A Change Model Mashup to Guide Educational System Change Participants

Abstract

This chapter describes an emerging process that can be employed to identify forces at work within systemic change movements, and to identify and prioritize actions likely to promote the desired changes. The process is a “mashup” (combination) of three classic models by Dannemiller and Jacobs (J Appl Behav Sci 28:480–498, 1992), Lewin (Psychol Rev 50:292–310, 1943), and Benjamin Franklin (To Joseph Priestley. In Willcox WB (ed) The papers of Benjamin Franklin: January 1 through December 31, 1772. 19. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp 299–300. ISBN 0300018657. OCLC 310601, 1772), informed by the “unifying theory of systems thinking” proposed by Cabrera, Cabrera, and Powers (Syst Res Behav Sci 32:534–545, 2015) and Michael Fullan’s (Leading in a culture of change. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2001) framework for leadership in a culture of change. Advice is offered on how, by incorporating systems thinking principles while using the process, the activity can result in actionable strategies that support a desired change. A group using the process to develop strategies to hasten the adoption of digital micro-credentials is cited as an example throughout the chapter. This example also illustrates how technologies can support the process during online collaboration by a distributed team of participants, increasing the efficiency of idea generation and review. The chapter ends with a call for reform-minded leaders to consider this and other innovative approaches that may better fit the dynamic change contexts in which they are “leading in a culture of change” (Fullan, Leading in a culture of change. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2001).