ABSTRACT

'Change' is a generic term which subsumes a whole family of concepts such as 'innovation', 'development' and 'adoption'. It can be either planned or unplanned. The term 'innovation' may mean either a new object, idea, or practice, or the process by which a new object, idea or project comes to be adopted by an individual group or organization. Most curriculum writers agree that there are four basic 'phases' in the process of educational change: orientation/needs phase, initiation/adoption phase, implementation/initial use phase, and institutionalization/continuation phase. The extent to which an innovation is favourably received by clients depends partly on the communication links established by change agents but also on the specific attributes of each innovation. Rogers tried to identify those attributes of an innovation which consistently stand out in adoption and implementation studies, and found that these include: relative advantage, status, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, and trialability.