Reading Fullan’s Six Secrets of Change was interesting to me as I had never heard of these specifically written out this way, but have seen these employed in my workplace. For those who did not choose this option for the discussion board this week, here are the 6 Secrets of Change in a list:
1.
Love Your Employees
2.
Connect Peers with Purpose
3.
Capacity Building Prevails
4.
Learning Is the Work
5.
Transparency Rules
6.
Systems Learn
Initially, some of those phrases eluded me as to the exact
contextual meaning; however, after
reading more about each change and the roadblocks that hinder them I realized I
have encountered these steps and roadblocks personally. While each change has its own purpose the
main theme that runs through all of them is that in order to sustain a
successful, innovative, technologically advanced school /district/development
team...) there must be a level of trust and communication. Eric Sheninger in his book Digital
Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing times states it aptly when he says “
It is not about changing who we are as leaders, but changing the way we do
things that will transform school culture to better meet the needs of all
stakeholders in the digital age.”
(Sheninger, 2014).
On a personal level, I have experienced this in multiple
forms but my biggest roadblock I encounter is when working with Instructors who
are not familiar with technology or design and have their minds set on not
changing. As I said I was not previously
aware of these specific 6 steps but follow a very similar approach when beginning
a development with an Instructor. The first
step, especially as a Christian, is the most important (in my opinion). When someone feels loved and appreciated they
are more willing to open up to new ideas and ways of doing things. There are times when this becomes difficult,
especially if someone is non responsive.
However, because Christ first loved us we are able to show love through
His grace to those who aren’t as easy to love.
This is a thought that I keep continually with me as I enter each
development of a course.
Reference:
Sheninger,
E. (2014). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for
changing times. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.
