Types of educational Change...

FIRST ORDER CHANGE-

   first order change is “incremental”. It can be thought of as the next most obvious step to take a school or district.

( First order change tinkers with our existing vision of what schooling is and what it does.  Most of what i see in the current school reform movement lives here!! )

SECOND ORDER CHANGE-

   second order change involves a dramatic departure from the expected, both in defining the problem and in finding solutions.

    Second order change is “deep change”.

( This is tranformational. It requires "new knowledge" and skills. It requires adults to learn!)

First Order Change

•      Perceived as extension of past practice

•      Fits with existing paradigms

•      Can be implemented with existing knowledge and skills

•      Requires resources that are currently available

•      Accepted because of common agreement that the change is necessary.

Second Order Change

•      Perceived as a break with the past

•      Lies outside existing paradigms

•      Requires the acquisition of new skills and knowledge

•      May require resources to be reallocated

•      May be resisted because only those who have a broad perspective of the school see the innovation as necessary.

The paradigm changes in second order change.  It goes into new teritory.  Currently most schools do not go here... we continue to tinker with existing structures.

What types of change is your school currently involved in?

What is "transformational"  about that?