Change masters in schools : a description of innovative strategies in Texas and Michigan

Abstract

For some time, the school has been seen as the organization that must be at the center of change. It is education's worksite; it is where the action is. It is where individuals can be challenged to become a community of learners. Corporate, management, and educational literature suggest that the time is ripe for shared decision making, participative leadership, and collaborative action. But school culture and change are seen as antithetical. Cultures provides stability, certainty, and predictability; change creates disequilibrium, uncertainty, and discomfort. So how then do collaborative efforts toward innovation get off the ground? This research focuses on established teams in two Michigan elementary schools and emergent teams in Texas schools. All settings began with small, voluntary focal groups who designed and implemented action plans specific to their contexts. The Michigan campuses focus on student writing outcomes; the Texas teams with comprehensive health promotion or 'wellness' programs. The research follows the naturalistic paradigm developing case studies to provide 'thick descriptions' of the different contexts. Largely these model the tenets of naturalistic inquiry proposed by Lincoln and Guba. The findings emergent from the research ratify the importance of collegiality, empowerment, leadership, and experiential learning. The comforts and discomforts in the innovation process are validated. The rich detail of the case studies provide scenarios of the change process. The benefits of collaboration include a reduction in teacher isolation. Teachers talk to each other about teaching. This yields increased professional confidence and a strengthened commitment to improving practice. Their leaders are initiators and change facilitators who possess a strategic sense which combines daily routines with long-term visions and proactive planning. These leaders are supported by the development of other change facilitators. Increased participation and collaboration are dependent on voluntary participation and sanctioned time for the process. The marginal nature of the Texas innovation seems to facilitate its introduction into the organization. The Michigan campuses illustrate change over time in one setting and the throes of transition in the other. They seem to have established ceremonies and rituals which support circularity needed to keep the change process vibrant.