from VCCA Journal, Volume 4, Number 1, Spring/Summer 1989, 42-43
© Copyright 1989 VCCA Journal
Changes that affect the teaching-learning process are often resisted by faculty. The literature identifies three profiles of resisting faculty. The first describes a faculty member as a rational adopter, one who will accept any change if the information explaining the change is presented in a logical fashion. This view of faculty is not widely accepted.
The other two profiles, the stone age obstructionist and the pragmatic skeptic, offer a more realistic view of faculty resistance to change. The former does not wish to disturb the status quo while the latter emphasizes the autonomous nature of the classroom.
Clark, Lotto, and Astuto (1984) define educational change as "a process of coming to grips with the multiple realities of people who are the main participants in implementing change." Change involves a description of what is to be altered and also an explanation of the processes to be used in affecting the change.
The implementation of change depends on how both the faculty and the administration perceive the changes. In order for the change proposal to be fully implemented, institutional leadership must exhibit a commitment to the proposal. Changes will necessitate alterations in the current state and may cause behavioral changes in the faculty if the teaching-learning process is affected.
One important variable affecting faculty receptivity to change is the practicality of the change proposal. Practicality is the faculty member's perception of the consequences of implementing change.
Doyle and Ponder (1977) cite three components of the practicality ethic. The first, instrumentality, asks how the change proposal allows for classroom contingencies. The second, congruence, considers how clearly the change proposal describes the things to be altered. The final component, cost, involves the amount, personal time, energy, and skill that will be needed to effect the change.
Determining what variables are most important in effecting change is not an easy task. However when changes that affect the teaching-learning process reach the implementation stage, practicality appears to be a significant factor for further research.