I thought I was fighting the war of “fear of tech”.
I created lesson ideas, wrote helpsheets, offered help whenever necessary, kept myself informed with new ideas so that I could help others with new ideas, hoped, prayed, and continually struggled to keep a smile on my face when daily I felt I met futility in my actions.
I fought that war for too long.
I was armed with the tools necessary for advancement. I understood it was not blogging — it was writing. It was not google earth — it was geography. It was not kidspiration — it was cause and effect, comparison, mind-mapping. It was not powerpoint — it was story telling. I knew the lingo, I knew the battlefield. I was prepared to move forward.
And then I stopped and noticed that I was fighting the wrong war.
I am not fighting against the fear of tech…….
I am ramming myself against the resistance to change.
Not the fear of change…..but the resistance to change.
So, I take my armor off….and review the battlefield……and try to comprehend the new strategies I must face, new plans I must compile.
This is no longer a fight of logic……of the lightbulb going off with the aha moment……of the sudden comprehension that tech doesn’t add more…..but it adds variety, differentiation, and opportunities. This is not a war between adult educators who want the most for their students.
This is a war of the other side standing firm and just saying “NO, I don’t want to and you can’t make me.”
And I have no idea even how to start preparing for that.
Just my thoughts after a long yesterday…..
Jen
Hmmm…. interesting. I tend to agree with that. The idea of re-framing the battle is intriguing. I wonder what it is about educators that so many are resistant to any change. In my experience, many of the resistors are also the complainers that the ‘system doesn’t work’ or it’s fault. But then given an opportunity to try something new that might help, it’s resisted with every fibre.
Thanks for the thought, and hope you get you’re armor polished up over a relaxing break.
Jen,
I loved this post. Know that you speak for many of us.
If there is good news here, I think it is that our number is growing and that we have found each other. So the “voice in a wilderness” experience is still there, but at least we have plenty of outlets to bitch about the crickets!
Maybe we need to be more transformative, not less, more threatening (not physically…still…) less reassuring. Why not start your next meeting asking “Why do we need schools any more?” This might help to jar some into thought and motivate some resistors to understand that they are standing tall on a sinking ship!
All good wishes to you and all your blog followers in this holiday season!
Jen,
I think a lot of us have been there and it’s disillusioning sometimes. At times like this I find books that are about the “change” process to be very nurturing and helpful in figuring out what to do next.
I’m reading one now, Managing Transitions (by Bridges) which is really interesting. He talks a lot about how sometimes circumstances change but that doesn’t mean people do, and that leaders have to guide them through that change, which includes a sort of purgatory period. Pretty interesting stuff.
While external changes come fast, internal changes seem exceedingly slow.
I’m just sorry your considerable talents aren’t being appreciated enough!!
Brilliant post. So many people are there and you have articulated it so well
Thought-provoking post. Thanks for articulating (or ‘writeulating) what many instructional technology coaches experience.
But I have some questions:
1. So now what? What do you do?
2. In looking over your jenuine tech page, I notice that you offer seminars about incorporating technology. But what now? As much as you may be venting here, I’d presume that what you write is more than just a one-day issue. How about seminars on change and adaptability? Because the one thing I’ve learned in the position of instructional technology coach is that this new tech-centered approach to teaching and learning is really just a exposed boo-boo on rigid and uninspired teaching practice.
3. Regarding Carolyn’s idea to read books about change, may I recommend Made To Stick. I read it often. I dog-ear regularly (the book, not my body). You’re sure to find relevance and value.
And I like your post about Twitter. It definitely provides a lot for those that use it, but have you ever tried to ‘talk twitter’ around your family? I’ve tried (around mine), and I often feel like an immigrant with a deformity espousing tales about alien abduction.
@Ken –
1. I don’t know for sure. Working on thinking thoughts through still right now.
2. Hmmm — do I say the word incorporate??
If so, I need to change that.
Yes, always more than a one day issue….but dealing with people who want one day fixes…..on something that takes a while longer to both use and understand.
I cringe on the words change and adaptability — but I understand your point. And am trying hard to change the sessions I teach from HOW to WHY. Yet, often people just want to know the WHY. Hard to balance…but looking for ideas, thinking of new ways.
3. I need a book to read over the holiday season, so I just might check out your suggestion.
Thank you for your comments on my twitter post as well.
Jen
It may not be stubborness to change, it may simply be the fact that human beings are programmed to want to do things the easy way. The sad part is that this carries over into a job where the easy way is rarely the best way. The even sadder part is that technology makes their job easier.
What’s easier, a process of collegial discussion through which we develop and continue to revise and improve a lesson, or to hand out a bunch of worksheets that look exactly the same and have kids fill in the blanks?
Teaching “Mad Libs”-style is hardly the appropriate way, yet it is the easier way. You guide the kids through the work sheet, and voila…material has been “taught”. Let’s ignore the fact that the only skill involved was copying down what someone else has done.
I have taken the liberty of venting within the comment section, but I completely agree with your commentary on the fight against the stubborn and unwilling to do their job better. To top it all off, teachers are very unwilling to listen to criticism. If we can’t have an open discussion where some criticism takes place, just where do we start?
Excellent Post!
“This is no longer a fight of logic”. I have found that logic almost never comes into play when people argue or resist technology. Engaging them logically with a cohesive argument doesn’t work, rather social engagement (through PLN’s), peer pressure (other teachers doing tech with success and they aren’t) and slow, continuous organizational pressure (from strong, supportive administrators) will result in change (however slowly). Part of the issue is that teaching is more insulated than other careers from the economics of our changing society, this lack of insulation is what is causing other industries to change but not the education industry.
I agree Jen,
I have spent the summer holiday thinking not about getting teachers to use technology but how to change the way they look at things. Change seems to me to be the biggest barrier.
I had the same realization at the end of the year when I became public enemy No. 1 for suggesting we go from a ‘computer timetable’ for our lab to use it when you need it approach. Everyone agreed that in the ‘real world’ that my work but not in a school. I had to laugh at that, I thought I was living in the real world