Becoming Different: Teachers’ Perspectives on Collaboration and the Sustainability of Reform

• In Event: Sustaining Productive Teacher Collaborations: Infrastructures Across International Contexts

Abstract

Objectives
Despite persistent educational reform efforts, sustainability remains an ongoing challenge (Baglibel et al., 2018; Fullan, 2016). An important, yet seldom asked, question is, “sustainable according to whom?” Motivated by the question, our study examines reform sustainability from the perspective of math teachers in urban middle schools under pressure to improve. The reform centered on supporting collaboration, the use of evidence, and instructional improvement through coaching. Drawing on longitudinal qualitative data, we explore: How did teachers experience the sustainability of reform in the context of a 4-year instructional improvement project? How did teachers’ thinking, practice, and collaboration routines become different through the reform and why?

Perspective
Early conceptions of sustainability emphasize the institutionalization of an innovation becoming embedded in the structure and culture of an organization (Berman & McLaughlin, 1974; Cuban, 1986; Tyack & Tobin, 1994). Recent literature reviews reinforce the multi-faceted nature of sustainability, including the long-term impact on everyday practices, routines, and student outcomes (Prenger et al., 2022; Hubers, 2020). Studies highlight organizational factors influencing sustainability, including collaboration (Hubers, 2020; Prenger et al., 2022; Tappel et al., 2023). While sustaining new teacher practices is often the target of reforms, a teacher learning perspective suggests a highly contextualized ongoing process of becoming different (Strom & Viesca, 2021). Becoming different often involves developing new routines, as routines are where sustainability can be made visible (Feldman & Pentland, 2003; Tappel al., 2018). Importantly, “routines are not simply behavioral but also have a cognitive dimension” (Feldman, 2000). Thus, a change in thinking may be a precursor to shifting routines.

Methods

We conducted a qualitative case study of a four-year continuous improvement project which focused on building teacher teams’ capacity to improve math instruction through collaboration, instructional coaching, and using evidence to inform practice. This study involved four urban, racially and socioeconomically diverse middle schools. All math teachers, four principals, and an instructional coach were interviewed annually, resulting in 165 interviews over four years. We conducted observations of 185 teacher team meetings across the four schools and 15 coach-led, cross-school workshops. Interview and observational data were thematically coded using a priori and emic codes, and we created analytic memos to capture our reflections.

Findings
Teachers’ initial perspectives about reform were characterized by skepticism, as many had experienced a “revolving door” of disconnected change efforts prior to (and during) the project. As the improvement project progressed, sustainability was supported by fostering collaboration within and across schools and aligning reform activities with teachers’ current problems of practice and other school and district initiatives. While many teachers described shifts in their collaboration routines, thinking, and instruction, they also highlighted threats to sustainability. These threats included pervasive accountability pressures, complex team dynamics, and the conclusion of capacity-building support provided by the project.

Significance
Understanding how teachers experience the sustainability of reforms aimed at collaboration and instructional improvement is important given increased attention to student learning post-pandemic, as well as concerns about teacher retention. Findings from this study shed light on strategies for sustaining such reforms in ways that consider teacher well-being.

Authors

• Amanda L. Datnow, University of California - San Diego

• Hayley Ryan Weddle, University of Pittsburgh

• Mimi Lockton, University of California - San Diego