Response To Change

A larger change in which I was recently involved was changing which grade I teach. Since I began at my school, I have taught ninth grade (though as I mention above, it is not the norm to continue teaching the same grade). As of the beginning of April, I no longer teach ninth grade and instead am now teaching seventh grade.
As the RTC chart shows I'm not very resistant to change. Although teaching ninth grade had become my routine, I mildly welcomed the change. There are a few reasons why I didn't resist. Wittig highlights "three factors that research strongly identifies as influencing employees' reactions to change: employees' emotions and cognitions, communication, and employees' participation in decision making." (2012). I didn't have any strong emotions to continue teaching ninth grade. It had just become another routine. So when the decision was final, I didn't have any ill feelings about it. As I was part of the decision making process, communication is interwoven with this aspect. The English department at my school held several meetings regarding the new school year. My colleague had taught the new ninth graders for three years now, since they were in sixth grade. So, when he requested to
As Aguirre, van Post, and Alpern describe, "culture can be a great enabler of organizational change" and "We'd argue that those who work with and within their existing culture to change critical behaviors have more success than those who try to change their culture." (2013). By creating this kind of environment, change itself becomes routine. In the end, everyone accepted the changes for the new school year. Nobody resisted any changes because we work in a culture of constant change reducing our resistance to it. After four years in this culture, I'm not surprised at my low RTC score. My motivation was also unhindered since I was part of the decision making