Yes, some people get on the bus right away, some get with encouragement/support and others will refuse and make excuses. It's your job to get the first two groups on the bus and work with the final group to restore trust. 

There are several people who fit in each catagory. As with change, it is not always seen with comfort or viewed as a positive. Some have embraced new ideas and initiatives, others have not and even have looked to move out of district. 

I mean, change is difficult for our parties. Sometimes when your new principal, new building, having to change and adjust that sometimes they just really have a difficult time adjusting. It really is important just to keep building those relationships and always reminding you why? Why are you doing this? And it's always about our students.

I absolutely thought of specific people when you described each level. I've said all year that we have half the staff that will and half the staff that won't. It aligns pretty much to this bell curve. The reactions to change starting with the group on the left is pretty much positive as it moves to the right until we hit the halfway mark. Then there is a dramatic change to a negative attitude about change. And the laggard group are really the people that ignore training, directives or try to sabotage the change. 

Specific people certainly come to mind with certain categories. My experience is that there are few if any teachers in either the far left or far right portions of the bell curve. In general, veteran teachers are more likely to occupy the late adopters, since they have seen many initiatives come and go. Similarly, those who have not been exposed to years of changing initiatives are often willing to embrace change. 

I have seen all of the different categories...usually in my experience the last group of staff are the loudest and put up the most walls to the program. Sometimes they never come around until there are consequences for not implementing the change. 

A certain person came to mind. When I think about each adopter category, the laggard category specifically, a teacher who was real reluctant to going along with the grading policy, implementing the components within the grading policy. It ultimately led to a few write ups and then, fortunately for our school community, it led to her leaving for another school.

I have worked with individuals from every category both as a teacher and then as a principal. The first half of the bell curve adapt so easily with any change and jump right on. My experience has been that you must provide the supports for Late Majority and the Laggards. And I have a particular one (right between Late majority and Laggard) that I must be very direct. She struggles with even her preps changing from year to year - which I have told her that we must look at the school as a whole. I find these individuals take a large portion of my day whenever we have a change that happens. 

I definitely know these people. I was thinking about myself and my stance on certain initiatives over the years. As we are implementing a new phonics program this year, it will be interesting to see where each teacher lies on the innovation model as I am in their classes doing walkthroughs. 

I can think of people that would fit all of the categories listed. I think the most important thing to remember is considering their perspective. We really need to find out the "why" before we can experience real change. 

With new adoptions and initiatives we always observe teachers/staff in each category. Reactions for accepting change is also varying based on past experiences with any changes. They range from accepting to being hesitant to accept.