Working Across Three Sectors: Catholic, District, and Charter School Principals Enacting Adaptive Change

• In Event: Assessing Leadership for Adaptive Change Through the Lens of Complexity Theory

Abstract

Objectives
Noting why he joined Lynch Leadership Academy (LLA), one principal remarked, “[S]o much fighting has gone on between Catholic, charter, and district schools. So rather than fighting each other, I was interested in seeing how we can share best practices.” Accordingly, this paper addresses the question: How did interactions among principals from three educational sectors impact their thinking and work as urban school leaders?

Theoretical Framework
Three aspects of complexity theory structure my analysis. First, I consider disequilibrium conditions principals encountered—specifically, the dissonance generated by opportunity tensions that arose as principals considered joining LLA (Goldstein, Hazy, & Lichtenstein, 2010) as well as that engendered by the information-rich, intentionally diverse nature of the cohort (Nadler, 1993). Second, I describe amplifying actions LLA undertook which intensified principals’ experience and generated extensive information flow (Goldstein, et al., 2010). Third, I assess recombinations that emerged through cross-sector interactions that produced “more adaptive” outcomes neither sector might generate alone (Goldstein, et al., 2010, p. 87).

Methods & Data Sources
Utilizing a sociocultural perspective, I consider how LLA influenced principals’ beliefs and actions—in particular, the impact of the three-sector cohort. By conceptualizing culture as a framework of values, beliefs, and symbols through which individuals interpret and act on the world (Gee, 1996), culture acquires causal power. I therefore underscore the contexts and related values integral to outcomes described to delineate “conditions under which specified outcomes occur, and mechanisms through which they occur” (George & Bennett, 2005, p. 31).
Interviews with 19 of 20 principals constitute the most extensive data source for this study. All were analyzed using a constant comparative method and line-by-line coding.

Findings
Recruiting a cohort of urban principals, LLA created a professional network aimed at promoting adaptive change: where principals encountered varied approaches to school leadership, designed new structures, shared authority, created opportunities, and questioned common assumptions. For some, an initial opportunity tension engaged a transformative dynamic in which urban school leaders welcomed new ideas. Building on this inclination, LLA amplified principals’ interactions by creating an intentionally diverse cohort in terms of ethnicity, gender, sector, and school type. Through ongoing interactions, principals realized a shared commitment to urban students, leading them to discuss sensitive and substantive matters. For some, these experiences transformed their beliefs and professional practice.

Scholarly Significance
Outcomes described in this study were not the result of complex guidelines or logistical machinations but a consequence of simple processes and common values enacted iteratively and recursively (Stacey, 1996). As Wheatley (1999) noted: “[O]rder and form are created . . . by the presence of a few guiding formulas or principles repeating back on themselves through the exercise of individual freedom” (p. 13). The LLA curricular emphases served this purpose. Repeatedly, principals examined beliefs, values, practices, and policies with these ideals in mind. Doing so often engendered a sense of disequilibrium, amplified the emergence process, and ultimately generated relational trust that facilitated information exchange and relationship building, foundational elements to adaptive change (Bryk & Schneider, 2002).

Author

• Patrick J. McQuillan, Boston College