Resistance of Teachers to Changes in Schools and School System

This review study notes that the implementation of changes in education (from major reforms to changes at the level of a particular school) usually results in objections of part of teachers. The study stresses psychological view on resistance of teachers to changes in schools and school system. The study is structured into five parts. The first part of the study approaches the different concepts of “change” in the school context. The second part describes the difficulties associated with defining the term “resistance to change”. It points out that the critical attitudes of teachers to change do not fully overlap with total negation of change. Not only teachers’ attitudes and behaviour are rather ambivalent and tend to change over time but they may also have a positive function: they maintain the stability of the system; prevent superficial, ill-conceived changes and uncritically accepted innovations. If management listens to teachers’ opinions, they can initiate a thorough debate and can provide stimuli to improve the original form of change. Seriously conceived resistance to change can change the change for the better. The third part gives an overview of factors that contribute to the promotion or resistance of teachers to change. The fourth part focuses on methods used to assessment the resistance to change and presents basic information about questionnaires, qualitative and mixed methods used for this purpose. The final part reflects on the probable differences between resistance of teachers to changes in schools and school system and resistance of employees in other institutions and sections. It suggests that there are differences of school system and its function even between countries with similar socio-cultural conditions.