Understanding the Challenges of an Externally Mandated Change Process: A Case Study of a Lebanese Private School.

Abstract

Change in educational organizations has always confronted myriads of challenges (Hargreaves, 2005). It is a complex process that is accompanied with messiness and chaos (Fullan, 2020). Among those challenges, scholars repeatedly argue that teacher resistance is one of the main problems that obstructs change and school improvement (Glickman et al., 2007). Utilizing Fuller’s concerns theory and the lens of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) as a theoretical framework, the researcher employed an interpretivist approach to deepen the understanding on factors and concerns affecting the implementation of change and how the role of leaders in facilitating the change process is perceived by teachers and the leaders themselves in a Lebanese private school. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were collected from 8 professionals in that school, 5 teachers and 3 school leaders. The data collected was analyzed thematically in both inductive and deductive approaches. The study aligned with the literature regarding the importance of the role of leadership in implementing change successfully. The study found that the perceptions of teachers and leaders could differ vastly with regard to the roles and processes of change. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, study highlights a new strategy to approach resistance that can be used as an asset in the change process. The study offers several implications regarding informing leadership on implementing change in schools, and understanding how resistance could be utilized for succeeding in change.