ICT CPD Landscape report one Pachler, Daly Pelletier 2009

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Fullan has suggested a summary of what really matters for leaders to

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understand in bringing about change and for recognising the pitfalls and

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preparing for longer-term benefits. This has relevance to the provision of

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ICT CPD with reference to creating sustainable pedagogical change.

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Leaders need to create a CPD environment where:

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• ‘The goal is not to innovate the most’. Long-term engagement with

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significant shifts in practice is important. This may not seem to be

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as innovative as engaging with multiple initiatives, but it is the

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quality of change that matters, not the amount or speed of change.

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29

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• ‘It is not enough to have the best ideas’. Achieving change involves

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realistic and effective strategies to enable the teachers who are the

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actually at the forefront of initiatives to be included; authoritative

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leaders need to see the weaknesses in their approaches.

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• ‘Appreciate the ‘implementation dip\'’. Worthwhile change frequently

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brings disruption and difficulties before the benefits are felt. A

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smooth transition may be a sign that not very much is really

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changing in a fundamental way. New ways of working may take

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time to achieve more than the old ways did. Quick implementation

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and immediate successes can be false indications that real change

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has occurred in complex areas like pedagogy.

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• ‘Redefine resistance’. Where participants are ‘resistant’, it is

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important to consider the underlying reasons. Collaborative

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engagement with change inevitably opens the way for diverse

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views. Learning from the issues raised is important.

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• ‘Reculturing is the name of the game’. Sustainable change requires

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developing a culture which is open to review and enquiry about

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practice within a school, rather than focusing purely on

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infrastructure and reorganization.

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• ‘Never a checklist, always complexity’. Change that is meaningful

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cannot be simplified in order to meet demands for \'quick\' readymade

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solutions. If it is easy to tell if change has happened, then it is

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probably not a significant change.

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Dealing with the ‘implementation dip’ is extremely relevant to teachers

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learning to use technologies effectively, where immediate benefits are

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often elusive, and where the education system is intolerant of ‘dips’ in

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general. Introducing new technologies and new ways of working frequently

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disrupts an established practice which is seen to be working. There can be

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limited tolerance of reduced levels of competence and control, and even

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student performance, in the short term. Short-term evaluation of ICT CPD

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may provide little helpful information about its success. Longer term

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monitoring of its effects may reflect the need for teachers to persevere

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through difficulties which come with the degrees of change demanded.

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p.29

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ICT CPD Institutions Demand Map