Meltdown at the Academy of Fine Arts: The Role of Teachers’ Emotional Sensemaking in Planned Change

Abstract

Schools are characterized by nearly constant internal and external demands to change, grow, and improve. Past research has found that the way educators “make sense” of what they are being asked to do bears on the effectiveness of reforms and the way changes are implemented in practice. Much of this past work takes a cognitive approach to sensemaking, but teachers’ emotional responses also considerably shape how they make sense of novel situations. This teaching case explores the leadership challenges associated with a planned change initiative at a small arts-focused school, and the way that teachers’ emotional responses superseded resources and supports for the change.