There are 4 words that have the same essential effect: evangelization, marketing, education and change.

Check out these definitions:

Evangelization: To promulgate or promote a doctrine or idea, for example, enthusiastically.
Marketing: The commercial processes involved in promoting and selling/distributing a product or service.
Education: The act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge and of developing the powers of reasoning and judgment.
Change: A transformation or transition from one state, condition, or phase to another.

Even though the definitions are not the same, there is an element of change involved, and a process, whether or not perceived, which occurs.

The goal of evangelization is to change someone’s particular mindset and/or faith to embrace another set of beliefs; the goal of marketing is to change a particular mindset about a product or service to an openness to find out more about that particular product or service; the goal of education is to change the mindset of the learner through the exposure of new information about a subject.  They all require some type of change to happen in the mind of an individual, and even though they have an element of logical (cognitive) alteration, they all start with an emotional (affective) instance.

For educators, change must be in their DNA.  Their students change every year.  The courses they teach change, sometimes every semester.  Sometimes, a course may be offered every other year, and when the time comes to teach it again, it may need to be significantly revised to include new relevant material, discard outdated data, and possibly introduce new methods or technology to deliver content in a new way to attract more students.  Some teachers change schools during the week, working in as many as 4 or 5 schools, even 6 if the school is on a 6-day cycle and there are 6 elementary schools in the school system.  They may have to substitute for another teacher instead of utilizing their planning period for that day, and, if they teach classes at the local college at night, shift gears from the pedagogy necessary to teach children to then focus on adrogogical techniques and strategies to engage the adult learner.

Of course, when a student enters the classroom, a change needs to happen in that student before they leave the classroom, or else learning has not taken place.

With all this change happening all around them, for a teacher to say that they dislike change seems oxymoronic.  Teachers are agents of change, and are actually very good at making change happen.  The key is to involve teachers in the transformation process.  Because they are so adept at developing strategies and constructs to make learning possible, they are that much more apt to object to change that they simply experience, rather than actively participating in the transition’s planning and implementation.

To say that teachers don’t like change may be a significantly incorrect generalization, since education is all about change.  Teachers are great at making change happen.  It’s what they do on a daily basis, creating environments to foster learning, and finding ways to ignite that spark of the “aha moment” in their students which ties the emotional and logical response together.  Therefore, involve and engage teachers in transformative initiatives, rather than keeping them on the sidelines, telling them how they’re going to have to change.  Give them a voice and role, and watch some great things happen.

An article published in the April 16, 2013 Harvard Business Review was titled, “Change Management Needs to Change.”  It stated that change management has been a recognized discipline for over 50 years, yet despite the tools, training and books about the topic, most studies indicate a significant failure rate for organizational change projects.

That doesn’t mean, however, that change is not possible.  It just has to be looked at under a different lens, and many times, it helps to have help to guide an entity, either an individual, an organization, or corporation, through change.  There are some great texts about change too, and some that pull their research from the field of education.  One of those texts is “The Six Secrets of Change” by Michael Fullen.  Why is education an appropriate field to begin to think differently about change?  Because education is all about change.  After all, when a student exits a classroom, his or her mind is just a bit different than it was when the student entered the classroom.  If learning has occurred, then something in the students’ mind has changed.  Teachers, therefore, are agents of change, and foster change every day.

Then why don’t we want to change, and even fear it, especially when we know it’s inevitable?

The problem isn’t necessarily with change.  Groups which protest certain political and civic actions have been known to be very vocal about their desire for change.  Their chants echo in our minds:  “What do we want?  CHANGE!  When do we want it?  NOW!”  Yet, when change does indeed happen, perhaps it’s not the change that’s been hoped for.

So what is change?  Consulting the dictionary, Oxford Dictionaries defines it as, “The act or instance of making or becoming different.”  The online resource also notes that it is a Scrabble^® word worth 12 points.

The succinct definition has two words which are both keys to realizing the difficulties with change:  “instance” and “different.”  Change is thought of as a one-time event (instance, or, as someone once said, “All of a sudden, things changed.”), and because “instance” or “instant” has a connotation of “surprise,” change is considered not just to be different, but many times, unexpected.  A third connotation of change is “big.”  Whenever someone speaks about change, headlines proclaim, “Big changes are on the horizon!”  Why?  Because little changes happen all the time, and aren’t newsworthy.  One’s body changes every day, but if we aren’t cognizant of those changes by tracking them on a regular basis, then change goes unnoticed, until one day we look in the mirror and think, “What happenend?”  Headlines that associate “big” with “change” has reinforced the social mindset that all changes are big, something to be feared, and may strike when we least expect them.

Change, however, doesn’t have to be “big.”  A small change is still a change, and that small change can – and WILL – lead to a series of other changes, since change doesn’t happen just once, and change doesn’t happen in a vacuum.  Even a small change can greatly affect other things connected to what has changed.  Watch the movie, “The Butterfly Effect” for a lesson in the systemic nature of change.

Perhaps, then, it may be helpful to change how we think about change.

Rather than “different,” let’s think of it as a progression toward a goal, or a “distinctive” position.  Differentiation is all about emphasizing one’s unique and distinctive qualities, whether that be as an individual or as a corporate entity.

Rather than “instant,” let’s think of it as a “process,” or a “transition,” from one stage of existence to the next.  Transitions are planned, so that the process can be a smooth one.  “Growth” is another idea that comes to mind, since, as it’s been said, “To change is to grow.”

Rather than “macro,” let’s think “micro.”  “Little wins” is a common theme of change management.  Perhaps a shift, or an adjustment.  If you have a child in a competitive marching band program, ask them about the phrase, “Check and adjust.”  It’s how their field performances are rehearsed, creating an almost innate sense of “muscle memory” within the performance unit on the field.

Life is change.  As the waters of the Jordan River flow through the Sea of Galilee, it brings life where fish swim and provides refreshment for the surrounding towns and villages.  The river ends in the Dead Sea, where nothing flows out, and nothing life-giving lives in its salty, stagnant waters…that are now disappearing.

“To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”
– St. John Henry Newman

The Introduction section to my book, “Shift: A Strategy ‘Geared’ To Solidify School Finances,” states that we all have an aversion to change for a few reasons.

First, change is inevitable.

Second, it’s not so much that we fear the event itself, but that we do not know when it will happen.

Third, change is perceived in a “macro” sense.  When someone announces “changes are coming,” the understood connotation is that there will be “big” changes!

Fourth, change is seen as an event, when it’s really a process.  If change happens too fast, disastrous consequences can result.

Fifth, and lastly, the result of a change may be prolonged change, which simply extends the frustration, and sometimes, causes those affected by change to want to return to “the way things used to be.”  Since “the way things used to be” is sometimes synonymous with “the way we’ve always done it,” individuals with that mindset believe all the complications that can be caused by change can be avoided if change just doesn’t happen.  Unfortunately, when the rest of the culture and society is changing, sticking to the way things have always been done will ultimately lead to the greatest inevitable change of all.

Change is ubiquitous.  Even though we might not recognize it, it’s happening all the time.  Even when we realize it’s happening too fast, there’s little we can do to stop it.  The most unique characteristic of change, however, is that while it is feared, it is also desired.  Otherwise, why would there be crowds of people who rally together for a common cause and shout, “What do we want?” and the reply is made, “Change.”  That’s usually followed by, “When do we want it?” and the people say, “Now.”

The real issue is that we, as individuals, want to be in control.  An individual wants some things to change, but not others.   A father may want his employment situation to change so that he can better provide for his family, but while he’s working toward that goal, the children grow up.  By the time he reaches his goal and is able to spend more time with his kids, he realizes the kids aren’t interested in playing catch with their father anymore and would rather spend time with their friends.

In this example, we can see that prioritization is important when dealing with change.  Two other necessary components are communication, and openness.

Next month, a little more about change, and how we can change our current mindsets about change.

© Mike Ziemski, M.Ed., 2015-2022 (Original Publication Date: 20150726)