Motivating and facilitating educational change
Motivating and facilitating educational change
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The challenge and opportunity:
The challenge and opportunity:
“No one else in my department is implementing systems thinking, so there is no point in trying."
“No one else in my department is implementing systems thinking, so there is no point in trying."
Educators may lack the motivation to shift to a new way of teaching without leadership support, clear incentives, or a culture of innovation. Building a cohort of colleagues and sharing benefits and successes to all levels of institutional leadership can facilitate change.
practical Strategies for Instructors
practical Strategies for Instructors
1. Build a case with benefits
Communicate how systems thinking improves outcomes—such as deeper learning, sustainability, or relevance to modern workforce skills. See reported benefits page.
2. Find allies
Connect with like-minded colleagues or departments open to innovation to build a coalition for change.
3. Engage leadership
Present evidence from the literature and student feedback to departmental or institutional leaders to secure buy-in.
4. Create visibility
Share small wins and successes (e.g., improved student engagement or cross-disciplinary projects) to spark broader interest.
What Research says
What Research says
Woodbury and Gess-Newsome (2002)
This study found that:
Resistance is a well-documented barrier in educational change efforts.
Changing ingrained practices requires not just individual effort but systemic support and leadership alignment.
Woodbury, S.; Gess-Newsome, J. Overcoming the Paradox of Change without Difference: A Model of Change in the Arena of Fundamental School Reform. Educ. Policy 2002, 16 (5), 763–782. https://doi.org/10.1177/089590402237312.
Gess-Newsome et al (2003)
This study emphasizes that both personal (mindset shift) and external (institutional incentives) support are needed to assist an educator in negotiating changes in their pedagogy and curriculum.
Gess-Newsome, J.; Southerland, S. A.; Johnston, A.; Woodbury, S. Educational Reform, Personal Practical Theories, and Dissatisfaction: The Anatomy of Change in College Science Teaching. Am. Educ. Res. J. 2003, 40 (3), 731–767.
Henderson et al (2011)
This well cited literature review on how to promote change in instructional practices used in undergraduate STEM makes several claims about what makes change strategies successful:
Effective change strategies must be aligned with or seek to change the beliefs of the individuals involved.
Change strategies need to involve long-term interventions, lasting a semester, a year, and longer.
Colleges and universities are complex systems. Developing a successful change strategy means first understanding the system and then designing a strategy that is compatible with this system.
Henderson, C.; Beach, A.; Finkelstein, N. Facilitating Change in Undergraduate STEM Instructional Practices: An Analytic Review of the Literature. J. Res. Sci. Teach. 2011, 48 (8), 952–984. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20439.
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