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Collaborate with a Teacher and Evolve Their Practice

University of British Columbia
Crystal Choroba

The Concerns-Based-Adoption-Model
The goal of the Concerns-Based-Adoption-Model (CBAM) is to prompt active, ongoing,
individual change. Using this approach to assess and support colleagues practices, a teacher-
librarian, can open mindsets to multitudes of resource options available to extend student
learning. Its implementation means developing collaborative relationships with peers, who may
be anywhere from feeling entrenched in a status-quo and uninterested in change, to being excited
by innovation and looking toward future opportunities to encourage student learning. In The
Buck Stops Here: A Concerns Based Approach to Curriculum Change, authors Susan Loucks
and Harold Pratt make the argument that introducing change to an individual is the biggest
stopgap in implementing the method: most people are inherently resistant to change independent
of support or personal inquiry (Loucks and Pratt, 213). Utilizing the CBAM approach gives
guidance for teacher-librarians looking to help their colleagues develop their practice in a
supportive and non-patronizing way.
The CBAM features a seven-step process toward adopting innovation- see below in Table
1.

Typical Expressions of Concern about an Innovation

Stage of Concern Expression of Concern

6. Refocusing I have some ideas about something that would work even better.
5. Collaboration How can I relate what I am doing to what others are doing?

How is my use affecting learners? How can I refine it to have more

4. Consequence
impact?

3. Management I seem to be spending all my time getting materials ready.

2. Personal How will using it affect me?

1. Informational I would like to know more about it.

0. Awareness I am not concerned about it.

Table 1- "Stages of CBAM," Loucks-Horsley, from www.nationalacademies.org/rise/backg4.htm
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For teacher-librarians (TLs), identifying their colleagues place in this order, means they
must become engaged listeners, inquirers, and advocators of their knowledge in the tools and
resources available to their staff. Presenting their ideas regularly, emailing updates, participating
in staff-meetings, having questionnaire boxes, and meeting one-on-one are some simple ways
that a TL can open the doors to the CBAM process. Furthermore, TLs need to stay aware of the
focuses of inquiry that are ongoing in their schools. Having yearly questionnaires to staff,
prompting teachers individually, staying up-to-date with curricular documents, and noting what
resources are active in the library can keep a TL ready to support and help their staff innovate.
Below are two scenarios in which the CBAM approach can be implemented to prompt
innovation in educators practice. Meet Sue and Aziz, fictitious teachers based loosely around
personal experiences.
Colleague 1: Sue
Sue is a Grade 5 teacher at an elementary school in Coquitlam. She has been teaching for
18 years and for most of that time she has been teaching the same grade. Sue is somewhat of a
quieter member of the staff and is not as active as others during staff meetings or school
functions. Most of Sues relationship with the school library/learning commons has been as a
drop-off and pick-up status for her preparation periods. She has yet to utilize the library in a
collaborative inquiry process. Yearly, Sue has gathered a large quantity of non-fiction materials
for a unit on simple machines, but does not make any regular use of the resource section. She
has not asked for support or sought out any guidance.
Staff-meetings in the school have TL updates focused on e-tools/resources for supporting
inquiry, from online encyclopedias to safe search sites for students.
CBAM Approach for Sue:
Firstly, Sue has been a regular participant of staff meetings and is aware of some of the
innovations that are available to inquiry. She has not asked for assistance using technological
resources and I am uncertain as to her level of comfort or active use of any online resources. I
noticed that she has made her yearly stop to gather resources for her Simple Machines Unit. To
open the CBAM process, I would ask her a one-legged-interview question (AEA267). These
questions can be done impromptu in a hallway, or quickly in a classroom after school. They open
the conversation. I could ask: How are you doing with such and such, Tell me how your
simple machines inquiry is coming along, How are the resources meeting your needs, etc
This question is meant to open a conversation for the TL to express a concern regarding how
their colleague is doing. I choose to ask her how she feels about using technology in her unit. Sue
responds that she is open to it, but has not had the time to learn more about the online
encyclopedias and search sites available. She feels comfortable with utilizing the print resources
in her class. Sue feels that she needs more time exploring some options available. I offer to help
guide her through some options one-on-one. She agrees.
Through this scenario, Sue has been engaged in change slowly. I learn where her needs
are and offer support to initiate the innovation. When reviewing the CBAM table, one can see
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that Sue went from the 0-1 Stages: she now wants to know more about the innovation. As her
TL, I facilitated this transition.

Colleague 2: Aziz
Aziz is a young new teacher in the district and this is his first year at our school. Aziz is
teaching Grade 7 and is excited about the Ancient Civilizations Big Idea featured in the Social
Studies curriculum. He is comfortable with social media, including blogging and webpages, and
uses technology frequently in his classroom. He is concerned with the safe use of resources and
is looking at trying to integrate inquiry studies throughout the curriculum. Aziz connects with
colleagues regularly and often looks for support. EBSCOhost has been a great resource for
finding additional non-fiction and fiction resources to enhance student learning and inquiry. I
introduced this safe and varied site to Aziz. Aziz wants his students to create how to survive in
an ancient civilization graphic novel as their means to show learning at the end of their inquiry
unit, but is finding examples of this form to be minimal in the school library.
CBAM Approach for Aziz:
Aziz clearly is open to technology and recognizes the value of online resources. Being
new to EBSCOhost, he is not familiar with all of its options. As with Sue, it is important to pose
one-legged-questions, to help the TL find out where the teacher is in the process of adopting an
innovation into their practice. In this example, I would ask Aziz how the How to Survive in an
Ancient Civilization, inquiry unit was going. Aziz expresses to me that he is amazed at how
much information the students have gathered online and from the library collection, but is at a
loggerhead when it comes to providing a variety of examples of graphic novels. The library
collection has a few, but they seem to be popular and students have them borrowed consistently.
He asks me if I have any suggestions. Knowing that he is already using EBSCOhost, I show him
how there is a collection of graphic novels available online. He suggests that he could use these
on the projector in the classroom and quickly show a few examples of quality work.
When looking at behaviour indicators, one can see that Aziz is in the consequence stage
of his innovation. He has a pattern of use established, a comfort-level so to speak, and is now
being prompted to engage with his resource in a new way. In making changes to the use of the
resource, the Aziz is able to offer more learning opportunities to his students. Aziz has moved
from step 3 to step 4.
Follow-up to Implementation of CBAM Approach:
What educators and teacher librarians can take from this approach is that collaboration
thus communication is necessary to fulfill it. Staying behind closed library doors, with your ear
to your books or your eyes on your computer does not bring new experiences to students. TLs
need to make meaningful connections with their staff; they need to express concern and follow
through in incremental steps to help their colleagues accept innovation in their practice.
References
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Loucks, Susan, & Pratt, Harold. (retrieved Feb. 27, 2017). The Buck Stops Here: A Concerns-
Based Approach to Curriculum Change, Educational Leadership.
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_197912_loucks.pdf
Loucks- Horsley, Susan. (retrieved Feb. 27, 2017) The Concerns Based Adoption Model: A
Model for Change in Individuals. http://www.nationalacademies.org/rise/backg4a.htm
Oris, Alex. (retrieved Feb. 27, 2017) Concerns-Based Adoption Model.
https://sites.google.com/site/ch7cbam/home/introduction