A Climate for Change

Change is not something that many people find easy to accept. I am sure that you have experienced the discomfort or anxiety that accompanies change. Perhaps it was when you needed to move from your home for college or work. Possibly you experienced the apprehension associated with change when you needed to begin working with a new boss. Regardless of where the change occurs, many people will, at least initially, resist the change effort.

The movement that resulted in federal legislation for the education of persons with disabilities initiated a significant change in American culture. To understand the special education service system that we have today, it is important to learn about the factors that helped create this system. To accomplish, we must briefly cover some information about how change occurs.

How change occurs.

A resistance to change is typically a result of two major factors:

1. social-institutional attitudes
2. institutionalization

Social or institutional attitudes contribute to a resistance to change by seeking to maintain the status quo. The human condition becomes uncomfortable with any attempt to change. This discomfort translates to inertia. Anything new or unknown is resisted and there is a tendency to want to return to old and comfortable ways (even if these were not so comfortable).

Institutionalization is the second resistance factor. Individuals, organizations, and agencies tend to become ingrained with certain methods, procedures, philosophies, and attitudes.

Creating Change

Change itself occurs primarily from the interaction of two factors:

1. change agents
2. a climate for change

Change agents are critical for any effort to alter the status quo. Change agents must be both strong, focused, and multifactoral. In the absence of any of these elements, change will not occur or will end short of its goal. Change agents could be persons or events. One good example of a change agent, and one we will return to later in this topic, is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King, by the sheer force of his character and his personal drive, significantly influenced the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

In the case of special education, the significant change agents were:

• the Civil Rights Movement
• Administrative Influences
• Legislation, and
• Litigation

We will cover each of these in more detail in the subsequent lessons of this topic.

The climate for change is equally important. Even with strong, focused and multiple change agents working together to achieve an outcome, without the right climate, change will not occur. Throughout history, significant changes have occurred during times of upheaval or tribulation.

For those the disability movement, the 1960s provided just such a climate. During this time period, there was a strong sense of dissatisfaction and upheaval. Multiple action groups focused on changing the way things were done. The window of opportunity was opened and people with disabilities took advantage.

The critical elements of the social climate of the 1960s that helped create the climate for change that resulted in federal legislation for special education included:

• social activism
• the Vietnam War
• economic reforms
• the media (television and newspapers)
• and the growing emphasis on "normalization"

Social Activism refers to the growing efforts of certain groups of people to change the way things were done. The two most significant groups of social activists for our discussion were student groups and minority groups. Each created a dissatisfaction with the way things were. The dissatisfaction that they created opened the door for persons with disabilities to advocate for their needs.

The Vietnam War continued to escalate during the 1960s. With the continuing escalation of the war came a public outcry against our involvement. This outcry created a significant amount of dissatisfaction that contributed to an overall climate ripe for change.

The Economic Reforms of the 1965-69 period highlighted the plight of minority groups, the poor and disadvantaged, and to a lesser extent, the situation of persons with disabilities.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, the media first exposed the difficulties experienced by persons with disabilities. In 1966, Burton Blatt published "Christmas in Purgatory", a stark photographic essay on the lives of persons living in institutions. Click here for a picture from this book. A few years later Geraldo Rivera produced a news story for WABC in New York about the Willowbrook State School. This documentary graphically displayed the conditions that existed in Willowbrook and shocked many viewers. Finally, during John F. Kennedy's presidency, the American public learned that he had a sister with a disability. Thus, through the media attention, our society became more aware of the living conditions of persons with disabilities.

The last factor, the concept of normalization, began in Europe and was translated to the United States by Wolf Wolfensberger. Normalization, in this context, refers to focusing on producing settings for persons with disabilities that provide an "existance as close to normal as possible." The concept of normalization provided an emphasis for altering the current service delivery system for persons with disabilities to more closely mirror the community experienced by persons without disabilities.

Go on to Web Activity 1: Factors for Change
or
Go back to The Class Page

E-mail the instructor at Larry.Gallagher@nau.edu

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