This Blog is Subject to Change

I turned on the radio the other day and was greeted with the infamous words of David Bowie, "Time may change me, but I can't change time. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes." We've been hearing a lot about change recently; hope and change, climate change, spare change, change your mind, change of clothes. It's been suggested that change is the essence of life, or that the only constant in life is change. So exploring the process of institutional change in class seems like a timely topic.


In exploring the topic of change, I came across some quotes that I thought were particularly relevant to changes in education. American author and journalist Gail Sheehy notes that, "If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living." Educators often talk in terms of seeing and measuring growth in their students. They are primarily concerned with intellectual growth, but also social and emotional growth and maturity. It's a necessary component of human development. One of the teachers in my school is fond of saying, "To get something you don't have, you have to do something you haven't done." In other words, if we are really committed to improving student academic achievement scores and teaching 21st century skills, we have to be willing to change the way we educate our young people. We will never see any change in the results if we continue to educate young people the same way we have done it for decades. 


The institutional change simulation activity we participated in included several characters who resisted a proposed change. I think the change leaders would have to ask those people if they are satisfied with the results they are currently getting. If the answer is no, then the only logical conclusion is that something has to change. 
“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.” is a quote that is often attributed to Winston Churchill. If we cannot accept high drop out rates, low achievement, low engagement, high absenteeism, low graduation rates, etc, then our education system must be changed.


Chinese philosopher and father of Taoism, Lao Tzu, wrote that, "If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." I think we all know where we are heading if we do not make some fundamental changes in education - and the outlook is not pretty. The good news is that the situation is not hopeless. The infusion of digital learning strategies, for example, is one way educators are changing the educational paradigm for the better and are already seeing positive results.


As we saw in the simulation change can come from within. Our frustrations with the game demonstrate how that process can be frustrating and challenging, but it also showed how with strategy and perseverance, positive change can be accomplished. Mahatma Gandhi encouraged his followers to, "Be the change you want to see in this world." I think that really applies to today's educators. Change shouldn't be imposed by the federal government (read No Child Left Behind), it should start in the classroom.

So as the title of this post says, this blog is subject to change - and so is everything else in life. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.