Considering the Departmental Action Leadership Institute as a Community of Transformation: What�s highlighted and what�s missed?

Abstract

The Communities of Transformation (CoT) framework is a variation on Communities of Practice that models groups aimed at changing existing institutional practices by challenging underlying value systems. The CoT framework has the potential to provide insight into STEM initiatives designed to promote institutional change. We share results from applying this framework to the Effective Practices for Physics Programs' (EP3) Departmental Action Leadership Institute (DALI). DALI supports cohorts of physics faculty (change leaders) in leading change efforts in their departments. Change leaders apprentice into effective change strategies though sustained programming while enacting these strategies within their own Departmental Action Team (DAT). Through analysis of interviews with change leaders, we identify ways in which DALI aligns with, and departs from, the CoT framework. We present the results of this initial study to showcase which aspects of STEM change initiatives can be highlighted, and what may not be captured, by a CoT lens.