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It is very easy to list all of the things you should be doing, and it is much harder to put these thoughts into action. If you are just starting off on your journey to become more evidence-driven, whether you are a teacher looking to improve class time, a school administrator looking to make changes in the school, or an education policy maker hoping to make an impact on an entire education system, educational change pioneer Michael Fullan (2015) suggest taking into account the following elements when implementing change.
1. Do not assume that your version of what change should be is the one that should or could be implemented. On the contrary, assume that one of the main purposes of the process of implementation is to exchange your reality of what should be through interaction with implementers and others concerned. Stated another way, assume that successful implementation consists of some transformation or continual development of initial ideas.
2. Assume that any significant innovation, if it is to result in change, requires individual implementers to work out their own meaning. Significant change involves a certain amount of ambiguity, ambivalence, and uncertainty for the individual about the meaning of the change. Thus, effective implementation is a process of clarification. It is also important not to spend too much time in the early stages on needs assessment, program development, and problem definition activities - school staff have limited time. Clarification is likely to come in large part through practice.
3. Assume that conflict and disagreement are not only inevitable but fundamental to successful change. Since any group of people possess multiple realities, any collective change attempt will necessarily involve conflict. All successful efforts of significance, no matter how well planned, will experience an implementation dip in the early stages. Smooth implementation is often a sign that not much is really changing.
4. Assume that people need pressure to change (even in directions that they desire), but it will be effective only under conditions that allow them to react, to form their own position, to interact with other implementers, to obtain assistance, to develop new capacities, and so on. It is all right and helpful to express what you value in the form of standards of practice and expectations of accountability, but only with capacity-building and problem-solving opportunities.
5. Assume that effective change takes time. It is a process of 'development in use'. Unrealistic or undefined timelines fail to recognise that implementation occurs developmentally. Significant change in the form of implementing specific innovations can be expected to take two or three years. Bringing about institutional reforms can take five or ten years. Do not expect change overnight but do press for significant results in the foreseeable future.
6. Do not assume that the reason for lack of implementation is outright rejection of the values embodied in the change, or hard-core-resistance to all change. Assume that there are a number of possible reasons: value rejection, inadequate resources to support implementation, poor capacity, insufficient time elapsed and the possibility that resisters have some good points to make.
7. Do not expect all or even most people or groups to change. The complexity of change is such that it is impossible to bring about widespread reform in any large social system. Progress occurs when we take steps that increase the number of people affected. Instead of being discouraged by all the remains to be done, be encouraged by what has been accomplished by way of improvement resulting from your action.
8. Assume that you will need a plan that is based on the above assumptions and that addresses the factors known to affect implementation, but make the plan brief, focused, and action oriented. Evolutionary planning and problem-coping models based on knowledge of the change process are essential.
9. Assume that no amount of knowledge will ever make it totally clear what actions should be taken. Action decisions are a combination of valid knowledge, political consideration, on-the-spot decisions, and intuition. Better knowledge of the change process will improve the mix of resources on which we draw, but it will never and should never represent the sole basis for decision.
10. Assume that getting rid of barriers is only half the battle. After 'freedom from' constraints, you need to develop new opportunities in the 'freedom to' space that is created. Changing the culture of institutions is the real agenda, not implementing single innovations. Put another way, when implementing particular innovations, we should always pay attention to whether the institution is developing or not. Capacity for selective change as a sustainable resource is what success is all about.
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