Blazing New Trails - Connexions

Navigating the Politics of Change in a Suburban School District: A Phenomenological Study 235
control over another person; resistance is met with when power is exercised without a level of
influence or the building of relationships. In reporting the findings, as participant-researcher,
the subjective voice of first person (I) was used.
The concepts of power and influence were recurring themes in almost every
interaction at the district level regarding the change of the Teachers leading Teachers model.
It was evident from observations and personal interactions that all members of the district
utilized their positional power and their influence differently to impact change. In the initial
stages of approval of the change in the training plan, I was asked to create a proposal
outlining my ideas for change. Further into the change process, I was asked for a more indepth
rationale for the change because certain district leaders did not agree with altering the
teacher leader model. I created an executive summary of the need for the change in the
training model based on a review of the research. I was given the opportunity to present
information to the campus principals. The levels of positional power and influence were not
only evident in the beginning of the study, but also as the change was implemented. Levels of
power and influence impacted my ideas for change, and I was struggling with how to deal
with it effectively. Neither my supervisor nor the leader of the curriculum division had time to
express views on every issue nor should they be expected to; however, our supervisors’
positional power was a determining factor in compliance to collaborate. At this time, I began
to think more deeply about how the power and influence concepts were at play in the change
process for the teacher leaders.
Issues around positional power and influence were at play in all levels of this change
process. I was not the only one dealing with how to effectively implement the change.
Teacher leaders were also experiencing similar challenges on campus. While reassuring
teacher leaders that their influence could make an impact, I felt that it was necessary to more
clearly define this relationship between power and influence that was present in the changes
in the TLT model.
Figure 1 depicts a power and influence quadrant that was created to depict the
connection between power and influence. I recognized that in my role as the change leader,
power was a significant determining factor in the change effort but was not always in direct
correlation to the level of influence. For example, it was evident in the early decision making
stages of the change process that approval from high power entities was necessary to move
forward. However, it was also evident from the teacher leaders’ responses that decision
making on the campus level had not been impacted by this same power structure. It was
necessary to convince teacher leaders that their level of influence would make the difference
on their campuses, not any positional power (Reflective Journal, December 2, 2008).
People in an organization function in a power and influence quadrant to implement
change. The connection between power and influence is an important understanding for this
research. Each of the quadrants in the chart above represents a level of power and a level of
influence that a person within the district holds. All stakeholders within the district fall into
one of the four power-influence quadrants. These quadrants identified the relationship
between power and influence within the change process (see Figure 1).