The section invites the participants to consider the history of false starts from the Greeks to Dewey and to ask why so many good ideas have been discredited and lost. We will look at the lessons to be learned from Education 2000 and consider how we can bring about effective change through our own vision for our community. Members will be encouraged to look at their own unfinished revolution. The section will identify the stages in achieving significant social change using the New York-based Public Agenda foundation's work as a starting point. People develop a sense of urgency as the severity, or gravity, of the issue strikes close to home.
People begin to look for answers.
They convert their free-floating concern into more specific proposals for action. People are reluctant to face trade-offs coupled with choosing a specific course of action. They may understand, engage in narrow or wishful thinking, have difficulty balancing conflicting values, or offer personal reasons why change is not applicable to them or their sphere of influence. People begin to weigh choices and seriously wrestle with the pros and cons of a particular course of action. People undergo a basic change in values and intellectually accept the consequences of a particular course of action.