Change

Second order change is looked at as being dramatic departures from the past or the expected. It’s been referred to as “deep change.” It requires the rethinking of the way things are done and rearranging of mental models. Much as when a child is learning something new that doesn’t fit into the existing schema they must go through the accommodation process, second order change requires the same accommodations to be made to existing schema.

Second order change can be difficult in an organization because people handle change so differently. Few people embrace it; many people fear it and the discomfort it brings. Often times people would like to move towards change, however, habits, fear, time constraints and other factors keep them from doing so.

I have a sign hanging in my office, which states, “There is no such thing as small change.” It’s a reminder to me that as much as I might like to completely integrate technology into all subjects and all classrooms, the teachers I work with are not comfortable with that and together we need to take it as small change. Utilizing incremental, first order change doesn’t show the benefit of the technology in my opinion, because we are only adding on and tweaking at the edges. However, I continue to implement as much as I can and slowly I do see things changing.

Marzano highlights 7 of his 21 responsibilities of leadership as being necessary for change. I can see a few of them being of more importance and reflecting on my experience in trying to change the use of technology at my school, I see how they are helpful to leaders in dealing with second order change.

The first responsibility is the Change Agent. Perhaps this seems obvious as we are talking about change, but the leader who is looked at as willing to challenge and change the status quo gets peoples attention. I have acted as the change agent for many years at my school, and having that reputation, I think, made teachers understand that what I hoped to do with technology was change the delivery of instruction.

The leader who can act as change agent effectively needs to be able to question in a dynamic way that gets people questioning as well. I always propose my projects with a “what if we tried this” approach, which wins people over to ideas more easily than an “I think we should do this” approach. This leader also needs to be prepared to be challenged as well. I am often approached by teachers who want to try a project, and I have to be willing and able to accommodate them to keep the flow going.

This brings up another important responsibility, which is flexibility. As Fullen points out in Understanding Change, a leader needs to be able to utilize different leadership styles when approaching change. Assertive leadership may be needed to initiate a change but democratic, affiliative leadership may be needed to support people through a change.

I believe the optimizer responsibility is also very important to leading through second order change. I find myself trying hard to set a positive tone with teachers who are obviously struggling with utilizing technology. It helps to set them at ease, which is often the biggest obstacle to learning something new. A leader who can inspire people to keep moving through fears and discouragement when trying something new will help build the school culture and move the school through the changes necessary.

Marzano lists Knowledge of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluating, Intellectual Stimulation and Ideals and beliefs as other responsibilities necessary for second order change and I can see their importance as well. My curriculum knowledge earns me respect when I propose some new use of technology. Having strong ideals and beliefs also helps when inspiring people to move in a new direction. People are more willing to follow someone leading with conviction.

Second order change requires a balance between pushing people to move forward in a new and different direction and urging them to follow along at their own will but collectively in the same direction. It requires an administrator with the people skills that make people want to follow, the organizational skills to keep everyone moving, the authoritative nature that forces people to move, and the sensitivity to monitor everyone’s feelings about the ride. Quite a combination!