Recognizing That Change is Good

So last week we had to read an article by Wilson and I must say I found it rather interesting. We had to choose a line/excerpt from the article and talk about it. I liked this activity so much that I wanted to include it in my journal. Below is the excerpt I chose and my explanation as to its importance to me.

"Consistent theoretical grounding is only possible or desirable where participants share a common ideology. Examples might include the military, a small company, or a charter school. But even in these cases, constituencies have this maddening tendency to diverge off the beaten path; to seek innovation and change; to differ on even fundamental points. Resulting instructional designs are likely to be some sort of compromise, reflecting the diversity of the community. And rather than being seen as a weakness for lack of theoretical consistency, I tend to see such compromise as valuable reality checks" (Wilson, n.d., p. 7).

I found this excerpt to stand out the most for me as I constantly come across this in both my educational and professional life. In learning environments I tend to see that generally, most communities do attempt to utilize a common concept or try to generalize a theory to fit for everyone. While I can understand the implications for doing so, especially when looking at the given examples, it makes me wonder why we tend focus so much on applying a single/common theory when we as individuals are not one in the same. And even though most learning communities allow room for change and innovation, many still hold strong to a common theory across the board.

I also come across this in my daycare when managing my employees. I find myself trying to use a general theory of management practice when dealing with my employees and find myself getting frustrated when it seems as if I need to employ another theory because the current one isn't working for one or all of my employees. So what I like best about the excerpt in regards to my business is that he says to not look at it as a weakness but rather a reality check. A reality check because no matter how common the community, no one theory is going to work 100% of the time and it's okay to change it up a little. You don't have to abandon the theory in favor of a newer one, but altering it by allowing for change and innovation is best. Once you get past that, Wilson says you're beginning to account for people's needs.