Fear of the unknown...

I recently had the opportunity to speak with one of the teachers at my school of whom I have great respect. We were discussing some of the issues that were both preventing and slowing further growth of our colleagues.

The ultimate reason we came up with kind of surprised me, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense; FEAR. When we are talking about educators and the future of education, there is always one big variable...the variable of the unknown...

Whether we are talking about professional development, Twitter and blogging, new and innovative ideas, or a new approach to education, educators are faced with the possibility of having to rethink and reconsider their educational practices and beliefs. As all educators know, rethinking and reconsidering educational practices and beliefs can be easier said than done.

New ideas and new concepts mean change, and change is scary, and when times are scary people get afraid, and when people get afraid they shut down. When we approach our colleagues with new ideas or suggestions of how we can improve education, we need to remember and be aware of how they are going to feel. Even if the new idea or concept is guaranteed to produce amazing results, educators will still be afraid of the unknown. We need to anticipate and address their fears and concerns before fear limits forward progress...

What strategies and methods do you use to help limit the effects of fear and the unknown when presenting new ideas? How can we create an environment that encourages risk taking among educators in an effort to improve the educational climate?