You Gotta Talk the Talk to Change the Walk: Examining Changes in Routines Within Partnerships

• In Event: Organizational Theory in and out of Practice

Abstract

District central offices often collaborate with external partners to support instructional improvement; however, attempts at interorganizational collaboration are not always productive. This paper focuses on changes in partnership routines - a key way in which partners conduct their work - as an important indicator of interorganizational learning. It explores the relationship between interorganizational routines and reflective talk - talk that supports collective reflection - in one urban district using interviews, observations, and artifacts. Results show that although reflective talk enabled partners to change routines, the ways that routines were interconnected influenced the nature of reflective talk. Findings highlight reflective talk as an important but understudied mechanism of interorganizational learning and suggest the need for careful consideration of how interorganizational routines interrelate.

Authors

• Angel Bohannon, Northwestern University

• Cynthia E. Coburn, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy Human Development and Social Policy