Because they represent several different educational organizations, readers often do not know if they are reading something written by a first year teacher or a veteran administrator. Instead, they are free to focus more on what people said rather than who said it. Also, the e-mail format permits people with very different schedules and lifestyles to share ideas because participants read and post messages at all times of the day and night. Further, The Change Agency provides another doorway through which members of the academic community at The University of Calgary and the teaching profession can pass quite freely and conveniently into each other's worlds. In fact, one graduate student noted that the e-mail discussion group reminded her of communities of scholars from the past whose common intellectual interests provided strong social bonds.
Challenges Involving local educators in the discussion of local issues is a two-edged sword.
Also, teachers who aspired for positions as vice principals or principals told me they worried about offending those with the power to assign administrative positions in their districts. I even had reports of a small number of administrators cautioning their subordinates about posting to The Change Agency because of possible retribution by those who might disagree. I understood the reserve some had about presenting their ideas publicly, especially in an unfamiliar format such as e-mail. I also appreciated how lack of time precluded active participation by others. However, I worried about those who did not speak because of fear of reprisal, even though, as a former principal, I identified with teachers' and administrators' needs to choose their words very carefully and to nurture their careers.