ABSTRACT
The context for responding to change has shifted, and with it apparently the ability of school systems to harmonize social change with prevailing ideas about the nature and structure of education. It is partly a matter of a mismatch between old styles of problem solving and new problems, and partly a matter of optimism, confidence and personal efficacy. Most of the concepts and theories for dealing with change developed in a period of expansion and at a time when there was greater deference to political and professional authority. Schools rely on a limited set of practices to support change, and most of those practices imitate the current situation. A particularly interesting feature of change in schools is reliance on volunteers— on committed teachers or administrators who take on additional tasks voluntarily. District traditions had an impact on the processes for responding to change, but not much of a bearing on the substance of the responses.
