A Change agent on shaky ground : experiencing the fault lines of learning and change
Date
1998
Authors
Donaldson, Daphne Frances Victoria
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Abstract
In this autobiographical inquiry, I focus on the process, experiences and relationship of learning and change. I describe the double context of my role in implementing change through an emergency planning program at the University of Victoria, while experiencing change as a new graduate student in Curriculum Studies. Two voices emerge in my writing process: the professional (in plain typeface), and the personal (in italics). Through writing, re-writing and reflection, knowledge is constructed about individual and organizational learning and change, and the shifting roles of a change agent. My inquiry considers a paradigm shift from the mechanistic, modern world to the evolving, dynamic post-modern, and the impact of this shift on personal and professional learning. Ruptured fault lines, created by the pressure and tension of introducing change into a complex organization, expose new possibilities within a seismic gap where we can begin to see and understand things differently.