Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/nurturing-change-through-community-and-connection/5026890/
*Figure 1 can be found in the pdf version of this article.
This piece is a very personal essay based on ideas that have been swirling in my mind for a long time. I have been in the field of education for over 50 years, and a question that has been irking me for a long time is, “Why it is so hard to bring sustained change to education? Not just change to small pockets that come and go. What are the obstacles that make it so hard for new and even some good old ideas to be introduced or reintroduced in schools and classrooms? What can we do when the administration and the policymakers are not on the journey with us to reimagine our work? Where does the leader of a school fit, what role do they play? As a young teacher, is there anything one can do to facilitate change beyond small collaborations between teachers?”
In thinking about the above questions, I did two things. Throughout the pandemic, I have filled my time with researching, reading, and participating in Zoom sessions about change and leadership and why change is so ephemeral at its worst, or not fully embraced in an effective ...