La Verdad: Aspectos conceptuales

The theoretical basis of the stages of concern as defined by Hall, George and Rutherford (1979) provide a wide range of applicability to diverse monitoring of any programme. It attempts to identify the perceptions and feelings teachers have about the innovation. It is the most preferred part of the CBAM that is capable of yielding the most successful results. This part of the model deals with typical perceptions of individuals. The appropriateness of SoC is best appreciated when the impact of curricular change on teachers is assessed. This analogy explains it all:

Imagine a navigator on a manned spacecraft heading toward a distant destination. The ship has an educational mission. The passengers are students. The navigator is very knowledgeable about the abilities of the students, their educational sophistication, or lack thereof, and the best method to use to impart the information presented to allow the students to reach their potential. The navigator is also in possession of a map that will chart the course. This map describes the things the students will see and the order in which they will encounter each one of them. The map contains other useful information for the navigator, such as all of the pertinent facts in great detail, information about the concepts that students must know in order to process the information given, and a time frame in which this journey will take place. Professional navigators will spend many hours familiarizing themselves with this map. They will learn the facts and perhaps elaborate on them. They will connect the facts to the concepts necessary in order for the facts to make sense. They will plan their itinerary so that all information has been covered in the appropriate time allotted for the journey. They will construct analogies to the information so that students will be able to relate to the topics presented or the sights seen. They will feel confident and

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well prepared. Now, imagine the anxiety the navigator would feel if suddenly presented with a new map. Such is the anxiety that many instructors often feel when they are presented with a new curriculum. But such anxiety is not necessary (Anonymous, n.d.).

Uncertainty, ambiguity and tension greet teachers when they are confronted with curriculum change (Flores, 2005). They tend to evaluate their extant state of professionalism in the light of the change to assess their preparedness to execute it. Snyder et al. (1992) warn that the strain and fatigue resulting from role overload and the imminent uncertainty is capable of limiting teachers‘ motivation in implementing the innovation. Teachers‘ perception of the change can lead to disinterest in the change. Fullan (1991) explains that not all teachers will embrace the change. Apparently because their involvement in the planning of the curriculum is heavily curtailed. They may have some genuine concerns about their preparedness to implement the change on the grounds of the change being alien to them. It might also be an attempt to sabotage and undermine the change because they are not a party to its planning. Teachers may therefore have differing feelings, attitude, interest and perception about the change. This may require the use of the CBAM-SoC to monitor the implementation. The theoretical definitions of the various concerns teachers may exhibit in the process are presented below:

0 Awareness: Little concern about or involvement with the innovation is indicated.

1 Informational: A general awareness of the innovation and interest in learning more detail about it are indicated. The person seems to be unworried about himself or herself in relation to the innovation. She or he is interested in substantive aspects of the innovation in a selfless manner, such as general characteristics, effects, and requirements for use.

2 Personal: Individual is uncertain about the demands of the innovation, his or her adequacy to meet those demands, and his or her role in the innovation. This includes analysis of his or her role in relation to the reward structure of the organisation, decision making, and consideration of potential conflicts with existing structures or personal commitments. Financial or status implications of the programme for self and

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colleagues may also be reflected.

3 Management: Attention is focused on the processes and tasks of using the innovation and the best use of information and resources. Issues related to efficiency, organizing, managing, scheduling, and time demands are utmost.

4 Consequence: Attention focuses on impact of the innovation on students within teachers‘ immediate sphere of influence. The focus is on relevance of the innovation for students; evaluation of student outcomes, including performance and competencies; and changes needed to increase student outcomes.

5 Collaboration: The focus is on coordination and cooperation with others regarding use of the innovation.

6 Refocusing: The focus is on exploration of more universal benefits from the innovation, including the possibility of major changes or replacement with a more powerful alternative. Individual has definite ideas about alternatives to the proposal or existing form of innovation.

Hall and Hord (1987) summarized the various stages in the SoC as follows:

Stage 0 - Awareness: Teachers have little knowledge of the innovation and have no

interest in taking any action.

Stage 1 - Informational: Teachers express concerns regarding the nature of the

innovation and the requirement for its implementation. At this stage, teachers usually show their willingness to learn more about the specific innovation or reform.

Stage 2 - Personal: Teachers focus on the impact the innovation will have on them. At

this point, they exhibit concerns about how the use of the innovation will affect them on a personal level. They may be concerned about their own time limitations and the changes they will be expected to make.

Stage 3 - Management: Concerns begin to concentrate on methods for managing the

innovation within the classroom. Teachers now express concern over the organisation and details of implementation, and the overcoming of difficulties. Time requirements are among the prime management factors, which create scepticism on the part of teachers in relation to the adoption of innovations.

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Stage 4 - Consequences: Teacher concerns now centre upon effects on students

learning. If positive effects are observed, teachers are likely to continue to work for the implementation.

Stage 5 Collaboration: Teachers are interested in relating what they are doing to what

their colleagues are doing.

Stage 6 - Refocusing: Teachers evaluate the innovation and make suggestions for

continued improvement or consider alternative ideas that would work even better.

Figure 2.4 shows that ―the Stages of Concern defines human learning and development as going through 7 stages, during which a person's focus or concern shifts in rather predictable ways‖ Sweeny (2003). Awareness as the first stage describes the extent to which people know of the existence of the innovation. Ordinarily, teachers will have to become aware of an innovation before they will have the desire to know how it really works. Hence they should be involved in the planning and implementation of the curriculum. There is always the tendency that they will consider the relative advantage that is associated with the innovation. This may not necessarily be any extrinsic reward but may also include the satisfaction of accomplishing a challenging task. Once they know the reward associated with the successful delivery of the innovation teachers will master the skill that is required by the change to implement it as intended. After some time they will evaluate their effectiveness to see how well they have performed. They may even desire to see how other faculty is doing this same thing. Hence they will collaborate with others to build teams or consult each other to see how synergy can help fine-tune their skills and understanding.

Figure 2.4: Stages of Concern (CBAM) Source: After Sweeny (2003)

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Finally, they may evaluate the innovation and begin to search for new and ground-breaking ways of doing that same thing to achieve a better result. Possibly, this stage is where they have exhausted all the perceived benefits of the innovation. From the foregoing it is evident that the seven stages are in developmental, starting with ―awareness‖ and ending with ―refocusing‖. Thus the satisfaction of each stage triggers the concerns of the next. In spite of the conventional seven-stage SoC dimension of the CBAM, Horsley and Loucks-Horsley (1998) further categorize the concerns into four:

1. Awareness (Stage 0) describes a person who either isn‘t aware of the change being proposed or doesn‘t want to learn about it.

2. Self-concerns refer to the questions we ask when we hear about something new (Stage 1, Informational), and how it might affect us (Stage 2, Personal).

3. Task concerns emerge as we engage with new skills, time demands, materials, etc. (Stage 3, Management).

4. Impact concerns describe our thoughts on how we can make a programme work better for learners (typically students) (Stage 4, Consequence), how to make it work better by actively working on it with colleagues (Stage 5, Collaboration), and, ultimately, being successful with the programme and seeking out a new and better change to implement (Stage 6, Refocusing).

This classification is a more simplified form of the SoC dimension of the CBAM; however, it follows directly from the theory of concern. The first of the three stages of concern, self- oriented, arise prior to implementing the innovation. Therefore ―awareness‖ is better classified as self-oriented concern. The self-oriented concerns allow teachers to determine their preparedness to implement the change. Once a decision is made to accept and implement the innovation, teachers develop task-oriented concerns as they progress in the implementation process. Finally, after gaining considerable experience on the innovation, teachers‘ concerns shift significantly to determining the impact the innovation is capable of making. Evaluating the innovation is possible after a great deal of experience has been acquired following its implementation.

2.6.5 Theorizing Quality Accounting Education: Instructional Quality Construct (ICQ)