reference to concrete situations an

reference to concrete situations and individuals, because the degree of
potential change is a function of the discrepancy berween the siate of
existing practice on the part of particular individuals and the furure stare
$.* a change might take them. The large-scale study of Dissemination
Efforts supporting school Improvem.nt (omsl)demonsrrares rhe critical
importance of defining the extent of change in terms of individuals'
surting-points (crandall et al., lg82). This siudy found rhar reachers,
under the right supportive conditions, used new materials and altered
teaching practices consistenr with innovations adopted by their schools or
districts.
. In :y*Trly, the purpose of acknowledging the objective reality of
change lies in the recognition that there are new policies and programs
"ou[ there" and that they may be more or less spicific in termi oiwhat
they imply for changes in materials, teaching practices, and beliefs. The
real crunch comes in the-relationships htwien these new programs or
policies and rhe thousands of subjective realities embedded in-people's
individual and organizationalcontexts and their personal histories. How
these subjective realities are addressed or ignored is crucia! for whether
potendal changes become meaningful ar rh--e revei o[ individual use and
effectiveness. It is-perhaps worth repeating that chariges in actual practice
llolg- the.three dimensions-in miterials, t&ching ipproaches, and beliefs,
in what people do and hink-areessential if thi intended ourcome is
to be achieved.
IMPLICATIOI.JS OF TFIE SUBJECTIVE AT..{D OBJECTIVE REALITIES
.
As ye integrate the ideas of this chapter and chapter 2, there are six
major observations to be made concerning
l. the soundness of proposed changes;
2. undersranding the failure of well-intentioned change;
3. guidelines for understanding the narure and feasiiiftty of partic_
ular changes; .,'
4. the realities of the status quo;
5. the deepniss ofchange; and
6, the question of valuing.
Firsf, as we have seen in chapter 2, not all change proposals are
,,authentic."
There may- be a variety of reasons wtry itrange decisions are
made, not all of which repre$ent sustained commiiments.i{oreover, if the
subjective and objective implications of implementiog real change are as
profound as I have suggested, there is no way that eien a fractiJn of the
changes comingdown the pike could be implemented. Allnew programs