| Existing analyses of models of planned change designed and/or applied to the field of education rarely address the theoretical background or the values incorporated in the models. As a result, model users have no foundation in their choice of model on which to base their action in a changing setting. The present dissertation intends to highlight the underlying theoretical frameworks of models, to offer practitioners a set of criteria by which to choose an appropriate model and to verify whether, according to the specified criteria, a more promising model or type of model already exists in the literature. Forty-seven models of planned change designed for and/or applied to the field of education since the late 1950s have been identified. The models have been analyzed according to three dimensions: (1) the nature of the model, using Chin's taxonomy of developmental, system and components, organic and intersystem types of models; (2) the nature of change, adapting Applebaum's classification of equilibrium, evolutionary and political traditions of change; (3) the theoretical dimension embodied in six schools of thought: logical positivism, utilitarianism, cybernetics, systems theory, relativism and dialectics. In addition, questionnaires were sent to model makers. As a result of the analyses, the existence of three families of models is postulated: goal-centered, transition and interaction-centered models. These families of models appear to be intertwined in the time covered by the study. A new set of criteria for what constitutes a good model is formulated in the light of a review of literature and the discussion regarding the three families of models of planned change. It is proposed, as a conclusion, that models belonging to the interaction-centered family, expressing a political view of planned change, structured as organic or intersystem types of models and carrying such theoretical backgrounds as systems theory, relativism and dialectics, are the most appropriate models of planned change. Two such models already exist: the CLER model formulated by Bhola (1965) and Fullan's multidimensional model (1972). |
