Experiential Workshop with Educational Leadership Doctoral Students: Managing Affective Reactions To Organizational Change

Abstract

Managing change processes, resistance to change, and organizational members’ emotional reactions to change are crucial skills for future educational leaders to learn. Our case study is based on a workshop conducted using two experiential exercises to facilitate current educational leadership doctoral students’ reflections on their own reactions to change and their emotional sources of their resistances to change. Two unique aspects of this workshop that drew feedback from participants indicating significant internalization of learning included an “in vivo” change experience and the timing of the workshop during the students’ writing and presenting of dissertation proposals. We document how this process facilitated their improved insight regarding the importance of engaging subordinates in change processes. Additionally, cultural differences between Persian, White, Black, and Latino participants as they may affect management of change are described. Participants’ reflections and insights are discussed and implications for future practice and research identified.