https://padlet.com/717118163/86w68mznskkc Made with swagger en-us 2017-11-29 14:48:54 UTC 2017-11-29 15:25:15 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Condos.png 717118163 https://padlet.com/717118163/86w68mznskkc/wish/211439233  Introduction Change is multi-faceted and evident at all levels of organizations (Kennedy and Edwards 1998:19). In my own situation, working at private English conversation schools in Nagano, Japan, I have seen calls for change from the corporate head office, local managers, teachers, students, and within myself. Whatever the source of innovation, change involves modification of individual behavior and underlying beliefs and attitudes (Kennedy and Edwards 1998:17). One example of personal change involved beginning my MA in TEFL studies through the University of Birmingham. Change is “systematic” (Edwards and Kennedy 1998:19) in that “it takes place in an environment that consists of a number of interrelating systems” (Edwards and Kennedy 1998:19), so isolating the effects of my MA studies on my classroom difficult. Nevertheless, I believe my studies have had a positive effect on my teaching attitudes, beliefs, and behavior, and this paper identifies and classifies those positive effects. In the first section, a literature review will introduce different models of innovation and change. The second section will address my classroom and changes in my teaching, and the third section will attempt to classify the changes as Paradigm Shift, Continuous Change, or Incremental Change. 1. Literature Review: Systems of Change Change is essential to any social system, including schools and teachers (Kennedy and Edwards 1998:2). In the last three years of working at English conversation schools, I have seen a government-sponsored program change school policies, participated in new textbook launches, and experienced the regular turnover of personnel that seems to characterize conversation schools in Japan. Personally, I have changed employers three times, gotten married, and drastically modified my social behavior outside the classroom. Each change, whether institutional or personal, has been a reaction to outer forces (the 3 government) or inner forces (desire to have a family), and each has effected my selfperception of teaching and my classroom behavior. ]]> 2017-11-29 15:19:20 UTC https://padlet.com/717118163/86w68mznskkc/wish/211439233 717118163 https://padlet.com/717118163/86w68mznskkc/wish/211440082 2017-11-29 15:20:39 UTC https://padlet.com/717118163/86w68mznskkc/wish/211440082 717118163 https://padlet.com/717118163/86w68mznskkc/wish/211440619 2017-11-29 15:21:33 UTC https://padlet.com/717118163/86w68mznskkc/wish/211440619