Year 7 Scholars Reflect on ‘Change’
Reporting by Evelyn (Year 7)
Change can be unexpected or it could be carefully calculated and planned. As Sir Alex Ferguson, former football manager, said: “The biggest lesson is the ability to cope with change.” In a Year 7 Scholars’ Meeting, Mr Cavendish opened our eyes to a new meaning of change.
Everyone and everything changes. From small differences, like aging, to global differences like political and economical changes. “Change must be introduced thoughtfully,” says Mr Cavendish, “or else people might reject it.” For example, it is usually necessary to introduce some sense of “urgency” otherwise people might not see the need to act.
Planned change is intentional, and many sociologists over the years have explored this. For example, Kurt Lewin’s change model was to ‘Unfreeze – Change – Refreeze’, meaning that people need to be prepared for a change, the change must then be implemented, before the change is then solidified.
Some changes, however, are not planned, like the French Revolution. The practical idea of it was to crush inflation and hunger, and promote natural rights and equality. But without any planning, the French Revolution did not achieve a lasting democratic republic and caused a lot of death and despair.
An example of a mix of the two kinds of changes is the Industrial Revolution. It was planned, and it was successful. However, new inventions, such as the steam engine, were not intended but benefited humans significantly in terms of moving forward with technology.
Overall, change is extremely important to move humanity forward in a way to improve everyone and everything’s future.
*Image: Storming of the Bastille by Jean-Pierre Houël
