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Educational Change 2-

We started the lesson by summarizing the previous lesson. We talked about three different models of educational change - Top-down, bottom-up and problem-solving. In the past educational change was mostly top-down. In top-down processes the risks for teachers are high and investment of teachers and of the system is high. Sometimes people are not ready for a change dictated to them, especially when there are no incentives. Therefore, teachers usually use their common sense to adapt the changes to both themselves and the pupils. If it doesn't fit, they make efforts to adopt and adapt themselves. Risks are high because it is always safer to stay where you are. If you fail, you might find yourself in trouble (for example, in class.)

A change can sometimes be used as a blueprint, when teachers follow it blindly but then it doesn't work. A recipe can be a good example of a situation that doesn't succeed if you are not really a part of the instructions, but you just follow them without understanding. it doesn't work since people are different and have their unique personalities, ideas and creativity to add to the blueprint. Without autonomous decisions, innovations are missing.

Top-down approach started to change in the 1980s. Today bottom-up approach is more prevalent. According to the traditional approach to knowledge, there are two types of knowledge- The idea that teachers' voices have to be heard is related to knowledge- The first type is propositional knowledge (knowing that..) and it refers to any statement in the educational field that gives factual knowledge, such as 'Teenagers create discipline problems in classrooms'. The second type is skill knowledge that refers to knowing how to do things. This type is less scientific.

On the other hand, we have John Dewey's approach that puts experience first, before factual knowledge. This famous philosopher claimed that experience is the basis to education. Another philosopher who wrote an article in 1952 about the relationships between theory and practice was Richard Mckeon. He conceptualized it in four methods- 1. The logistic method is based on what theorists tell practitioners they need to do. Teachers read about theories and this will inform them of their practice. 2. The problematic method is based on the conversation that practitioners innitiate asking theorists how to teach better. Theory demands solutions to problems that lead to practice. 3. The dialectic method is based on the interaction between theory and practice. Practitioners and theorists learn from each other. 4. The operational method is based mainly on practice, while theory takes a relatively minor place and functions as an addition.

More specifically about teachers' knowledge, traditionally, it was considered that academics had the knowledge while teachers had the experience, but today it is different; We recognise that teachers have knowledge and not only experience. Cochren-Smith and Lytle (1999) wrote about three conceptualizations of teachers' knowledge: 1. **knowledge-for-practice**- A situation where academics generate knowledge of theory for practice improvement. 2. **Knowledge-in-practice**- Teachers generate practical knowledge from their own experience. 3. **Knowledge-of-practice**- Using the first two types together to make changes (it relates to dialectic method).

On page 279 of the article one can read that the goal is not to do research or to produce 'findings' (as is often the case for university researchers. The goal is understanding, articulating and ultimately altering practice and social relationships in order to bring about a fundamental change in education. It is more of a bottom-up approach because it upsets the existing social order. It says that teachers can lead a change.