Resistance to change in schools: perceptions of principals and teachers in a South African province

Abstract

Changes are taken place in the South African society, especially in education, to address the previous discriminatory practices in favor of a free and democratic dispensation. Literature shows that change always goes hand in hand with resistance to it. However, literature pertaining to the perceptions of principals and teachers about resistance to change in education is limited, hence the rationale for this research. The purpose of this article is to report on the differences and the extent of the differences between teachers’ and principals’ perceptions regarding resistance to change in impoverished schools of a South African province. A quantitative approach is followed. The d-values and t-tests indicate significant differences between the perceptions of principals and teachers about resistance to change in their respective schools. Teachers’ reactions to change in schools are generally overloaded with resisting forces while principals’ experiences of change are more optimistic with fewer resisting forces.