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Understanding teachers′ receptivity to system-wide educational change
Abstract
Reports the results of a qualitative, cross-sectional study involving a survey of 549 teachers′ perceptions of the Unit Curriculum system in 22 metropolitan state senior high schools in Perth, Western Australia, in the context of system-wide change, within a centralized educational system. Surveyed perceptions of six general variables applied to the specific case of the Unit Curriculum system. These variables are: perceived cost benefit to the teacher; perceived practicality in the classroom; alleviation of fears and concerns; participation in school decisions on aspects affecting the classrooms; perceived support from senior staff; and feelings towards the previous system compared to the new system. Suggests these variables offer pointers to educational administrators on how best to tailor system-wide changes so that teachers will be more receptive to the changes in the implementation stage.
... Besides, a positive linkage between teacher conception of collective learning and affection for change was more evident in schools with less academic emphasis. Our study suggests that school reforms must be understood within the individual and school Waugh and colleagues (Moroz & Waugh, 2000;Waugh, 2000;Waugh & Godfrey, 1995;Waugh & Punch, 1987), in a series of works, proposed a theoretical model which depicts personal cost-benefit appraisal, alleviation of fears and concerns, perceived school support, participation in school decisions, and feelings compared to the previous system as predictors for teacher receptivity to change. Among the predictors, we may classify perceptions of school support and opportunities to be involved in decision-making as contextual factors and the rest as individual factors. ...
... In the literature on planned change, embracing an organizational perspective provides a contextually coloured lens (Fullan, 2016;Lee, 2000;Lee et al., 2011;Waugh & Godfrey, 1995). People establish their beliefs and attitudes through interactions with environments and associations with others. ...
... As a result, individuals need to be understood within the contexts. Although "context matters" has already entered into research in the leadership scholarship (Liu & Hallinger, 2021;Tan, 2018), prior studies of teacher receptivity mainly refer to the context as school size, school type, or school support (Waugh & Godfrey, 1995). To avoid oversimplifying the context inquiry, we used organizational culture to assess the context. ...
School practitioners’ receptivity to reform influences the success of policy implementation. In Taiwan, the Ministry of Education launched a curriculum reform in 2019. To determine how to enhance school agency for the policy, we explored the individual and contextual factors affecting receptivity to the new curriculum. With a survey design, this study recruited secondary school teachers and principals throughout Taiwan as samples. Hierarchical regression models were conducted to examine the effects of individual factors (conceptions of distributed leadership and collective learning) and organizational culture (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and academic emphasis) on practitioners’ receptivity to curriculum reform. Both the main and interactive effects were investigated. The results indicate that respondents who positively conceived distributed leadership and collective learning were more receptive to change. Regarding the three indicators of organizational culture, we found no significant effect of power distance, while the main effect of uncertainty avoidance and the moderation effect of academic emphasis existed. Those who perceived their schools with high uncertainty avoidance levels were more resistant to reform efforts. Besides, a positive linkage between teacher conception of collective learning and affection for change was more evident in schools with less academic emphasis. Our study suggests that school reforms must be understood within the individual and school contexts. The finding about the moderation effect of academic emphasis furthermore signifies the cultural implication in Asian societies.
... ked at matching features of subject matter with curricular activities, concluded that there could be disjuncture between teachers' conceptions and beliefs about the subject matter they teach and policy. It is likely therefore that teachers who perceive their existing methods as adequate, will be less willing to experiment with instructional change. Waugh and Godfrey (1995) quote Nisbet and Collins (p. 243) as saying " … at the point of implementation, it is not easy to change educational principles and methods which are well entrenched and sanctified by tradition. " When looking at what variables to measure to establish teacher perceptions, it is useful to look at those defined in the literature. Successf ...
... " When looking at what variables to measure to establish teacher perceptions, it is useful to look at those defined in the literature. Successful curriculum change has a three-stage life cycle (Waugh and Godfrey, 1995) beginning with initiation, going onto implementation, and finally to routinisation. Although change can be studied in all three phases because teacher receptivity will be defined by different variables at each stage, it is suggested by Waugh and Punch (1985, 114) that " … teacher receptivity is likely much more to be related to the interaction of the change with its institutional setting during the implementation stage – the setting in which the research for this paper is placed. ...
... These models have all included variables that were intended to be indicators of teachers' perceptions of the promulgated curriculum. McAtee and Punch (cited in Waugh & Godfrey, 1995), for example, proposed three general variables namely knowledge, perceived participation and general attitudes to education. Waugh and Godfrey (1995, p. 40) in their model included the following six variables that in turn subsumed those of McAtee and Punch: … non-monetary cost benefit, the alleviation of fears and concerns about the change, participation about school decisions about the change, practicality of the change in the classroom, support from senior staff for the change, and comparison of various aspects of the change with the previous system. ...
The study reported in this paper is part of a larger research project currently being conducted in Mpumalanga. It reports on teachers' perceptions of Curriculum 2005 (C2005), what factors possibly influence these perceptions and the changes these perceptions underwent over a period of a year. Although to some degree there seemed to be congruence between C2005 directives and philosophies and teacher perceptions, there are discernable misconceptions amongst many teachers. These positive and negative perceptions, as well as the misconceptions, raise questions about the ability of teachers to implement C2005 faithfully in their classrooms as directed by the Education Department. This study attempts to uncover these perceptions and misconceptions. Addressing these issues may provide a basis for making recommendations to the Education Department, NGO's involved in in-service training of teachers, and teachers about the implementation of curriculum change.
... In the literature, receptivity is often measured using four aspects: "characteristics of the change, managing the change at school, value for the teacher, and perceived value for students" [43] p. 358. Behavioral intention is employed as an indicator to assess teachers' receptivity toward reform initiatives [43][44][45]. Several studies applying the model proposed by Waugh and colleagues [42][43][44] have explored teacher receptivity to reform in Hong Kong and China to understand how it influences teachers' implementation of change initiatives [14,15]. ...
More research on networked learning communities (NLCs) and the causal mechanism among the effects of NLCs are needed. To better understand the impacts of NLCs and the influential factors, this study intended to discover how teachers’ participation in networked learning communities affects their beliefs and behaviors of professional learning and further influence their receptivity to change. Adopting a survey design, we collected 226 valid questionnaires from the pilot schools joining the program of Learning Community under Leadership for Learning supported by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. First, the results indicated that the program’s intervention of NLCs had a significant positive effect on teachers’ receptivity to change. Second, teachers’ participation in NLCs also showed a significant impact on their beliefs and behaviors regarding professional learning. Third, teachers’ beliefs in professional collaborative learning could significantly enhance their behaviors of professional collaborative learning. Fourth, the program’s intervention, employing hands-on professional learning activities, had a significant impact on teachers’ inclination to realize the program, both through direct influence and the mediation of beliefs about professional learning. The results acquired from this study would be conducive to developing strategies to support implementing the NLCs program.
... However, all too often the attention of curriculum planners tend to focus on desired educational change while neglecting the 'how' of achieving intended outcomes of the curriculum. According to Waugh & Godfrey (1995) bringing a new curriculum into practice involves three distinct steps -initiation, implementation and routinisation. While affecting the curriculum plan in science classroom, the teacher is expected to put into practice curriculum ideas in such a way as to transfer 'executive control' of the learning process to the learner. ...
Our post-modern society is full of opportunities, environments, processes and very articulate subsystems that make it complex. Complexity is always growing because of the development of technology, which produces a series of subsystems, which articulate people. The development, with the progress, has characterized the historical period of modernity. In this stage, it prevails the idea that education and training can solve all the problems of society. In post-modernity age there is, instead, the primacy of complexity and, therefore, of global market.
This phenomenon has implications in terms of educational culture. In this complex society, the educational agencies (family, school) are in difficulty, because there is a social condition where there are many educational proposals. To answer to the needs expressed by this type of society there must be no reference to the curricula focused primarily on the disciplines, but it is necessary to refer to Morin’s "thought that interconnects", which involves new ways of learning. The “knowledge should prefer processes of integration and contamination, bypassing the traditional distinction between content and methods, and these processes should be marked by multidimensional prospects and by reticular logics.”
... Planned educational changes, when successful, have a life cycle that can be divided into three stages, initiation, implementation and routinization (Waugh and Godfrey, 1995, 1993; Waugh and Punch, 1987, 1985). ``Initiation refers to the processes and planning which lead up to and include the decision to proceed with the change... Implementation refers to the first use of the change on a system-wide basis in the classroom... and routinization refers to whether the change becomes an ongoing part of the system'' (Waugh and Godfrey, 1995, p. 39). The present study is about teachers' responses to the implementation of Student Outcome Statements at the time when the system, having completed a two year trial period in selected schools (19941995), has decided to adopt the approach in all schools in the near future. ...
Focuses on the receptivity of Western Australian government teachers towards a system-wide educational change, the use of Student Outcome Statements, that help teachers’ classroom planning, student learning and assessment. The dependent variable, teacher receptivity, is measured in four aspects: overall feelings, attitudes, behaviour intentions and behaviour. The group 1 independent variables are non-monetary cost benefits, alleviation of fears and concerns, significant-other support, and feelings compared to the previous system. The group 2 independent variables are shared goals, collaboration and teacher learning opportunities. Data relating to all the variables were collected in 1997 from a sample of 126 teachers some of whom had been involved in the official trial of Student Outcome Statements and analysed using correlation and regression techniques. The group 1 and group 2 independent variables accounted for 59 per cent of the variance in overall feelings, 49 per cent in attitudes, 50 per cent in behaviour intentions and 40 per cent in behaviour.
... Scale (Waugh & Godfrey, 1995), and the Faculty Readiness Scale (Willey, 1991). While the content of these two instruments significantly overlaps the aforementioned state instruments, the results of their use would be unpredictable without further examination. ...
Organizations are continually forced to implement changes due to a myriad of external and internal influences, Despite the fact that organizations are predominantly in a perpetual state of change, recent research has shown that nearly 75% that have initiated large-scale change efforts have not realized the significant organizational improvements that were intended, As a preemptive measure, organizational managers are being encouraged to gauge their organization's readiness prior to implementing change initiatives, Unfortunately, over 40 unique instruments currently exist that purport to measure some aspect of readiness, Because of limited perspective, no one instrument has emerged as the standard and they are often used inappropriately without regard to the psychometric properties involved, The purpose of this study was to analyze the existing instruments available to measure readiness and integrate those that have empirically demonstrated reliability, utility, and validity into a new synergistic instrument that can be utilized across various research disciplines, The comprehensive instrument was then utilized on the Aeronautical Systems Command's Contracting Directorate, which is currently implementing several Knowledge Management initiatives designed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization by leveraging the shared knowledge of its members, The results of the study indicate that members of ASC/PK have a generally positive attitude toward Knowledge Management initiatives, In addition, the comprehensive change model being tested fit the data,
... Bringing a new curriculum into practice involves three distinct steps, viz. initiation, implementation, and routinization (Waugh & Godfrey, 1995). In most planned changes that occur, the focus is almost exclusively placed at the A The Profile of Implementation (Table 1) is a construct to help understand, analyze, and express the extent to which the ideals of a curriculum are being put into practice. ...
Planned educational change occurs regularly throughout the world. With the enormous political change the 1994 elections brought to South Africa, a complete change in education policies was called for. The new Curriculum 2005 (C2005; Department of Education, RSA, 1997) embraced new teaching and learning approaches such as outcomes-based education and learner-centered teaching practices. To explore the progress of the implementation of C2005, a theoretical framework specifically designed to elucidate curriculum implementation in developing countries was applied to 10 case studies. The framework consists of interrelating constructs with subconstructs which impact on curriculum implementation. It enables one to look at the levels of implementation achieved both in terms of the capacity of the school and the extent to which outside support and pressure is provided. The case studies were carried out in a representative sample of schools in Mpumalanga, one of the nine South African provinces. The aim of this article is to investigate the possible interrelationships of the constructs and the subconstructs. Some predictable relationships emerged from the data while other expected relationships failed to materialize. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 313–336, 2005
... Much of the work on change is atheoretical and many of the conclusions and claims are open to challenge. It would be impossible to summarise all the findings and conclusions in this paper, but there are some good commentaries on system-wide change provided in Deem (2001), Doyon (2001), Tack (2001), Waugh (2000, Moroz and Waugh (2000), World Bank (1999), Salmi (1999, Collins and Waugh (1998), Addison (1995), Waugh and Godfrey (1995, 1993), Miller (1995), Conley (1991, Punch (1987, 1985), McAtee and Punch (1979). The change in Thailand was implemented in the year 2000 and data were collected at the end of 2001 and during 2002. ...
Thailand passed the National Education Act (1999) which introduced the largest educational change there in over 50 years. This study investigated lecturer receptivity to that change at four Rajabhat Universities in the second year of the implementation stage during 2002. Lecturer receptivity was conceptualised as relating to nine aspects of the change. Data were collected by questionnaire (N=659) with 50 stem-items answered in three perspectives. These were (1) how I expect the change to be planned, (2) how I think the change was really implemented, and (3) what my actual behaviour was. Data were analysed with a Rasch measurement model. Eight of the nine aspects and 18 of the 50 stem-items fitted the measurement model. A good linear scale of receptivity was created where the proportion of observed variance considered true was 95% and data were considered to be valid and reliable. The easiest aspect was comparison with the previous system and the hardest was participation in decision-making. For most items, the perspectives were found to be ordered from easy (perspective 1) to hard (perspective 3) as conceptualised.
In this article, we report the development and psychometric validation of the Teachers’ Receptivity to Change Scale (TRCS). The sample included secondary school teachers of Kerala, India. In India, the teachers’ receptivity to change becomes important in the context of the newly drafted National Education Policy, (2020) which places teachers’ at the center of the reforms. The present study proceeded through five phases namely item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, validation of the scale, and test–retest reliability. The development of the tool started with the generation of a pool of items followed by item analysis. The exploratory factor analysis extracted four factors and the confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the four-factors namely individual, organizational, educational, and bridging factors. The structural equation modelling established the four-correlated factor construct of teachers’ receptivity to change and an additive model indexing teachers’ receptivity to change as the sum of the four factors. Both the model fit indices indicated an excellent fit. The validity of the TRCS established by correlating the teachers’ receptivity to change and its factors with multidimensional work motivation scale and engaged teachers’ scale indicated a moderate correlation. The final 28 item TRCS showed adequate internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.897) and discriminant validity. The test re-test reliability analysis (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.884) confirmed the temporal stability of the scale. The findings recommend a psychometric reliable and valid scale for assessing teachers’ receptivity to change with implications for teachers, researchers, and policy makers.
Changing an existing curriculum is a complex process, and its success depends on a number of factors, one of which is the significant contribution of teachers to the success or failure of any educational reform. To explore the importance of teachers in the process of change, this study investigates the currently in use undergraduate curriculum that was introduced by the Pakistani government in 2010. Whereas public schools in Pakistan are following a single national curriculum starting from the year 2021, at the time of this study, colleges and universities continue to adhere to the curriculum that was introduced in 2010 as part of a major nationwide curriculum reform. Data was collected through the use of semi-structured interviews conducted with eight English language lecturers employed in three public sector colleges in a major city. Findings revealed that, despite a positive attitude towards the concept of change, the lecturers who participated in this study considered the curriculum change project impractical due to a lack of planning for implementation. They also felt marginalized in the process of decision-making and found themselves unprepared to take up this challenge. Moreover, the participating lecturers expressed skepticism regarding the sustainability of the new curriculum owing to the political and economic instability at the time. The study thus highlights numerous critical issues such as the importance of the implementation stage of a new curriculum, and the often-ignored role of teachers in making decisions about educational reforms. It also confirms the significance of teacher education and teacher preparedness for the success of any curriculum change.KeywordsCurriculum changeTeachers’ perceptionsImplementationHigher education Pakistan
Since the 1980s, reforms on second or foreign language teaching have been implemented in many countries and regions. Many linguists, psychologists, experts on teaching methods, and frontline teachers in primary and secondary schools have focused on teaching aims, efficiency, and theories for their research. English teaching approaches have transitioned gradually from a teacher-centered to a student-centered paradigm.
Using the method of structural equation modeling, this study explored the impact of teachers' perception of trust in colleagues on their receptivity to curriculum reform and the perceived outcomes of curriculum reform in the context of the national curriculum reform in China. A total of 1,366 teachers responded to a questionnaire that comprised three sets of instruments. The results showed that primary or female teachers generally had better evaluation on trust, receptivity and perceived outcomes of reform, and rural teachers were more willing to participate in the curriculum reform than urban and suburban teachers. Teachers' perception of trust in colleagues had a significant positive influence on their receptivity to, and perception of, reform outcomes. Based on these findings, it is suggested that trust, in general, can be seen as a "buffer of risk" and "catalyst of change" during the change process. Enhancing the trust relationship among teachers was found to be an effective way to facilitate their receptivity to curriculum reform. The implications for the management of curriculum reform are discussed.
Bu çalışmanın amacı, ilköğretim okullarında görev yapan öğretmenlerin algılarına göre
okulun değişime açıklığı ile değişim kapasitesi arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesidir.
Araştırma, ilişkisel tarama modelinde desenlenmiş betimsel bir çalışmadır. Araştırmaya,
Samsun ilinde bulunan ilköğretim okullarında görev yapan öğretmenlerden oluşan 599
kişilik bir grup katılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda, okul müdürlerinin ve öğretmenlerin
değişime açıklığının, okulun değişim kapasitesinin bütün alt boyutlarının anlamlı
yordayıcıları olduğu görülmüştür. Okul değişim kapasitesinin alt boyutlarından
paylaşılan vizyonun en güçlü yordayıcısı okul müdürünün değişime açıklığı; iş birliği ve
kişisel ustalığın en güçlü yordayıcısı ise öğretmenlerin değişime açıklığıdır. Araştırma
sonucunda okullarda değişimin sürdürülebilir bir şekilde ele alınmasını sağlamak
açısından, okulun vizyon geliştirme süreçlerinde öğretmenlerin etkin katılımını sağlayan,
öğretmenler arasında iş birliğini artıran ve öğretmenlerin mesleki gelişimlerine olanak
tanıyan bir yapıya kavuşmasının önemli olduğu belirtilmiştir.
Implementing knowledge management (KM) projects or knowledge-sharing philosophies in organizations require significant organization change. Because the introduction of change is difficult, leaders have been encouraged to proactively prepare their organizations and its members as they begin one of these initiatives. As the first step in this process, managers should comprehensively examine their organization's underlying readiness to embrace these initiatives. Unfortunately, the measurement of an organization's readiness for KM initiatives poses significant challenges because no known instrument is available to do so. Accordingly, this study drew on the KM and organizational change literature to take a first step in the development of a synergistic instrument that measures readiness for KM and applied it in an organizational setting.
Implementing knowledge management (KM) projects or knowledge-sharing philosophies in organizations require significant organization change. Because the introduction of change is difficult, leaders have been encouraged to proactively prepare their organizations and its members as they begin one of these initiatives. As the first step in this process, managers should comprehensively examine their organization's underlying readiness to embrace these initiatives. Unfortunately, the measurement of an organization's readiness for KM initiatives poses significant challenges because no known instrument is available to do so. Accordingly, this study draws on the KM and organizational change literature to propose a synergistic instrument to measure readiness for KM and applied it in an organizational setting.
EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PRIMARY SCHOOL
TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS ON SCHOOL OPENNESS TO CHANGE AND
SCHOOL CHANGE CAPACITY
ER, Emre
MA, Department of Educational Administration and Supervision
Advisor: Prof. Dr. Temel ÇALIK
June 2013, 114 pages
This study seeks to explore the relationships between primary school teachers’
perceptions on school openness to change and school change capacity. A total of 599
teachers employed in 20 primary schools in central districts of Samsun participated in
this correlational study designed in survey model. Stratified sampling technique was
used to determine the population of the study. In order to explore primary school
teachers’ perceptions on school openness to change, “Faculty Openness to Change
Scale” originally developed by Kearney and Smith (2008) and adapted into Turkish by
Demirtaş (2012) and “The Scale of Change Capacity” developed by the researcher were
used.
Data were analyzed via SPSS 15 program. Pearson product-moment correlation
coefficient was calculated to determine the relationships between variables, Multiple
Linear Regression was conducted to examine predictive variables, and t-test and
ANOVA were also conducted to analyze participants’ perceptions according to gender,
branch, age, seniority, and years in current school variables.
Results revealed that there were positive and significant relationships between
teachers’ perceptions on openness to change and personal mastery level and
collaboration. Furthermore, the highest correlations were found between teachers’
perceptions on school principals’ openness to change and shared vision.
Results also demonstrated that teachers’ perceptions on school openness to
change did not differ significantly according to branch and gender variables. However,
teachers’ perceptions on school openness to change differed significantly according to
age, years in current school, and seniority variables in favor of novice teachers.
viii
Results illustrated that teachers’ perceptions on school change capacity did not
differ significantly according to branch, gender, age, and seniority variables. On the
other hand, teachers’ perceptions on school change capacity differed significantly
according to years in current school variable. Findings suggested that teachers spending
less time in current school perceived school change capacity more positive than others.
Results mirrored that school principals’ and teachers’ openness to change were
significant predictors of all sub-scales of change capacity. School principals’ openness
to change was the strongest predictor of shared vision while teachers’ openness to
change was the strongest predictor of collaboration and personal mastery. Some
suggestions such as empowering novice teachers on school’s management process and
making different improving plans for schools according to their level of development
were presented in the light of research results.
Keywords: Organizational change, openness to change, change capacity, school
improvement
Proposes a new model of teacher receptivity to system-wide educational change, where the change is planned and implemented in a centrally controlled educational system involving teachers in their classrooms. Suggests a measure of teacher receptivity (based on the model) to help administrators plan a change and manage the implementation. Teacher receptivity is proposed to consist of four first-order aspects, operationally defined by a number of second-order aspects. These are: characteristics of the change (comparison with the previous system and practicality in my classroom), managing the change at school (alleviation of concerns, learning about the change and participation in decisions at my school), value for the teacher (personal cost appraisal, collaboration with other teachers and opportunities for teacher improvement) and teacher perceived value for students. Teacher receptivity is measured with three aspects for each of the 50 stem-items and there is an ordered set of response categories relating to these aspects.
Although the measurement of organizational readiness for change has been encouraged, measuring readiness for change poses a major empirical challenge. This is not because instruments designed to do this are not available. Researchers, consultants, and practitioners have published an array of instruments, suggesting that readiness can be measured from various perspectives and the concept of readiness has not been clearly defined. This paper reviews the history of the readiness concept, the perspectives used to assess readiness, and the psychometric properties of readiness instruments. Based on the review, an integrated definition of readiness is presented along with the implications of the definition for research and practice.
This study investigates teacher receptivity to a proposal to relocate Year 7 primary classes to secondary schools in the Western Australia Catholic school system. The proposal has not yet either been formally promulgated to schools, parents and students or adopted by the Catholic Education Commission. A general model of teacher receptivity to a major planned change in a centralised education system, during the adoption stage, was used to guide the study. The dependent variable, receptivity, was measured in two aspects - an evaluative attitude and behaviour intentions. Three independent variables, general beliefs about the secondary school and perceived readiness to leave primary school, perceived practicality of the change, and the perception that fears and concerns associated with the change will be alleviated, were measured. The environment in which teachers work was measured through the teacher (age, gender, experience, area of expertise and school size) and the school (primary or secondary, size and location), as situation variables, related to the independent variables. Receptivity was found to be strongly and positively related to the perceived practicality of the change and moderately, positively related to perceived readiness of Year 7 students for secondary school. The results are combined with other studies to provide advice to educational administrators about how to adopt and manage this proposed change.
This study investigated skill flexibility (theability to use skills according to changingneeds) among teachers in the context of schoolchange in nine countries. Data were collectedas part of a multi-country study on the effectof change on teachers' work life. Resultsshowed that teachers tended to be moreskill-flexible when they had more of a role inthe change, and less skill-flexible when schoolmanagement initiated change or when changeinvolved administrative objectives, as opposedto educational or social ones. Teachers alsotended to be more skill-flexible when theybelieved that change had a positive impact ontheir work life, professional development,student learning, and general feelings aboutchange. An individual-country analysis revealedthat countries varied in the way skillflexibility was related to change factors.These differences were interpreted in thecontext of cultural background.
Thailand passed the National Education Act (1999) which introduced the largest educational change there in over 50years.
This study investigated Lecturer Receptivity to that change at four Rajabhat Universities in the second year of the implementation
stage during 2002. Receptivity was conceptualized as relating to eight aspects of the change. Data were collected by questionnaire
(N=659) with 50 stem-items answered in three perspectives. These were (1) how I expect the change to be planned, (2) how I
think the change was really implemented, and (3) what my actual behavior was. Data were analyzed with a Rasch measurement
model and 18 of the 50 stem-items fitted the measurement model. A linear scale of receptivity was created where the proportion
of observed variance considered true was 95% and data were considered to be valid and reliable. The easiest aspect was comparison
with the previous system and the hardest was participation in decision-making. For most items, the perspectives were found
to be ordered from easy (perspective 1) to hard (perspective 3) as conceptualized.
Few studies deal with teachers’ receptivity in the initiation stage of educational change, especially in a non-western cultural
context like Mainland China. This study aims at investigating teachers’ receptivity to the system-wide curriculum reform of
the senior secondary education in the initiation stage and understanding the factors influencing teachers’ receptivity in
Mainland China. Questionnaire survey with open-ended question (n=763) is employed to explore teachers’ receptivity in four selected experimental provinces, i.e., the first group of provinces
which are selected by Ministry of Education to implement the curriculum reform. Results indicate teachers have positive attitudes
and behavioral intentions toward promoting the curriculum reform of senior secondary education, and they consider the reform
is valuable but difficult to carry out. The existing theoretical model can explain teachers’ behavioral intentions quite well,
but its predicting ability to teachers’ general attitudes is limited, which indicates some new variables that need to be considered,
too. Implications of this study and suggestions for future research are also discussed in the article.
Communication is inextricably linked with the process of organisational change (Lewis, 1999). However, managers report that communication of organisational change is challenging, particularly with the advent of continuously changing organisations (Buchanan, Claydon & Doyle, 1999). Continuously changing organisations are those that seek to be more flexible, more innovative and more responsive to the dynamic external environment. One of the problems associated with continuous change is the resultant impact of successive downsizings, re-engineering efforts and culture changes on employee receptivity to change. Despite the unquestioning adoption of continuous change efforts (Zorn, Christensen, & Cheney, 1999) there is a paucity of research on communication during this type of change. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap by situating the research within a continuous change context. The primary research question is 'how do change communication models impact on employee receptivity to change within a continuous change context', and this question considers issues pertaining to how accurately previous change communication models reflect and explain what occurs within change processes. This topic is examined within two case-study organisations through the use of multiple methods. The analysis occurs through an interpretive framework and utilises Langley's (1999) alternate templates as a strategy to manage the process based research. A model of change communication during continuous change is presented, with the central constructs of the model being monologic change communication, dialogic change communication and the background talk of change. Further, Van de Ven and Poole's (1995) Process Theories of Change are extended to consider the sequencing of the three constructs. The findings suggest that the sequencing of the dominant change communication models is informed by an alignment of individual communication competences and change communication expectations.
tions exist because authors emphasize different aspects of the literature. It is the quantity of empirical work and speculative papers that attracts the attention of some reviewers, not its quality. As research designed to test hypotheses derived from theory about organizational change, the quality is poor, and little is contributed to systematic understanding of organizational change in schools. The review of the literature upon which this chapter is based led to several conclusions. The literature is basically atheoretical in nature. It contains little work designed to develop and test theories describing the dynamics of the change process or explaining why organizations like schools vary in the degree and speed with which they change. Moreover, confidence is not warranted in a number of currently held generalizations about organizational change because the research methods and statistics upon which they are based are inadequate. Most empirical reports reviewed were atheoretical efforts to make changes, not efforts to test theories of change. The absence of critical attention to the methodological and statistical procedures used in these studies reflects this emphasis on precipitating change rather than studying it. The extension of knowledge about organizational change will require empirical studies of greater theoretical, methodological, and statistical sophistication. Effective CHARLES E. BIDWELL, University of Chicago, was the editorial consultant for this chapter. ' The author wishes to acknowledge his appreciation to Charles Bidwell for constructive criticisms of earlier drafts of his paper and his deep gratitude to Neal Gross and Marilyn Bernstein. Many of the ideas presented here originated from work with them, and some are contained in a recent book (Gross, Giacquinta, & Bernstein, 1971). He alone, however, is responsible for the shortcomings of the paper.
This study is concerned with the receptivity of Western Australian secondary school teachers towards a system‐wide educational change, the Unit Curriculum system. In any system‐wide educational change that involves the classroom, teachers’ receptivity towards the change is an important determinant of its successful implementation. It is important for educational decision‐makers to know what variables affect receptivity so that new proposals can be tailored to achieve the best chance of successful implementation. It is proposed that there are fundamental variables common to all system‐wide changes and these are included in a model of receptivity developed from previous research. This paper reports the results of an empirical study using data from 480 teachers where 56% of the variance in attitudes towards the Unit Curriculum system is predicted from four fundamental variables, when they are adapted to apply to the Unit Curriculum. These variables are non‐monetary cost benefit to the teachers, perceived participation in the change decisions relating to the school and the classroom, perceived support for the change from principals and senior teachers, and feelings towards the previous educational system.
This study is concerned with the receptivity of teachers in Western Australia towards the recently implemented Certificate of Secondary Education System, a new method of certifying student achievement using teachers’ assessments. A general model of teacher receptivity towards system‐wide educational change is developed, and forms the basis for an empirical investigation with a large and representative sample of teachers. Using correlation and regression techniques, the results show a clear pattern of relationships between the independent variables and teacher receptivity.
This review examines studies relating to the implementation of systemwide educational change and, in particular, focuses on teacher receptivity to those changes. It provides a brief historical summary of this literature from the past 40 years and presents as well the general variables that seem to be related to teacher receptivity. It is assumed that there are fundamental generalizations common to all such changes and that these can be embodied in ideal-type models of implementing change. The important general variables that should be included in such models appear to be teachers’ personal cost appraisal of the change, practicality of the new educational system in the classroom, perceived support for teacher roles at school with respect to the main referents of the new educational system, alleviation of fears and uncertainties associated with the change, and perceived expectations and beliefs concerning the important aspects of the change. In addition, there are a number of other important general variables, such as beliefs on general issues of education relating to the change and overall feelings and attitudes towards the previous educational system.
Although most scaling formats include an intermediate or neutral response category, little research has been devoted to the analysis of the meaning respondents attach to this category. Results obtained from ten different scales, across two types of item formats (Likert and Polar Choice) support the traditional method of scoring the"?" answer. Although the meaning respondents imply when selecting the "?" is not more ambiguous than the meaning implied in the selection of the other response categories, there does exist evidence for the presence of a variety of uses of the "?" including response styles, ambivalence and indifference. Various suggestions are made for further research and alternate methods of approach to the meaning of the question mark response category.
Investigates the relationship between teachers' attitudes toward a change, as the dependent variable, and their knowledge about the change, their participation in the change, and their general attitudes to education, as independent variables, in the context of certain school and teacher situation variables. (Author/IRT)
Examines prior conceptualizing and empirical work bearing on public schools as complex organizations and on risk taking, in the belief that this work helps understanding of why planned change has been difficult to effect. Practical implications of this perspective for the management of change efforts in public schools are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Factors affecting the process of change
- P Berman
- M W Mclaughlin
Attitude measurement
- C Osgood
- G Suci
- P Tannebaum