DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET Knowing the Right Thing to Do 7 established expectation will be met by resistance from children, their families, and employees. If you tell your staff you are instituting a No Babysitting policy, you may find an angry group of teachers in your face. Why is resistance to change, even if the change is well intended and necessary, inevitable? The answer lies in a legal process originating in the 14th Amend- ment to the U.S. Constitution: due process (Strauss, n.d.). Due process consists of: 1. Notice: telling people about a decision before you finalize it 2. Right to a hearing: giving people a chance to share their ideas with you before you make a change We become invested in our expectations. Clarence expects pizza, not chicken, and certainly not broccoli. Teachers rely on extra income from babysitting. Teachers expect policies and procedures to stay the way they were when they were hired. THINK ABOUT IT What is your most recent experience with due process? Have you failed to provide due process and experienced resistance? When is due process not appropriate? Resistance to Decisions Neila Connors (2003) provides these statistics on how teachers ­respond to change: 1. Five percent (5%) of teachers embrace change immediately 2. Ten percent (10%) dig in their heels and resist, arguing, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (or don’t count on me to fix it!) 3. Twenty-five percent (25%) slowly adapt and change 4. Sixty percent (60%) respond, “I will wait and see what’s in it for me.” Think of an innovation you were excited about making. What percentage of your staff responded with as much enthusiasm as you? In fact, recall times when your decisions hit a brick wall with your constituents. COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL