Processes and Dynamics Behind Whole-School Reform

Abstract

Despite decades of research, little is known about the dynamics of sustaining change in school reform and how the process of change unfolds. By tracing the nine-year reform journeys of four primary schools in Hong Kong (using multiyear interview, observational, and archival data), this study uncovers the micro-processes the schools experienced during their reform. New practices first took root in a group of pilot teachers before gradually disseminating to other teachers and eventually transforming the entire school. Challenges differed across the reform journey. Synergy between school leadership, external support, and organization redesign was critical for initial success. Continued progress depended on whether school leaders and external partners could adapt their roles and redesign the organization to address the school’s changing capacity and needs. The study reveals the long-term process of school reform and has crucial implications for policy, research, and practice.

Modelling the sustainability of a primary school digital education curricular reform and professional development program

“…At the curricular and PD levels, it is essential to provide access to sufficient: pedagogical and material resources (Coburn, 2003 ; Niederhauser et al, 2018 ; Redmond et al, 2021 ) time (Vaughn et al, 1998 ; Penuel et al, 2007 ; Karsenti & Bugmann, 2018 ; Redmond et al, 2021 ) Without access to these resources, even the most motivated teachers will have difficulty integrating the new content into their practices. However, support must also be provided within the schools from: School leaders, as they have been found to significantly impact the implementation of reforms in their schools (Toh, 2016 ; Li, 2017 ; Niederhauser et al, 2018 ; Gu et al, 2019 ; Wu et al, 2019 ; Howard et al, 2021 ), either through the school culture (Sindelar et al, 2006 ; Wu et al, 2019 ) or by inciting collaborations between teachers (Ramberg, 2014 ). Instructional coaches to provide instructional support and help teachers engage in a supportive professional community (Coburn, 2003 ; Pieters et al, 2019 ; Shirrell & Spillane, 2020 ; Caneva et al, 2023 ).…”

“…As sustainability is a prerequisite for scaling educational endeavours (Coburn, 2003 ; Howard et al, 2021 ), and sustaining changes in teachers’ practices is a considerable challenge, it is essential to understand how to improve the sustainability of curricular reforms. Unfortunately, the sustainability literature is “scarce” and “scattered” (Hubers, 2020 ), with “little [being] known about the dynamics of sustaining change in school reform and how the process of change unfold[s]” (Li, 2017 , p. 279), despite decades of research (Coburn, 2003 ; Li, 2017 ). That is why researchers are calling for “more knowledge about how and why changes were (not) sustained over time” (Hubers, 2020 , p.10) through longitudinal studies and investigations targeting later phases of reforms that are currently under-researched (Coburn et al, 2012 ; Li, 2017 ; Howard et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Unfortunately, the sustainability literature is “scarce” and “scattered” (Hubers, 2020 ), with “little [being] known about the dynamics of sustaining change in school reform and how the process of change unfold[s]” (Li, 2017 , p. 279), despite decades of research (Coburn, 2003 ; Li, 2017 ). That is why researchers are calling for “more knowledge about how and why changes were (not) sustained over time” (Hubers, 2020 , p.10) through longitudinal studies and investigations targeting later phases of reforms that are currently under-researched (Coburn et al, 2012 ; Li, 2017 ; Howard et al, 2021 ). Finally, since sustainability factors are highly context dependent (Gersten et al, 2000 ; Harris & Jones, 2018 ; Kampylis et al, 2013 ), studies must be conducted in the context of the reform and the practice intended to be sustained.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, most studies on DE related reforms and PD programs either do not assess the change in behaviour (here, adoption of curricular content), or do not have insight into what is done over time and after PD programs have ended (El-Hamamsy et al, 2022a ; Howard et al, 2021 ), let alone evaluate the depth of the change in teacher practices (Coburn, 2003 ). Howard et al, ( 2021 ) have therefore called for a change in sustainability research because “although these studies provide valuable new insights [into] school reform as a journey, we still know little about how this journey unfolds, especially after the withdrawal of external support and during later phases of reform (Coburn, 2003 ; Coburn et al, 2012 )” (Li, 2017 ). Although the literature evokes numerous factors that impact sustainability (see Section 3 ), to the best of our knowledge, we lack insight into how and to what extent sustainability factors interact to impact the long-term sustainability of a DE curricular reform.…”

From reciprocity to collective empowerment: Re-framing university-school partnership discourses in the South African context

“…In ensuring the continued relevance of all the programs outlined above, offered through the Initiative, ongoing dialogue between university-based project staff on the one hand and collaboration between project staff and school-based partners on the other have been critical in navigating challenges and in ensuring that the initiative has remained relevant and effective in addressing the needs of the schools (Li 2017). Collaborative planning and reflection across the various levels of engagement has created numerous opportunities for sharing diverse perspectives on specific aspects of the interventions, mostly with a focus on planning and implementation.…”