Centring Teacher Voices in School-Wide Improvement: Possibilities and Challenges of Introducing Change in Complex Systems

Abstract

This study aims to unveil the complexity of introducing and sustaining instructional improvement at a school site by documenting successes and challenges encountered by a research-practice partnership among university researchers, school and district leaders, and a mathematics coordinator from the county office of education. The study answers two questions: How did a research-practice partnership attend to teachers’ voices and craft coherence around a school’s mathematics teaching improvement goals? What characterised the complexity of sustaining the improvement efforts? Data included meeting fieldnotes, teacher survey responses, and transcripts of interviews with teachers, school and district leaders, and the county coordinator. Qualitative thematic analyses revealed several ways in which the team attended to teacher voices and crafted coherence dynamically through interactions supported by tools and activities aimed at surfacing complexity and creating a shared vision. Points of convergence included a focus on adult learning and collaboration. Analyses also unveiled challenges, including the emotional work entailed in instructional change and the necessity to buffer the school from conflicting external demands. Conclusions highlight the importance of deliberate negotiation of tensions and crafting of coherence so that stakeholders can more easily build a shared vision for high-quality classroom teaching and high-quality teacher learning.