Shared Sense-Making Processes Within a National Reform Implementation: Principals' Voices

Abstract

Looking through a social sense-making lens, this qualitative study explores the variability in 60 high school principals' perceptions and enactments of shared sense-making processes during a national reform implementation. Data analysis has yielded three major themes: (a) a common language; (b) a collaborative learning process; and (c) a shared working culture. Leveraging a shared sense-making process can serve as a beneficial framework through which principals and faculty members collectively navigate complexity and uncertainty while implementing policy demands within their unique contexts. Theoretical and practical implications for faculty members and principals are suggested.