Educational systems have deep-rooted traditions, methods, and structures. Breaking away from these established norms requires overcoming resistance within a system or organization. This can be a challenge because we often do not enjoy being uncomfortable, and change is uncomfortable. The education system is long-standing, and often teachers teach the way that they were taught. This leads to change happening very slowly over a long period of time. At one point in education, we taught children to memorize skills, but that did not allow for understanding (Danieljbmitchell, 2007). The change from memorizing to building understanding took time, and with the rapid development of technology, our education systems are going to need time to catch up. Part of the reason this is going to take time is because we have teachers with different levels of experience in every school, and this can lead to resistance. I have seen this within the traditional education system over and over. Teachers are set in their ways, or in the ways that they were taught. Through continued professional development and effective leaders, we can serve our students in a new and productive way (Harapnuik, 2014).
To achieve substantial transformation in education, there are several necessary steps we must take (Harapnuik, 2014).
We need to create buy-in with educators. They need to have time to see the value in changing our education system to meet the needs of today's students as we prepare them for the future.
This change must begin in a place of high influence, within a school system that can be curriculum directors and department leaders. Teachers need to see it in action and see how changing our teaching can benefit our students and not just create new work for an already overflowing work load.
Planning and execution are key. To encourage change we need to develop a plan to manipulate parts of the traditional environment in small chunks over time.
Teachers need to see other teachers taking part in educational changes to truly value and partake in them. If some teachers buy in then many will.
Our students are building the future, and if teachers are not keeping up then education will just be holding them back.
danieljbmitchell (2007, August 1). Progressive Education in the 1940s. [Video]. YouTube. Progressive Education in the 1940s
Harapnuik, D. (2014, September 16). People who like this stuff…like this stuff. https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=5198
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