A Model to Understand School/Institutional Change
Posted By Doug Belshaw On 29th November 2006 @ 18:21 In Ideas | Comments Disabled
WARNING! This website is no longer actively maintained. It is an archive of 2 years work by Doug Belshaw who now blogs at [1] dougbelshaw.com...
[2] 
When I was younger I used to wonder why a lot. That’s stayed with me to some extent - I’m not content with just accepting things the way they are. Recently, I’ve been wondering why about schools and institutions in general. What causes them to change in fundamental ways? I think I’ve come up with a model to make some sense of it… 
I’m not claiming that I’m the first person to ever posit such a model. In fact I fully expect someone to say in the comments that I must have got this from book x by author y. Trust me, this came to me in the shower…
Imagine a see-saw, except in this model the middle bit can move in order for the long part to remain level when different ‘weights’ are added.
The ‘normal’ situation in schools and institutions is one where the status quo is maintained due to a balance between practicalities and possibilities. Small-scale change and innovation occurs but not at the expense of the more practical aspects in the day-to-day smooth running of the school.
Large scale change happens as a result of an imbalance (perceived or otherwise) between practicalities and possibilities:
Borrowing from the idea of [3] moments in physics, schools move towards more radical change when the possibilities far outweigh any practical concerns the institution as a whole may have. In order to maintain smooth running the school needs to ‘move’ towards the possibilities at the expense of practicalities. Done too quickly, of course, can lead to difficulties.
On the other hand, schools retreat into more practical concerns when the possibilities on the horizon seem few and/or of little relevance. The school ‘moves’ towards consolidation over innovation.
This model is a bit of a first draft that needs more work - especially regarding the zeitgeist surrounding the situations which lead to change. If you have any thoughts, ideas or comments, please respond below! 
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