Vision and Action: Two Sides of the Coin for Systemic Change in Educational Systems

Abstract

Systemic change is far more difficult than piecemeal reforms because it requires far more interrelated and interdependent sets of changes to occur. Systemic change has two potential areas of failure: 1) the change process (action) may never reach full implementation of the new system, and 2) the new system (vision) may not be well designed. This paper describes Reigeluth and Karnopp’s (2020) compilation of a growing body of research-based knowledge about systemic change in education that includes both sides of the coin: 1) the vision, for which they describe 25 principles organized into six core ideas, and 2) the action by which the vision is created and implemented. The action knowledge base includes guidance about values, principles, and both sequential and continuous activities. The sequential activities are different for a school district than for an independent school. We define "independent school" as one that is not part of a district or other organization but may be a public school.