What are institutional shifts?

Institutional shifts are when big groups or rules change how things work, like when your school decides to have recess every day instead of just on Fridays.

Imagine you're part of a club where everyone follows the same rules, like taking turns playing with a toy. One day, the leader of the club says, "Let’s try something new!" Now, instead of just taking turns, people can play whenever they want. That change in how things work is like an institutional shift.

Think about your favorite board game. If you always played with the same rules, moving one space per roll, but suddenly the rules changed to let you move two spaces, that would be an institutional shift. It changes how people play and what they expect from the game.

In real life, big groups like schools, cities, or even countries can have institutional shifts. For example, if a city decides to add more bike lanes, that makes it easier for people to ride bikes, just like changing the rules of a game to make it more fun!