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I have recently become very interested in the relationship between school district information technology departments and innovative teachers. What I have observed in the past several years are inherent contradictions between the nature of the information technology department and the vision of 21st century teachers. This contradiction can often lead to many hardships for innovative teachers and misunderstandings for all that are involved. I have thus become interested in systematically investigating this phenomenon by collecting the narratives of teachers who have experienced trials and tribulations in relation to information technology departments.

Specifically, the idea is to make a request for narratives from teachers using a well-designed instrument. The narratives would then be qualitatively analyzed to identify the emergent themes. This information would then be used to build a system of understanding and balance to assist teachers in reaching their goals and to inform other stakeholders in how to support this process. This is not to say that information technology departments are to blame for these problems, but rather, to communicate the interests of each of the stakeholders with the overall goal of improving the relationship.

Is it possible that because one does not fit into a particular “position” that they should be immediately removed and shunned from an association without regard to one’s true intentions? The very thought of such an action would imply one is not understanding and one does not understand the old adage “do not judge a book by its cover”. First impressions are not always what they appear to be. A person’s true intentions cannot be understood in a matter of days, weeks, or months, but rather years of devotion and hard work towards a meaningful cause. If one is to succeed, we must afford one time to accomplish goals - judging a book by its cover is a known path to failure.