Among the different blog posts that I read in response to TIME’s article entitled, ‘How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century’ I noticed a few similar themes of their responses. One of the responses was: “Oh, I actually didn’t think we made it into the 20th century yet!” and, “this is much needed, and get ready to get messy.” Most people either responded enthusiastically to this article, but there was the handful of cynics who believe we will perpetually be stuck in the past. I feel that the reality of this is actually a mixture of hope and weariness. I am excited and anxious to see the progression of the American school system. In the moving age of technology, the classroom has potential to be exciting for both the teacher and the student. Something that I think is passed all too often. On the other hand, we’ve seen the limitations of the public school system, now brought in part by NCLB. I think that overall, the cynics should be silenced and give support to the progression of TIME’s proposed method of getting the school out of the 20th century.
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Pbailey2's Weblog 
February 10, 2008 at 12:33 am |
It’s not the cynics that are the problem. Here’s the reality of any change.
When change is proposed around 15% think it’s great and are ready to make changes. These early adopter are highly motivated.
Another 15% are cynics who think the change will never work. Notice that the groups are about the same.
So what is the remaining 70% doing? They are waiting and hoping the whole thing will go away. Real change happens not when you silence the critics but when you engage the middle 70%.
The conclusion is that to make ideas and plans happen you need an aggressive change management strategy for the middle 70%. Most plans lack that strategy and fail.
Note, the I wasn’t talking about the merit of the plan but what research tells us about change.