Educational changes and barriers to change in the statements of teachers-innovators and non-innovators

The aim of the article is to present the differences in the way of thinking about educational change and its barriers between teachers-innovators and non-innovators. The former understood the concept of educational change in a more radical and profound way. In their statements, they demanded a breakthrough that was, in fact, a questioning of the dominant education model. Non-innovators would like transformations, but more moderate, minor ones that do not go beyond the area of the dominant model of education but can potentially facilitate or make the time spent by teachers and students at school easier or more enjoyable. Teachers-innovators more often focused on bottom-up sources of change, i.e., primarily on teachers and their students. Non-innovators focused rather on top-down sources of change, locating them in particular in state authorities, experts, and politicians, and the role of the market as an institution (in the sociological sense). Both groups also differed in terms of the barriers to change they mentioned. While the former mainly emphasized the importance of what hinders or prevents changes and is dependent on the teacher, the latter emphasized the role of issues independent of teachers. In order to explain the differences between the two groups of teachers, the article refers to the theories of W. Reckless and J.B. Rotter.