and a list of demands still counts. Scheduling a meeting to build a connection still counts.

Change, particularly in schools, is slow and it starts small. This is because everyone wants buy-in. And in theory this is a good thing. We cannot make change without having us all onboard. (Beware of those with privilege and power who purposefully block change.) When we start small, this can still lead to big change. You may not be the one who waters the seed or feeds it or ensures it gets sunlight on cloudy days. But, roses, even in concrete, don't grow without seeds.

Change Is About Relationships, not Just About Strategy

This is layered. From my experience, I have learned that making change in school is hardly ever about how good your plan is. You can spend all day and all night dotting your i's and crossing your t's. Include the latest research. But if you do not have the relationships with the people who the change will impact, it is useless. Relationships in education are measured by trust. It took me a long time to learn this. I used to think my administrators, colleagues, students had to "like" me.

You know what I mean? Being liked is a temporary feeling and it is something you hardly have any control over. People's personal roller coasters will impact whether they like you today and whether that changes tomorrow. But trust is more long-lasting. Trust is measurable. Trust is something you can plan for. You feel me? And so, while I may not always like my administrators, I have to figure out if I can trust them to make the best decisions for the students and educators in the building. And they have to know they can trust you.

I know ego, perfectionism, and pressure can be in the way. Emergent strategy pushed me to think about animals and plants and how they trust without debate. I saw an Instagram reel recently that showcased a colony of bees making a ball around an imposter queen bee. She had to be destroyed. Without question, argument, or debate these bees worked together to create a ball around this sus bee. They buzzed in harmony creating a pocket of heat. This heat exploded the bee into bits and then the colony of bees went back to protecting their actual queen. Nothing would stop them from protecting their ecosystem.

As humans, particularly adults, we do not work well together unless we have a certain level of trust. (This is what we mean when we say buy-in.) And rightfully so. History has taught us to not trust each other because humans create unnecessary harm every day. Whether physical, emotional, or mental violence, institutional violence or educational violence, our flawed nature makes room for distrust. But if we are moving towards change, trust is a very necessary component. This requires intentionality and risk-taking. Self-awareness and evaluation. We must be intentional about building trust with our students and their families. And our colleagues and administrators.

We must respect that this trust takes time, depending on the person. But that's OK. Change is small and slow. Trust also requires risk-taking. Sometimes we are in the building stages of developing a relationship or a relationship is rocky. We can still choose to trust one another. In some cases, we have to choose to trust one another. Give the plan a chance, even if you think it may fail. Allow colleagues and administrators to voice their opinions; it may push the conversation forward. If we don't trust people, we can't build relationships. And without relationships, change is impossible.

This also means knowing and engaging with opposing views. Now let me be clear here. Our country glorifies extremists. I'm not talking about them: white supremacists, Karens, obstructionists. Not them. I'm talking about people who have a different experience than you and simply disagree with your ideas (not your humanity). In grad school, I learned that algorithms are designed to show you ads and posts you are likely to engage with. And studies show that you are likely to engage with posts that affirm your own beliefs.

Thus, as much time as we spend on our phones giving our opinions, it is less likely that we are actually having healthy dialogue with people who disagree with us. I choose to believe that we all have the same end goal in education: to prepare healthy and whole young people to thrive in the world. But we all have different ways of getting there. It is our duty and responsibility to affirm our shared humanity and give space to have dialogue.

Change Reveals Our Interconnectedness

Change is often coupled with fear. How will this impact me? The more we discuss change in schools, the more we reveal how connected we all are. What we do as teachers impacts our administrators. The activities we plan impact custodial staff. Deciding to renovate a building impacts the surrounding community. The laws and policies created by local school boards impact teachers. And all of the ways we make decisions in education impact young people. Period.

An easy way to think about interconnectedness is to consider the way the building shifts when someone is absent. You know that feeling when you come in and the hallway is quieter than normal. Or when you go down to pick up your class for the start of the day and you see a substitute. "They're not here today?" You may acknowledge a shift in your energy. This is showing how interconnected we all are.

So when we are considering the ways we can make change, we have to consider how everyone is impacted by that change. Remember, we want to make system change because it's long-lasting. And if we are changing systems, then we must know that everyone is impacted by this. As we are devising our plans, it is healthy for us to acknowledge the ways our interconnectedness will be impacted by change.

With this interconnectedness, we should see the value of interdependence and shared leadership.

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Reframing How to Think About Change in Public Education

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New teachers often become disillusioned because of their inability to effect change in the education system. A new book, 'The First Five,' has some helpful advice.

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This video outlines some interesting opportunities for teachers to seek growth.

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Creating Opportunities for All Teachers to Grow

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In order to change and grow, we need to understand what change is and how we can perceive it. Change is not inherently a good thing. Nor is it inherently bad, change is simply change.

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What IS change? | Alyza Alix | TEDxRochester

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Understanding the difference between change and growth is key to innovation as educators. Change is not a good or bad thing it simply is. On the other hand, growth is something that happens for us when we accept change and allow ourselves to improve thanks to our experiences.

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As we touched on this week in the class modules, one of the keys to growth is having a growth mindset. We have to be open to change in order to grow or we run the risk of stagnating.