Teachers are very used to change as we deal with it every single day. Small changes such as having a lunch duty reorganised or adjusting a student group due to an absence. Slightly bigger changes such as finding out your release time has been moved or cancelled altogether due to unforeseen circumstances or unexpected meetings. Then of course are the big changes, new policies and curricula that have to be implemented and changes in staffing and leadership. Not all of these happen every day, thankfully, but teachers do deal with change almost continuously.
Teachers can deal with change most of the time because it is part of our everyday working lives; it is when big changes are thrust upon us with little or no warning that we really struggle. Unfortunately, this happens all too often. Clement (2014) states it well,
‘it is not change per se that is the problem for teachers and schools, but the way that change is introduced, with understanding, direction, commitment, time and resources being lacking.’
This is often what happens with mandated change from the Department of Education and I have experienced it personally many times; here is a brand-new curriculum, you have 12 months to trial it, and then you must use it – oh, and we’ll have 2 staff meetings for professional development run by the principal who has received no resources to support them. Dilkes (2014) states that teachers are suffering from change fatigue, especially when one change is not even fully implemented before it is superseded by another. Even more recently, significant changes have been placed upon teachers at very short notice due to COVID but were teachers treated with respect and given the resources they need? No, teachers found out about this massive change to their workload through the media, rather than from their employer. It is not surprising that staff are increasingly cynical about mandated changes and according to research cited by Cross (2015), suffering high levels of stress that impacts on their mental and emotional wellbeing. This of course has a flow on effect on the school as a whole and its capacity to meet the needs of students.
However, change is not a dirty word. When teachers are given a chance to understand why the change is needed, are provided with support from their Executive, along with the resources and time to comprehend and then implement the changes, most teachers are willing to make the changes (Fleet, and Patterson, 2017). Especially when we can see that it will have a positive impact on the students in our care.
Clement, J. (2014). Managing mandated educational change. School Leadership & Management, 34(1), 39-51. https://doi:10.1080/13632434.2013.813460
Cross, D. (2015). Teacher well being and its impact on student learning [Slide presentation]. Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia. http://www.research.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2633590/teacher-wellbeing-and-student.pdf
Dilkes, J., Cunningham, C. & Gray, J. (2014). The new Australian Curriculum, teachers and change fatigue. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(11). https://doi:10.14221/ajte.2014v39n11.4
Fleet, A., De Gioia, K. & Patterson C. (2016). Engaging with educational change: Voices of practitioner inquiry. Bloomsbury Publishing.