Smoothing the Way for Change

“We’re always innovating and trying new things. For once, I think we just need to stay the same.”

Often we see change as an either/or challenge and teachers resist because it is "just another implementation of a programme". Can we see it as a necessary polarity - like breathing - you can't have exhaling without inhaling.

Polarity map - helps to accomplish 3 goals:

1. Allows views of both positive and negatives of an argument - to get an overview of a system
2. Encourages the creation of concrete steps
3. Identifies and Codifies the greater purpose behind the intended change

IDENTIFYING THE GREATER PURPOSE

• The first step of a polarity map, before listing positives and negatives, is to clearly define the greater purpose that you hope to achieve.
• Psychologist Kurt Lewin once said, “If you want to truly understand something, try to change it.” The psychology of change includes a range of emotions, from excitement and determination to frustration and fear. Most initiatives will face resistance if this psychology is ignored.

We need to create supports to mitigate fears if we want change to succeed. We can identify these fears and how to support by using a polarity map: 

The final step of polarity mapping is to identify warning signs that the system may be tilting too far toward one pole, as well as action steps to bring the system back into balance. Consider traditional, teacher-directed instruction and student-centered learning. When a curriculum is too teacher-directed, the students may not be as engaged or may not have opportunities for critical thinking, so the teacher might introduce a unit of project-based learning to spark deeper inquiry.

Similarly, when students have too much autonomy, they may feel unfocused or may miss key components of the curriculum. To mitigate this challenge, the teacher might use a lecture and guided reading to increase content knowledge. By identifying warning signs, the teacher can take steps to keep the system in balance.

My question would be, is it important that they don't miss key components of the curriculum? Who is to say what students need to learn in this day and age? However, I can see that many of our students feel very unfocused. How do we mitigate this? And scaffold this? I think this is where we are headed. Maybe a polarity chart for what we are doing would help the staff to understand where to go next. 

Too often, change in education is viewed as an exhausting either/or debate. Polarity mapping offers a strategy to see the positives in both sides of the conversation and a means to find balance in new initiatives.