The Six Secrets of Change identified by
Michael Fullen provide leaders of any type of organization the tools to effect
positive changes that can apply to any situation. The overall thesis of Fullen’s six secrets is
to be the change that needs to happen.
In other words model what we want others to do. On a simplistic level for instance, as
leaders if we want others to be punctual, engaging, positive, gracious and
generous, we must model these same behaviors.
In educational technology, if we want teachers, student and parents to
embrace new technology and new ways to achieve a higher level of learning, we
must first model the techniques, technology use and willingness to try new
things.
In reality, Fullen’s Six Secrets are in
line with Christian practices. The first
secret is to love your employees (Sheninger, 2014) . Fullen says we need to build meaningful
relationships with teachers, student and parents equally. The second secret points out the importance
of communicating with all stakeholders and having genuine respect for their
point of view and needs in order to successfully facilitate change. (Sheninger, 2014) Fullen says to
explain the why and how and to provide stakeholders with the opportunity for
input and inclusion in the decision making process. The third secret stipulates the need to
provide teachers and principals the ability to build the skills needed to
effect positive change in schools (Sheninger, 2014) . Personnel need the opportunity to build their
personal management and leadership skills that are required to successfully
implement the changes desired in the organization. Secret number three is achieved by
successfully implementing secret number four.
Secret four states the need for professional development that is meaningful
and necessary in order for the stakeholders to build the leadership skills
required for the task of implementing change.
Secret five focuses on the need for transparency in the form of providing
data and feedback regarding the successes and failures of any changes. (Sheninger, 2014) The data and feedback provide the necessary details
for stakeholders to determine what works and what does not work and how to
tweak the process so it does work.
Finally, secret six states that the whole system must be prepared to
constantly change and improve itself so therefore, there should be more than
one leader. (Sheninger, 2014) All participants
should be free to share new ideas. The
school should be full of leaders who are willing and ready to make changes as necessary
in order to provide the students the skills they need to succeed.
Fullen also provides a list of potential roadblocks
to change. For instance what do you do
with the teacher or principal who says this change or that change is too
hard? Fullen says nothing is easy and
educators should be willing to take risks in order to provide the necessary instruction
to students. (Sheninger, 2014)
To the person who says “I don’t have the
time for this”, Fullen points out that as educators we have been tasked with,
and accepted the task, the opportunity to impact the lives of students. (Sheninger, 2014) Therefore, as
educators, we should make time or maybe we should think about a different
profession.
Fullen goes on to discuss lack of
collaboration (Sheninger, 2014) which is really a
lack of communication and can be overcome by simply talking and sharing to and
with each other instead of being territorial in our own classrooms. This can be grouped with directive approach,
hierarchy in schools and poor professional development. (Sheninger, 2014)
These are grouped together because they all require communicating with
each other. From the superintendent, to
the principal, to the teachers, parents and students, there must be a continual
unobstructed channel of communication. If administrators stay in their offices
and issues directives but never model the changes they want, the changes they implement
will either never take place, or they will be ineffectual at best. If teachers do not tell parents and students
what is going on, and give them the opportunity to participate in the changes,
technology or otherwise, the changes will not be effective. Communication is key to successful change.
Finally, Fullen address roadblocks that
deal with naysayers, fear of change, no support from other stakeholders, and
frivolous purchases. (Sheninger, 2014) If the person leading the change, in most
cases it is the superintendent or principal, does not support subordinates unconditionally
and provide safe and honest channels of communication the changes will not be
effective. If teachers request a certain
piece of equipment that compliments existing equipment or curriculum, and
administrators purchase whole programs or packages of equipment that are not
needed the needs are not met to successfully implement changes. Again, this goes back to communication. Communication is not simply issuing dictates,
but actually listening to the people on the ground, and hearing their concerns.
References
Sheninger, E. (2014). Digital Leadership Changing
Paradigms for Changing Times. In E. Sheninger, Digital Leadership Changing
Paradigms for Changing Times (pp. 53-60). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Retrieved September 3, 2015
Kathy,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, you outlined Fallan’s six secrets of change and potential roadblocks with an amazing amount of detail. Your explanations were spot on, and easy to understand. I also liked the way you described how the secrets of change are aligned with a Christian worldview. I agree that in order for any change to take place successfully, the leader promoting the change must model the desired results. Students are very perceptive to this, and challenge teachers if they see a discrepancy in their actions. For example, when I was a new teacher I felt overwhelmed with grading assignments at time, and I would at times take a long time getting my students their assignments back in a timely manner. I quickly realized that when students didn’t receive feedback on their homework, students became less motivated to turn in their homework in a timely manner. Once I modeled the importance of homework, I saw their attitudes change as well. I am currently serving on active duty, and promoting the use of our SharePoint portal is one of my jobs. This task is difficult because some soldiers are not tech savvy, and reluctant to utilize new technology, but by offering portal training and individual instruction my battalion has improved their use of portal. Overall, great post it was very thorough and I enjoyed it, praying for a quick recovery for your mom.
Bob Fishel
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis reply is from Travis McQueen using my wife's Google ID. Sorry for the confusion
ReplyDeleteKathy,
Your post was well thought out and thorough. I totally agree with your parallel of "loving your employees" with Christian principles. The practice of this is key to getting others to buy in to a new way of doing things. Part of the advantage of loving your employees is that it fosters trust and hopefully a feeling of that even though this is challenging its for my good. Your point on the importance of collaboration being modeled through administration was very insightful. It can be disheartening for a teacher who is on board with the plan but struggling to see leadership continue to use "old methods" while at the same time giving directives to use the new methods. This in my opinion is also a matter of integrity. I have found in my experience with the implementation of Google Chromebooks in to our school that as a teacher it is highly important for me to use and show some proficiency in using them to students and parents alike. At the same time, parents find comfort in knowing that I don't everything but that were on the same "learning journey" together.
You mentioned the roadblock of "this change is too hard". Typically what I have found is that most people who say this have not totally exhausted all available training resources. The truth is if they did they would gain a more comfortable proficiency with the technology but also learn what works for them and their teaching style and what doesn't. You mentioned the roadblock of "this change is too hard". Typically what I have found is that most people who say this have not totally exhausted all available training resources. The truth is if they did they would gain a more comfortable proficiency with the technology but also learn what works for them and their teaching style and what doesn't. We have found at our school that Chromebooks have worked well from K-5-12th grade. There are so many educational apps that aid in learning, grading quizzing and etc... Certainly there was initial concern about the level of technical skill that would be needed but this was alleviated by training and a very hands on administration.
Travis
You do an excellent job of detailing the ins and outs of Fullen's Six Secrets in your post. As I read through I was impressed by how well you had addressed the depth of Fullen's theory and how concise you were with each point. I was particularly drawn to your closing thoughts about the roadblocks that can occur in the process of implementing the six secrets. The concept of change can be hard for many to grasp. Sometimes there is a need for change, but there is a lack of willingness on the part of leadership or staff because they few that change as being too difficult to implement or that the change will not truly make an impact. These are attitudes that I have seen in my short time of teaching, and I must say that it saddens me to hear such ideas.
ReplyDeleteChange, in any situation is difficult, especially when we have invested what we feel is our best effort into something. It is as if our efforts are not enough or that we aren't good enough to accomplish a goal on our own. However, if we take the view that change is meant to assist us so that we do not have to feel like we are in the process alone, much relief is given. No longer is the burden solely on the shoulders of the individual, but the concept that we are all in the process together is used to lighten the load.
As to the thought that change will have little to no impact, that fear can be true in some circumstances. However, if staff are willing to invest themselves in the change process and the leadership is willing to follow Fullen's guides, that negative concept can be eliminated, as well.
Essentially, the entirety of Fullen's concept comes back to the foundational idea of loving other people. We can build a great institution of learning founded on all of the right principles. We can push activities that look as if the school has everything together in all of the buzz-worthy areas. However, if we do not have love as a foundational principle, we are like the church of Ephesus (Revelation 2). We risk that everything we do, whether well intended or not, can come crashing down if we do not promote love for Christ first and others.
Kathy, I enjoyed reading your blog post regarding Fullan’s Six Secrets of Change and Potential Roadblocks. I agree with you that Fullan’s Six Secrets align with Christian’s belief. Christ demonstrated the important of loving others during His time on earth. Without love, we wouldn’t have salvation. “So we come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16, ESV). In the past three years, God has continued to demonstrate to me the important of forming meaningful relationships with others. Jesus said, “The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31, ESV). I think roadblocks is something everyone will face when initially trying to implement change. I am actually new to my job. I am working at a small local private school. The private school only has about 20 employees and most of them have been working at the school for at least eight years. The teacher I am replacing worked at the school for eleven years. During the past three months, this biggest roadblock I have faced is fear of change. To overcome this fear, I am having to invest time in the relationships I am building with my new school. I am slowing seeing the teachers begin to accept the changes I am making and seeing that these changes are best to meet the needs of the students. I even faced the roadblock of fear of change when I first accepted this new job. At the old school I worked at the administration was unprofessional and hostile. I was scared to enter a similar situation. I have learned over the past three months that change can be good when we are faithful in the plan of our Lord.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. You clearly stated the details of Fullen's Six Secrets of Change and Potential Roadblocks. I also like you found this interesting, but agree with you that Fullan’s Six Secrets align with Christian’s belief. Just like Jennifer stated above, "Christ demonstrated the important of loving others during His time on earth. Without love, we wouldn’t have salvation." I believe that every change relates to God and the changes and plans he intended for us. I think roadblocks are something that everyone will face when initially trying to implement change. Without running into a roadblock, you will never learn, but will only succeed from the challenges that you are being faced with. I am new at learning technology, but strive to develop professional development opportunities for all of my employees. We just held a STEM training by Lakeshore to our staff last week. The staff learned how to use STEM in the classrooms and how to incorporate STEM using Lakeshore materials in the classrooms. I plan to strive to help all new and veteran employees, but to also help them succeed to the best of their abilities. Overall, great post!!
God Bless,
Tabitha Mendez