Naysayers Are More Important Than Your Supporters

Posted by arvind s grover Tue, 07 Mar 2006 01:40:06 GMT

One of the foremost educational change experts out there is Michael Fullan. His book The New Meaning of Educational Change gives fantastic insight into what it takes to make change in a school.

One of the most important points for educational technologists to take from it is how to deal with “naysayers.” All ed tech’s probably know about naysayers, those people who just refuse to try out new things. Fullan says that you have to listen to them: 1) either they are right (and you are wrong), or 2) they are going to derail what you are trying to do with their conversations with others.

I think a lot of educational technologists run for those teachers who wait with open arms. Sometimes, it is important to run to the naysayers, turn them to your side (see Fullan), then you have even more teachers to work with.

next post: why great ideas usually can’t catch on

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June said 2 days later:

great post! too often, it’s easier said than done though, and i definitely find myself running from the naysayers and gravitating towards the supporters. i’ve seen however, how naysayers can totally derail a positive culture through negative comments and such. the next question for me, what kinds of strategies are there to gain the support of naysayers? especially for those of us who aren’t superstar personalities that can mobilize anyone to any cause….

on an unrelated note, check out www.pageflakes.com… i think it’s interesting.
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amy bowllan said 2 days later:

I agree with June and your post is very timely.
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arvind said 3 days later:

June, great question – how do you turn naysayes into yaysayers? I can’t say I have a formula, but we have had great success with this in my school. We met with them 1 on 1, we sent them to trainings, we let them talk to other educators, but mostly we opened their eyes to the possibilites.

Once you sit down and talk to the naysayers, you get to know a little bit more about why they are the way they are. In the majority of cases I have dealt with, it is because of bad experiences in the past. I look to challenge those and keep them from happening again. Once those teachers learned that we were on their side, it was a whole different conversation.

I guess I am saying, put on your therapist cap and get ready to hear them spill their guts.

Maybe I should post some more Fullan for good measure though.