Often students are left out of change efforts, or at best are one of the samples in the ongoing experiment ... implement
EVOLUTIONARY DESIGN CHANGE MODEL From Origin to Sustainability Timothy Baird, Ed.D. October, 2017
WHY WE NEED A NEW MODEL Educational thought leaders are continuously searching for models that explain why change practices work in some settings but not others. Are there too many variables to accurately reflect the change process? Does change require unique context and therefore unique models for every setting? These questions and more explain why no change theory adequately explains current change dynamics in a school district and more importantly, why successful change is not easily transportable from one setting to another. The Evolutionary Design Change Model attempts to address this problem.
OVERVIEW OF MODEL The model uses the biological theory of evolution as a metaphor to show how originating, designing, and sustaining system wide change efforts can be accomplished. The model uses a simplified three-stage view of evolution to show how change leaders must adjust their efforts and focus to support change as it evolves and morphs over time. The goal of the model is to achieve sustainability of the change effort that allows the change to remain intact through shifts in leadership, personnel, and resource allocation.
KEY ELEMENTS OF THE MODEL There are some basic ideas within the Evolutionary Design Change Model. These include the following important concepts: 1. Change is a dynamic, constantly evolving complex task. There is no one simple recipe for implementing change and getting standardized results. 2. The focus of the Evolutionary Design Change Model is to change systems, alter behavior, impact learning and teaching, and shift culture. 3. Planning is based upon establishing a strong vision for the change effort, strong foundational beliefs that support the change effort, and short-term action steps that lead to the next step. Long-term, specific action plans usually do not work. 4. Change evolves over time and the needs and supports necessary to sustain the change shift as the change evolves. 5. Context (culture, climate, history, relationships, and resources) is different for all change efforts and must be taken into consideration when attempting to achieve sustainability of a change effort. 6. District leadership, site / department leadership, and individual champions must be involved in all stages of the change and work together to achieve sustainability. 7. Change impacts affect the change in big and little ways. Some change impacts are planned and some are not. 8. Change follows a specific life development pattern (evolution) from origination to sustainability. 9. The change effort must improve the performance, status, and/or operation of the district or the change effort will die out over time (natural selection process).
FOCUS OF CHANGE EFFORTS The focus for this change model revolves around a system’s ability: to put systems in place that support the change; to alter behavior related to the change; to shift learning and teaching to support the desired change; and to ultimately reshape the district culture. The term systems in this model refers to a broad spectrum of changes that do not rely on individual efforts or significant changes in behaviors to enact. Examples of this type of change would be to change the bell schedules in schools, install solar panels, or hire more teachers to reduce class size. These system changes occur usually from the top and depending upon resources are a good place to initiate change. System changes alone, however, do not usually get the maximum benefits from a change effort without supporting efforts from changes in behavior and/or teaching and learning practices. Changes in behavior are the hardest change efforts to initiate, reach critical mass, and sustain. Short term changes in behavior can often be achieved through directive but are seldom maintained in this way. To get real behavior change, someone has to buy into the vision and make a conscious effort to make the change. This is hard even when people agree with the change. One example of this is from a school district that recently put in solar tubes to allow for more natural light in classrooms and allow the teacher to turn off the lights in the classroom. Despite teachers agreeing with the concept, after the initial period of use, many teachers left the solar tubes closed and started using the lights again. This demonstrates the difficulty of getting people to change current practice or habits. Only through the involvement of student energy monitors did this practice improve. Incorporating learning and teaching into the change effort is a very powerful tool to support the change. Often students are left out of change efforts, or at best are one of the samples in the ongoing experiment related to implementing the change. We see this sometimes when we implement new curricular materials or attempt a new pedagogical approach. These change efforts can be made much easier and more effective when we involve students in the process. Imagine having the students give input on the use of the new materials or teaching methodology. What would it look like if students were on the front end of the change implementation? This practice has been used quite effectively in the Encinitas Union School District where student teams have drafted storm water prevention plans for school sites, created energy plans and waste reduction practices, formed user guilds to support real world learning, and assisting the IT and Educational Services Department with technology issues. Student work in real world change efforts is the single most powerful change tool any school or district possesses. Unfortunately, it is also the least used tool by many districts to support change. The net impact of all these efforts is to change the culture of a school or district. When the change becomes hardwired into the district and people see this work as how and why this is done, the change has reached sustainability. PLANNING THE CHANGE Change efforts fail for many reasons. One of them is not investing in planning the change. Just as frequently, though, change efforts fail from investing too much in planning the change. Let me explain. All change efforts need a strong vision. This vision may not be crystal clear about what the change looks like when it is sustainable but it is clear on the need for change and what
direction to move. The other factor that supports effective change is a set of powerful foundational beliefs about teaching and learning. If the change directly supports these beliefs then it has a much stronger chance of survival. Change planners often make the mistake of over planning the change. Very few change initiatives have a clear path from start to finish. I always advocate planning ahead to the next bend in the road. I call this planning process, “Straight Shots and Blind Curves.” Straight shots are easy. Change efforts such as putting up solar panels only require that you plan where the panels go, who will install them, when they will be installed, how you will pay for them, and a series of other questions that are fairly straight forward. There is a lot of work here but it is a fairly straight shot. Blind curves are different. Districts have frequently rolled out one-to-one technology change plans that focused solely on the straight shot. We have so many laptops to give to so many students, so that becomes the change focus. What they often miss is the blind curve. What do those students do with the laptop once they get them? How do teachers support this work and integrate into their teaching? What staff development best supports this work? Sometimes, the change needs to progress through these blind curves slowly, with the district learning as it goes. The more the district learns, the more the road straightens out. Planning all of this from the beginning is a recipe for disaster. When the road is clear use straight shot planning. When approaching a curve and next steps are not obvious, use blind curve planning and only address in your plan the next visible steps. CHANGE CONTEXT No change event occurs within a vacuum. All aspects of context impact change in either positive or negative ways. Context includes many variables. The culture and climate of an organization are key elements of any change effort. These are based upon the history and relationships of the organization. Even within organizations with change supportive context, the availability of resources (time, money, and leadership) often make or break a change effort. Change leaders must be highly attuned to the context around the change and adjust their change efforts to fit this context. CHANGE INITIATORS AND SUPPORTERS All change efforts are initiated by someone and supported throughout the change process. In the Evolutionary Design Change Model, there are unique sets of change initiators and supporters within a school district that all have a role to play in the change effort. These groups of change initiators and supporters include: District Leadership – Superintendents, District Office Staff, and Boards Site / Department Leadership – Principals, Department Chairs, Site Leadership Teams Individual Champions – Parents, Teachers, Students, Community Other Groups – Students, Associations, Community, Formal Support Groups (PTA, etc.) Change initiators and supporters or change leaders play different roles in the change process. District leadership can best help establish the vision and promote the foundational beliefs that support district wide change. They can help provide resources for these change efforts and they can find the most promising models and versions of the change to spotlight and spread.
Site leaders are critical for change efforts that initiate at the site level. Whether they are the initiators of the change or not, at some point, site level leadership must become an advocate for the change for it to be successful at the school level. Change champions and other groups can help initiate district level and/or site level changes. Champions are critical to the passion, energy, and work into change efforts to see them through to sustainability. Although each level of change leadership has different roles, they are all most effective when coordinated in conjunction with the other change leaders. CHANGE IMPACTS Specific impacts or events may promote or hinder a change effort. Some of these impacts can be planned or controlled. Others just happen and must be managed in the context of the change. Early in a change effort, it is important to establish vision, goals, and some concrete actions that support the change. These can be enhanced through change impacts. Impacts that are planned can be powerful supports for change. Early in change initiation, change impacts can signal the change, inform others of the change, and built support for the change. During the natural selection stage of change, impacts that highlight success and shift resources to promote promising practices are important. Impacts become less significant when a change has reached sustainability but they are still necessary. Impacts that recognize and celebrate the change are helpful here. Some impacts are not planned. These must be managed as best as possible. These can be emergency situations that shift focus and resources away from the desired change. They can also be impacts planned by others who are actively working against the change. Change leaders need to be attuned to all change impacts and either use them to augment or enhance change efforts or minimize or mitigate impacts that detract from the change. STAGES OF CHANGE Change has multiple phases. For ease in sharing the model, this theory addresses the three main phases. Each of these phases are impacted by the specific context of the change require support from change initiators, incorporate change impacts in the process, and. These phases include: 1. The Change Origin Phase 2. The Natural Selection Phase 3. The Sustainability Phase THE CHANGE ORIGIN PHASE Change initiation occurs frequently in every organization. New ideas and strategies come and go. Starting with a successful change origin phase, gives the change effort a much stronger chance to achieve sustainability within the organization. In this phase of change, context is a key factor. Previous change efforts always impact the current change effort. Does the organization have a history of experimentation, innovation, and continuous growth? Are members of the organization given an opportunity to put their stamp
on a change? The climate of the organization either supports or detracts from every change effort. Context can be enhanced to support a specific change effort. Addressing an important issue that has meaning to the district or community is important. Communicating the change, the need for the change, the outlines of benefits that the change will bring are also helpful in allowing the change to take root. Depending upon the size of the change and the level of change impact that is being sought, change initiators and supporters have different roles. If a teacher is just changing the way that she approaches a new learning approach, then she alone can sustain the change. However, if the change involves changing the culture of an entire school site, then site leadership must be involved (or at least supportive). If trying to change a school district, there needs to be support from district level leadership, site level leadership, and change champions. Particularly when trying to start change, all three levels of support are necessary. In this stage, district level leadership can take the lead, provide support, and create change impacts that move the change forward. At the origin phase of change, it is important to activate change efforts to bring attention to the change and if possible take some action steps that will bring early visible success. This will activate the change effort to continue and potentially spread. Often change impacts such as kickoffs, presentations, or studies can be used to activate this work. NATURAL SELECTION CHANGE PHASE At the name indicates, this stage is really about spreading variations of the change effort to see what they produce. The bigger the change audience, the more variation one should expect to see. Research and design efforts are important for this phase. So, what does this look like in practice? One model that was used recently involved in our district started with a simple question to 5th and 6th grade students. “We have installed solar panels and solar tubes at your school site. What can we do now to further reduce energy use?” This question was put forward in different ways at 5 different school sites. All of the schools addressed the task in different ways. At one school, a single classroom took this on as a longterm learning project. Another school made it part of the enrichment science class curriculum. A third school approached the task through student volunteers. The remaining two schools did variations on one of these methods. All approaches came up with similar ideas and plans but there were telling differences in which models elicited the most student engagement and ultimately impacted school culture around the topic. The site champions and site leadership were there to focus and support the work. District leadership was in place to see the different structures and learn what elements were successful and which ones were less successful in these models. This learning was then shared and used to structure future student research projects. One key feature that seemed to be present in the most successful models was to have an authentic audience to hear student findings from their work. Natural selection is a critical step when moving a change from origin (where the final version of the change may not yet be evident) through sustainability of the change. As the name implies,
at the stage it is important to support and highlight the successful elements of the change so that they can reproduce in other settings. Ultimately, this spread of successful elements becomes the foundation of the cultural change that leads to sustainability. SUSTAINABILITY OF CHANGE PHASE Sustainability is the goal of all change efforts. The measure of whether a change is sustainable is can the change sustain changes in leadership (from any level), changes in resources, and other change impacts that may potentially derail the work. This is a high bar for most change efforts. That is why much of the work must be around building the foundational beliefs that support the change and finding successful elements of the change to propogate. This is how a change becomes part of a school or district culture. The change efforts themselves will evolve over time and morph into new outcomes. This is natural and expected. However, the vision for the change must still be driving the work and the beliefs. One good test of whether a change has reached sustainability is when there is change in leadership. I observed this recently at a school with a strong environmental focus in a district that also has a strong vision for environmental stewardship. A strong, long-term principal left the school and a new principal was hired. Often this type of change can shift the focus and work of a school in different directions. In this case, the new principal quickly shifted into supporting the existing school culture and the environmental focus continued and grew. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Change is hard. We are programmed to stay with existing routines and beliefs. Moving away from these requires planning, work, and thought. The Evolutionary Design Change Model helps focus some light on how and why these changes can occur. This is a complicated model but the steps to change don’t have to be overly complex. For someone using this model to bring about educational change, I would advise a fairly simple process. Start with a strong vision for the change effort, built upon foundational beliefs that support the change. Find the change champions, site leaders, and district leaders who can support the change. Know the culture and understand how the culture impacts the change. Look for easy change impacts that can be implemented in the early origin phase of the change that will give you a quick spark and hopefully an early win. Start with system changes but as soon as it becomes feasible integrate student learning into the process. Nurture this spark into multiple variations of the change. Learn what works and what doesn’t work and then help support and spread these key elements. Finally, continue to support the change until it reaches sustainability. Educational change takes work, patience, and passion to bring to life. Using the Evolutionary Design Change Model to help chart the course of change is one promising new tool that helps chart the course from the origin of change to ultimate sustainability.
