Challenges and Successes of Implementing a Transformative Education Program

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Rethinking and Transforming: New Insights Into Organizing Schools, Districts, and Systems for Improvement (Table 4)

Abstract

Implementing transformative educational change is deeply complex and contextual. As street-level bureaucrats, teachers exercise agency to support change efforts, but also navigate challenges like program misalignment. In this qualitative case study, situated in an urban middle school implementing a transformational environmental citizenship(EC) program, I draw on interviews and observations to consider; 1. What factors enable and constrain the implementation of a transformative environmental citizenship program? 2. To what extent does program implementation align with the goals and vision of the program and school? Findings suggest that program implementation was constrained by misalignment between program goals and broader school structures, but can be supported by promoting collaboration between program developers and teachers. These insights may inform current and future change efforts.

Authors

• Hannah Goldstein, University of Pittsburgh

• Hayley Ryan Weddle, University of Pittsburgh