Regional Seminar on resistance to change and the comfort zone

2. THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
ALGERIA
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION
Regional Seminar
Resistance To Change
And The Comfort Zone

3. The route map
•Aim: To raise participants’ awareness about
the benefits of change and propose solutions to
get out of the comfort zone.
Participants will …
1. Share opinions about the reasons that hinder
change.
2. Find ways and solutions that will be adopted in
order to embrace change by introducing ICT’s in
education.

4. * Participants need to know
what change and the comfort
zone are, mainly by opting for
the use of ICT’s and their role
to enhance educational
instruction.
* data-show, Vygotsky’s zone
of proximal development, a
video for Steve Harvey about
the comfort zone and change,
whiteboard, and handouts.

5. Pre-stage

6. Reflect on the following
“Old habits die hard, and
if you’re not careful, the
person you used to be can
overtake the person
you’re trying to be’’.

7. While-stage
Task. Watch the video and find out to what extent it
resonates with your reflection.

9. Why do inspectors/teachers resist
to the use of ICT’s?

10. Task1: In groups, brainstorm as many ideas as
possible about the following questions
Q1: What are the internal variables for resistance to integrate
ICT’s in education?
Q2: What are the external variables for resistance to integrate
ICT’s in education?
Q3: What are some of the practical ideas to convince teachers
to use ICT’s in education?
Q4: what is the comfort zone?

11. Reasons for resistance
Internal Variables
Fear of the unknown
Lack of knowledge and understanding
of how to use technology.
Lack of motivation from both teacher and
learners side to use ICT.
Keeping in with changes.
Keeping students safe online
Age

12. Reasons for resistance
External
Variables
Cost of new technology (hardware and software,
Internet connectivity, computers, labs, etc.)
Non involvement of employees
Insufficient communication
Lack of adequate ICT support, infrastructure, or time
Lack of proper training skills
Lack of expert technical staff
Poor administrative support

13. Raise teachers’ awareness that the comfort
zone can ruin their life and that real life
begins at the edge of their comfort
Show teachers that ICT’s are more
appealing and interesting in class as they
can bring help, variety and fun to the
students.
Raise teachers’ awareness about the
importance of ICT’s that are
transformation tools which, when
used appropriately, can promote the
shift to a learner-centered
environment
Convince teachers about the
utility of ICT’s in teaching and
learning by showing them the
opportunities that technology can
provide
Practical ideas for using ICT’s in class
Start small

14. What do we mean by ‘the comfort
zone’?
 A situation where one feels safe and
comfortable and you do not have to do
anything new or difficult.
 A settled method of working that requires
little effort and yields only barely acceptable
results.

15. Task 2: Discuss the following questions
 Is it positive or negative to be always in your comfort zone?
 What about being out of your comfort zone?
 What is the meaning of “out of your comfort zone’’?

16. We need to step out of our
“comfort zone’’

17. So what is the ZPD ?
 The ZPD:
The Zone of Proximal Development
is a concept that Lev Vygotsky, the
Russian psychologist, coined for the
first time to describe an optimal
learning environment.

19. Let’s understand more!
Task 3: Read the 3 paragraphs and complete each
heading with the appropriate information
Parts of the
ZPD
Action Consequences
1. The comfort Zone When work
is too easy
- Learners will do the work on their own.
- No learning will take place
- learners will eventually lose interest.
2. The Panic Zone When work
is too hard
- Learners become frustrated.
- Even with help, they will give up.
3. The ZPD
When work
is just ok
- It creates an optimal learning environment.
- A learner is neither bored nor frustrated, but
appropriately challenged.

20. can we overcome resistance
(discuss)

21. The only constant in life is change.