The Origins of Lewin’s Three-Step Model of Change

Abstract

At the time of his death in 1947, Kurt Lewin was seen as one of the foremost psychologists of his day. He is now best known for his three-step model of change. However, this has been criticized for its “simplicity,” and it has even been suggested that Lewin “never developed such a model,” yet this ignores its links to the rest of Lewin’s work. Surprisingly, there appears to have been no rigorous attempt to understand the connection between Lewin’s early work on field theory and his later work on social and organizational change. In addressing this gap in the Lewin literature, this article will not only show that the three-step model of change is far from being simplistic but also that it was a well-thought-out approach to change based on his development of field theory. The main difference between the two is one of nomenclature rather than substance.

Student Preparedness for Emergency Remote Learning

“…His model is known as Unfreeze -Change -Refreeze, a three-step process of change. Burnes (2020) investigated and referred to Lewin's work as a "robust approach to understanding the complexity of human behavior and how it can be changed" (p. 52). As one of the foremost psychologists of his day, Lewin is best known for this three-step model of change.…”

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“…A field therefore exists in a state of quasi-stationary equilibrium held together by forces that push for stability and ones that push for change. Burnes (2020) explores Lewin’s three-step model and shows how it is integrally linked to the other pillars of Lewin’s work: field theory, group dynamics, and action research, with each element supporting and reinforcing the others. In these terms, Burnes argues that Lewin’s three-step change model is grounded in a complex theory of competing forces in a group and in a method of cycles of reconnaissance, planning, and fact-finding about the results of the action.…”

“…However, such criticisms only hold good if one accepts Cummings et al’s argument that CATS was a late and underdeveloped addition to Lewin’s work. As Burnes (2020) demonstrates, CATS is built on Lewin’s work on child psychology and field theory begun in Berlin in the 1920s and it incorporates group dynamics and action research, which he developed after his move to the United States in 1933. Thus, Burnes argues that CATS was not new or a simplistic approach to change, but basically a relabeling and bringing together of the change concepts that Lewin had developed over more than 25 years.…”

“…What Cummings et al fail to do is to explore the foundations of Schein's elaboration and how he actually frames these steps in terms of the sociopsychological dynamics of learning and change and thereby provides quite a different focus to the misrepresented view of CATS promoted by Cummings et al Bartunek and Woodman (2015), on the other hand, pick this up and discuss how Schein added cognitive amendments to Lewin's model that includes conversation as an integral part. Many of the misunderstandings and misinterpretations of CATS arose because Lewin died shortly before the publications in which he presented it appeared (Burnes, 2020). His death led to a dissolving of the many collaborations that Lewin was involved, with each seeming to focus on a particular aspect of his work, but no one pursuing the whole.…”

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“…Cited by Lazarov (2018). This pedagogical framework came into being with due advancements in pervasive digital technologies, particularly social networking technologies (Burnes, 2019), which had the potential to change the whole 4IR educational framework. In line with the foregoing pedagogical framework, Lazarov (2018) pronounced that pervasive digital technologies, coming in the forms of computers, internet of things (IoT) and cloud computing (CC), play a significant role in defining the "environment in which young people learn and live;" hence 'dictates' change in a traditional teaching and learning environment.…”