# Building Radical Change in Schools Exacts a Heavy Personal Cost

Dee Watson, a former Voices of Change fellow, confronts the toll of attempting systemic educational transformation. In her reflection published on EdSurge, Watson examines what happens when educators pursue radical change within institutions designed to resist it.

Watson's work centered on creating what she calls "radical possibility" in schools, an approach that pushes beyond incremental reform to fundamentally challenge how schools operate. This kind of work demands constant navigation of institutional resistance, skeptical colleagues, and the emotional weight of fighting entrenched systems. For Watson, this mission nearly cost her everything.

Burnout emerges as the central thread. Watson describes the psychological and physical exhaustion that comes from championing change when the institution itself works against transformation. Schools operate on established patterns, budgets, and beliefs about how education should function. Pushing against these structures drains energy faster than most educators anticipate. Watson's experience shows that even dedicated, well-intentioned reformers hit breaking points.

The resistance she encountered came from multiple directions. Some colleagues viewed radical reimagining as impractical or threatening. Some administrators saw it as destabilizing. Parents worried about deviating from traditional models. This multidirectional pushback creates isolation for change agents. Watson had to develop resilience, but that resilience has limits.

Her reflection raises a question rarely centered in education reform discourse: what do we ask of the people trying to transform schools, and at what cost to their wellbeing? Most change-focused narratives celebrate the visionary, the tireless advocate. Watson's account shifts that focus. She asks whether "saving" schools means sacrificing the people doing the saving.

This matters because schools desperately need thoughtful people willing to question established practices. Yet if the personal cost of that work remains invisible or unacknowledged, institutions will burn through