About Change Theory ^†

Change Theory Overview

• How did research on change get started?
  
• What are the major perspectives from which change is most often studied?
  

• What characteristics of an innovation influence its adoption?
  
• What conditions in the social/organizational environment facilitate change?
  
• What activities tend to be most effective for change agents in different roles?
  
• What are the stages of the change process and how are they interrelated?
  
• What types of concerns must people resolve as they experience change?
  
• What are some of the most common reasons that people resist change?
  
• What are some other valuable sources of information on change?
  
• Examples from the different traditions
  

• Why is educational change so important right now?
  
• Why is education often resistant to change?
  
• How might the obstacles to change be avoided or overcome?
  
• Lesson: Relating Change Theory to Some Common Educational Innovations
  

• New models of teaching and learning
  
• Teaching and learning with technology
  
• Alternative forms of assessment
  
• High-stakes (minimum competencies)  testing
  
• Alternative forms of schooling (charter schools, home schooling)
  
• Ethics and values education
  

• Activity: Applying Change Theory  to Some Common Educational Innovations
  

• New models of teaching and learning
  
• Teaching and learning with technology
  
• Alternative forms of assessment
  
• High-stakes (minimum competencies)  testing
  
• Alternative forms of schooling (charter schools, home schooling)
  
• Ethics and values education
  

^† Much of this section is taken or adapted, by permission of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology (ERIC/IT), from Chapter 2 of the book Surviving Change: A Survey of Educational Change Models, by James B. Ellsworth.  The complete publication can be ordered from ERIC/IT by clicking on the above link, or by telephone to (1)800-464-9107.

Last Modified: 15 April 2000
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