THE FRAMEWORK

The Framework

The Framework

If you want employees to accept change, invest some time in planning and communication. Too often, managers throw a change out there and expect others to say, “Well, that's just fine.” That's not likely.

To get people to accept change, the first step is to understand what, from their perspective; they feel that they're losing. If you can empathize with their feelings—and possibly compensate for the loss—you've taken a giant first step toward acceptance.

Here are four more factors—the four C's—to promoting acceptance of change:

Caring. Listening and responding to people's reactions is just as important as explaining the reasons for change.

Control. People want input into how change will be implemented. But never ask for input unless you plan to consider it.

Choice. Employees feel better if they are given options as part of the change process. The more choices they have, the more they feel in control.

Competence. Workers are happier about change if they feel they have the skills and abilities to succeed after the change. The faster you can help someone move through the learning curve, the faster they will accept the change.

So before you begin to implement any important change with employees, take time to develop a plan that incorporates those four features.

Teacher Aides/Assistants (TAs) make up almost a quarter of the school workforce in the UK, but research on their impact is limited and the results mixed. This paper reports on the largest UK study on the impact of TAs on pupil outcomes, involving nearly 8,000 pupils across seven year groups, five measures of support, and pupil attainment measured by National Curriculum levels/Key Stage tests. There was a consistent negative effect of TA support on the academic progress of pupils, even after controlling for prior attainment and special educational needs (SEN). The more support provided, the less progress made.

This paper explores this negative effect in terms of TA deployment and practice. TAs have a direct pedagogical role, interacting with pupils - principally those with SEN - who become increasingly separated from the curriculum and interaction with the teacher the more they are supported by TAs. We argue that TAs have become the primary educators of pupils with the greatest needs. This is of concern as unique data from transcripts showed that TAs' interactions with pupils tended to be concerned with task completion at the expense of teaching for understanding. The paper explores the main explanations for the effects on attainment, ways to alleviate the negative facets of TA support, and addresses implications for school and teacher effectiveness.

Research Methods:

This paper reports data from the Deployment and Impact of TA project. This examines the deployment and impact of TA on pupil outcomes and teacher workloads over an important five year period. The study coveres mainstream and special schools in England and Wales and involved large scale surveys (Strand 1), followed by a multi-method and multi-informant approach (Strand 2). It was funded by the English and Welsh Governments. This paper reports results from the Main Pupil Support Survey, ...