Fundamentalists

= Fundamentalists = A fundamentalist is an experienced educator who believes that there is one pure and indisputable way to practice: the traditional model of schooling. Fundamentalists are:


 * Vanguards of tradition
 * Protectors of the status quo
 * Relentless in attempts to discourage change
 * Organized to protect the traditional way to practice

Fundamentalists do not intend to destroy or ruin schools. Quite the contrary: They believe their paradigm is correct, that standing up for what they believe in is pure and fundamental, and that they will indeed save the institution.

Leaders are being pushed to make meaningful and substantive change in schools which then puts them at odds with Fundamentalists who are zealous about maintaining status quo and tradition.

Fundamentalists resent the new role of students, parents, and the community in schools. Under the old contract, students were to obey and listen to their teachers or face punishment. Parents had limited access and influence in the classroom. The teacher prevailed in issues of grades, behavior, and privileges.

Fundamentalists loath accountability initiatives like NCLB, and they do not agree with the mantra that "all children can learn."

** Warring Paradigms **
Of all the members of the school community, fundamentalists are by far the most active. They actively and consistently seek to add to their ranks and to gain political power to support their belief system.


 * Emotional Versus Rational**
 * Philosophical arguments are focused on emotion.
 * Regularly engage in debates, arguments with staff members with opposing viewpoints.


 * Formal Versus Informal Culture**
 * Formal - Official Committees, Curriculum Committees, PTA's - All monitored and evaluated against the organization's norms and goals
 * Informal - Covert alliances - not officially sanctioned, goals are created by the membership, and they are governed only by those who participate.
 * Goals of the informal organizations are generally not to align with formal organizations.
 * Tend to form in staff lounges, parking lots, email conversations, hallways of the school

**The Three D's**
The pattern of a Fundamentalist is very predictable. They use the following three primary methods of influence to achieve their political end:
 * **Defamation**
 * Within the most stagnant and toxic of school cultures, Fundamentalists rule by intimidation.
 * Willing to do all out personal assault on the change agent.
 * **Disruption**
 * If the messenger can not be stopped, then the change initiative itself becomes the target.
 * Fundamentalists will engage in creating //miscellaneous scenarios:// obstacles to implementation of change that are so overwhelming that the staff loses confidence in the proposed change.
 * They will also try to make a case for avoiding change by identifying past ineffective attempts to solve a similar problem.
 * **Distraction**
 * When Fundamentalists realize that they cannot stop the change agent or the change initiative, they begin to display passive-aggressive behavior that articulates to the rest of the staff they are being forced to change and they do not agree with it.
 * These behaviors include nonverbal communication such as eye-rolling, negative postures, engaging in an unrelated activity (like grading papers) during the planning or implementing of change.
 * They will freely share negative comments.

Fundamentalists pose the biggest and most critical challenge to schools seeking to create a healthy school culture. Their political stance is rooted in their perception that change is the enemy, and they organize to protect their very narrow view of how schools should operate.

**Levels of Resistance**
There are three levels of resistance in fundamentalists:


 * __Level One Fundamentalists__**

These are people who resist change because they are never provided with a clear rationale for the change. They resist simply because they do not understand why they need to change.


 * __Level Two Fundamentalists__**

These people resist change because they do not trust the judgment or skills of the leader. They tend to express their distrust in their leaders' motivations in the following way:
 * They think that school leaders are motivated by looking good and moving up the career ladder
 * They believe that school leaders are untrustworthy. They make promises to please others instead of providing honest feedback based on reality.
 * They believe that school leaders are hungry for power and seek to dominate teachers.
 * They believe that school leaders do not understand the plight of the modern teacher and are too far removed from the conditions of the classroom to be effective.


 * __Level Three Fundamentalists__**

These educators are ones who resist change because they are unsure if the change will cause them more stress, and perhaps still not achieve a better result than their current methodology.


 * __Level Four Fundamentalists__**

There is not a lot that leaders can do to change the paradigm of level fours because they have defined themselves within the organization by their resistance to change. They are so deeply rooted in their opposition to change that it consumes and defines them. They have no observable needs except to be defined by their political position with the school.