Meeting the Challenge of Information Technology Through Educational Partnerships: A Case Study, 2(11)
Bruce Sheppard
Associate Dean of Graduate Programmes and Research
Memorial University of Newfoundland
and
Jean Brown
jbrown@morgan.ucs.mun.ca
Associate Professor
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Guest editors from Nipissing University
for partnership theme articles:
Douglas
R.
Franks
Mary
Ross Hookey
Helen
G.
Langford
Abstract
This paper describes how one Canadian high school developed partnerships with the district, the provincial department of education, the community, federal government agencies, and a university faculty of education and how these partnerships contributed to its success as it introduced technology across the curriculum. This high school is recognized nationally and provincially as an outstanding school with exceptional leadership in dealing with multiple changes. Using a design adapted from Lieberman (1995), we conducted a case study whereby working with school administrators and teachers, we explored how change has occurred. We chose our methodology based on an assumption that collaboration with school personnel was essential if we were to understand how change occurs, how leadership is provided, who the leaders are, and how obstacles are overcome along the way.
"The entire community must elevate the importance of education in everyday life by developing a strong social commitment to the educational endeavor shared by students, teachers, parents, businesses, and community leaders" (Kozma & Schank, 1998, pp. 4-5).
Introduction
To meet the needs of students as they enter the 21st century, it is becoming evident that schools need partners. This paper describes how one Canadian high school attempted to meet this new reality. It describes how they developed partnerships with district, provincial, and national government departments and agencies, the community, and a university faculty of education, and it describes how these partnerships contributed to their successes as they introduced technology across the curriculum.
The Conceptual Framework Guiding the Research
Fullan (1995) noted that if meaningful changes are actually to happen "schools must become learning organizations" (p. 234). Similarly, Louis (1994) contended that the learning organization framework "has the potential for helping to think about the problem of how schools change basic assumptions about 'what it is we do here' when demands for significant reform are made" (p. 8). In light of the skepticism noted above and the evidence supporting organizational learning as an appropriate framework for understanding and contributing to meaningful change (Fullan, 1995; Leithwood, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1995; O'Neil, 1995; Senge, 1990; Senge, Roberts, Ross, Smith, & ; Kleiner, 1994), we adopted it as the framework for this research. Senge (1990) has popularized this concept. A collaborative approach to leadership in which teachers are viewed as partners and the school is seen as part of a greater whole (referred to as the "Fifth discipline" or "systems thinking" by Senge) is essential to the concept of the learning organization. The four other "disciplines" discussed by Senge, are: personal mastery (creation of an organizational environment which encourages all members to develop themselves to their fullest potential); mental models (processes by which members of the organization reflect upon, clarify, and improve their images of work and conduct); shared vision (the building of shared images of the organization's future and its means of getting there); and team learning (the development of conversational and collective thinking skills so that groups within the organization can learn from each other to an extent greater than that of any one individual).
Methodology
Data Collection
Vision Collegiate has 37 teachers and 618 students located in an urban region in Newfoundland, Canada. Our study was modelled on a design used by Lieberman (1995) whereby we, as "critical friends" (Lieberman, p. 3), provided the school with a common framework which included interview protocols, surveys, and training, and asked an action research team (Calhoun, 1994; Sagor, 1992) to tell their basic story of change efforts. This action research model required a partnership between the staff and university researchers whereby the staff provided the closeness necessary for greater depth of understanding of practice, and the university researchers provided the distance necessary to interpret what was happening. The university researchers also brought a broader conceptual base and research expertise to the partnership, whereas staff involvement ensured access to data that might not otherwise be available, and strengthened analysis and interpretation. For example, this partnership design provided ongoing and unique opportunities for us to be in the school and be observer-participants in a variety of public events (such as special assemblies) and school professional development activities which facilitated the building of trust over time.The interview protocols were based on the five disciplines of Senge's (1990) learning organization. Applicable documents were reviewed using the same interview protocols. A total of 20 interviews were conducted with teachers and administrators. Additionally, components of two Leithwood (1995a, 1995b) surveys were administered to the entire school staff by the action research team.
Data Analysis
To analyze the data, we adopted the procedures for qualitative research established by Miles and Huberman (1994) whereby we developed a causal network (Figure 1) with associated analytic text describing the meaning of the connections among factors. Together, the network and the narrative tell the story of what happened.The transcribed, raw interview data were first organized by research question. Significant comments were extracted for each interview and arranged in a table. The data, sorted by question, were reviewed for broad themes, and summaries of the findings for each question were then created. These data were presented to the entire teaching staff of the school for feedback, correction, and verification.
Following that, we developed the causal network. A causal network is: "an abstracted, inferential picture organizing field study in a coherent way" (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 153). It is a visual display "of the most important independent and dependent variables in a field study (shown in boxes) and of the relationships among them (shown by arrows)" ( p. 153). The relationships are indicated as the arrows are directional, rather than solely correlational. "It is assumed that some factors exert an influence on others.... A causal network, to be useful, must have associated analytic text describing the meaning of the connections among factors" (p.153). The boxes and the text are linked by the numbers identifying specific boxes being shown in the text in parentheses. In the case of this school, the network created has reduced 150 - 200 pages of field notes, transcribed interviews, school documents, and survey data "down to a few dozen boxed words and arrows on one page" (p. 153); accompanied by the brief text or narrative (2-3 pages). While in draft form, the causal network was shown to the school principal and one teacher, allowing the paths to be corrected and verified, not only by researcher colleagues, but also by the people being studied.
To develop the causal network (Figure 1) we created a number of "conceptually
clustered matrices" in order to build a logical chain of evidence from
the data. Concurrently, we wrote summaries of these events. The finished
causal network is a time ordered display which organizes the data by time
and sequence, preserving the historical chronological flow. Within this
network (Figure 1) we have included both events (specific events) and states
(such as school culture). We arranged the series of concrete events and
more general states which occurred by chronological time periods, sorting
them into several categories: Origins, 1990-92; Preparation, 1992-93; Implementation,
1993-96; and Expansion & Refocusing, 1996-1998.
Figure 1. Causal Network of Changes at Vision Collegiate
Click to enlarge
Results and Discussion
Leading Change through Partnerships
Our analysis revealed that the formal leader, particularly the school principal, was a key player throughout the process. His role was one of initiation and facilitation. This is illustrated in the causal network in the path which begins with recognition of a culture of collaboration and excellence (1) which led to the appointment of a new principal (6) interested in developing business partnerships as a means of improving the school. The principal initiated school change through personally establishing business partnerships and involving these partners in the development of a new school plan, Vision 2000 (3), which aimed to develop a state-of-the-art school using modern technology. Vision Collegiate was the first school in the province to formalize a business/education partnership (5). Meetings began in Fall 1992 with the management of a local branch of an international telecommunications company, and a formal partnership agreement was signed in February, 1993. This partnership provided the school with resources and services: field trips for students and teachers to the telecommunications plant, guest speakers, exchanges of expertise, and support in evolving proposals for their cooperative education programs. Other partnerships have followed, including one with the local telephone service provider. In March, 1998, the school had a formal recognition of their business/community partners--all 151 of them.As a facilitator, the principal involved the staff and parents (2) in the creation and implementation of Vision 2000 (3). He kept himself and them informed of major new initiatives that were being sponsored by outside agencies (10, 11, 12, 13). Although he set up teams that would guide the implementation of the new initiatives, he was a key player in proposal writing for external funding (14). Based on Vision 2000, two proposals to federal government sources were written: one to the Communications Technology Cooperative Education Youth Internship Program and another to Human Resources Development Canada (HRD). Both proposals were successful. In Spring, 1994, the school was informed that they had HRD approval for Phase 1 of their proposal, with a budget estimate of $250,000. In Fall, 1994, the Youth Internship Program began. This allowed the school to transform the school's library into a Learning Resources Centre with a Local Area Network (LAN) with capabilities for data, voice, and video. In addition, each classroom was provided with at least three nodes on the network. New proposals were written and funded, allowing the extension of the Communications Technology Project, and the implementation of phases 2 and 3 of Vision 2000, which included a multi-media lab.
The principal was an active member of all the leadership teams, and instigator of the hiring of teachers with expertise in technology (18). The addition of a second teacher-librarian in the newly designed Learning Resources Centre was particularly significant. This person was chosen because of his expertise in teacher-librarianship, networks, and information technology. The two teacher-librarians, working with the school's technology education teacher and several other teachers with expertise in this area, were able to provide considerable in-house professional development (19) for information technology. In 1996, the schools capacity to deal with professional issues was strengthened by the formation of an action research project (20) in partnership with faculty of education researchers.
As well, the principal served as liaison with community groups, businesses, and other outside agencies and he volunteered to participate in the provincial pilot for school councils (4). There was an excitement and energy generated in the school as new programs were created (15)--of particular significance was a co-operative education program. The achievements within the school led to external recognition (17) through provincial and national awards for excellence. The final outcomes were numerous partnerships (27) and high teacher morale (28) as the school engaged in refocusing (30) and in learning how to improve (29).
This particular path of the causal network reveals quite vividly the significant role of the principal, the collaborative school culture, the parent advisory committee, and the business/government partnerships in leading change. This change has resulted in a level of technology implementation that has brought national recognition to the principal, individual teachers, and the whole school. Their success and the resulting recognition have increased staff morale and have provided increased momentum for more partnerships. They see this as an avenue that will lead them toward their shared vision of an education that they believe their students will need for the 21st century.
Student Learning
A second path in the causal network reveals the nature of the schools vision for student learning outcomes (31) and the variables that contributed to or detracted from the realization of that vision. Teachers cited the tremendous gains afforded by the technology present in the school. One teacher commented that, "paperless courses, improved research efforts, higher quality work, and the teacher moving from sage to learner and facilitator, are the sorts of sweeping changes that have altered this learning environment." This is directly linked to the school's current refocusing (30) reflected in a concern that student outcomes (31) be more accurately measured.This school seems to have embraced resource-based learning1 (11), an approach to teaching that is inherently dependent upon the use of multiple teaching strategies and multiple resources. This was true prior to their current access to information technology, but brought frustration in a time when budgets and professional development opportunities were severely reduced. One teacher commented that, "currently, it appears that resource-based learning is flourishing" and suggested that it was due largely to the current extent of resources (especially its LAN and Internet access) and the speed and ease of access. Vision Collegiate was one of the first schools to develop partnerships with the provincial educational computer network, Stem~Net (13). Web-based resources, in-house web sites, and email communication with parents and colleagues were noted as direct changes in teaching and learning at Vision Collegiate. The impact of technology on teaching and learning is reflected in the following teacher's comment: "We integrate technology wherever we can and provide infrastructure for growth."
We discovered that the provincial Department of Education (9) was a significant partner, through its services and curricular leadership. Vision Collegiate teachers were serving on departmental curriculum committees, creating new curriculum frameworks (12), and working on the implementation of a new core curriculum for the Atlantic Provinces (APEF) (24). The school offered a strong academic program that included locally developed courses and advanced placement courses. The piloting of new courses has been constant (the arts hold a prominent position in the curriculum - an Art Gallery is now online). The following comment was representative of the pride that teachers had in their programs: "The number and variety of courses we offer is as good as any school in the province and better than most." As well, teachers were quick to point out that school success as measured through the standard measures of scholarships and other performance indicators has been clearly documented.
It is worth noting that Vision Collegiate had never hosted challenging needs students until January of 1997, during the course of this research. That represented a significant programming shift and a challenge for the school to accommodate and foster growth in these individuals. This followed the integration of special needs students into the regular classroom several years ago, which now seems a matter of course. Also worth noting is the impact of business-school relations on courses like Entrepreneurship, Cooperative Education, and Law. As a result, students have been provided many speaking opportunities, jobs have been offered, programs have been refined, and perspectives refreshed.
The staff seemed to be well informed in respect to available programs and strategies to support teaching, however, they were not nearly as clear in matters relating to the impact of these programs or strategies. There were definite statements about the nature of impact but little reference to specific data. When questioned as to specific evidence of improved student learning, improved discipline, or improved levels of motivation, no one was able to point to data that clearly supported their claim. In fact, however, in the current context of accountability, where various stakeholder groups have demanded evidence of performance, members of this school (at least the leadership team) have recognized the importance of assessing the impact of their efforts on areas of student learning that they have deemed to be important. At this point they have accepted the reality articulated by Stoll and Fink (1996), that "what gets measured, or assessed, get valued" (p. 166). They have realized that if they do not assess the learning that they believe to be important (though some may be difficult to assess) other agencies will measure either what they value, or what is easy to measure. As a consequence, they are now exploring the potential of action research as they continue their quest for excellence through a period of refocusing (30).
The School as a Learning Organization
In assessing the change process and the implementation of technology in this school, it became apparent that the process followed neither a linear nor a rational model. The five disciplines of the learning organization were apparent throughout the process.Personal Mastery
In respect to personal mastery, morale is unquestionably high and there is an extreme pride associated with the school. Teachers feel that their school is one of the best schools, if not the best school, in the board and province. Several teachers alluded to a national presence that has been noted for some time. All teachers expressed a sense of pride of accomplishment that they are part of the staff of such a school and they have expressed a keen desire to be on the "leading edge" of their profession. As well, computer literacy is highly valued, and most interviewees noted that this was a knowledge area requirement for all teachers, which is consistent with Fullan's (1995) contention that teachers must be skilled in the world of technology. Teachers are supported in learning the required technical skills in a number of ways. The school district has provided professional development days to conduct training sessions in the use of the internet. Several of the partnerships and externally funded projects were directed at professional development, the learning of new skills, and the provision of additional supports for teachers as they learned and experimented with new technology skills and new teaching strategies. Also, considerable support was available from colleagues as they engaged in learning new computer skills.Mental Models
Teachers in this school are quite comfortable in their subject areas. They speak positively of the impact of resource-based learning. Their level of expertise has been recognized through awards and through their being involved in provincial curriculum committees. They see themselves as quite open to change (to challenging their mental models), and they feel that, for the most part, their fellow teachers are open as well. However, contrary to that perspective, several teachers expressed some concerns that "there are teachers here who talk the talk but do not yet walk the walk, though they would say otherwise.... Individuals are struggling with issues of mastery and entrenched mental models. Methods sound modern but the emotions underpinning their comments seem super-traditionalist." There appears to be some support for this latter perspective throughout the interview data. References to the influence of technology were not always linked to alternate teaching strategies. There were assumptions of influence, even comments to indicate that teachers are aware of the paradigm shift that others have invoked, but many teachers seem not to have truly altered the teaching and learning environment of their own classroom.Team Learning and Systems Thinking
The causal network (Figure 1) reveals clearly that there was much collaborion both inside and outside the school, which is indicative of both team learning and systems thinking. The connection with the outside is demonstrated dramatically through the overwhelming number of partnerships with parents, community groups, government agencies, and businesses. The strength of the existing internal culture of team work is demonstrated by the comment that "There is always someone there to help." The value placed on such collaboration largely contributes to the current recognition of the value of action research and organizational learning.A testament to the notion of systems thinking being present is the degree to which limiting conditions seem to have been eliminated. For example, in an environment of restraint, when many other schools are complaining about the limited resources and professional development opportunities, Vision Collegiate has found external sources of funds and has developed partnerships that have allowed it to progress while most others have been in a "survival" mode.
Shared Vision
The vision of teachers and administrators seemed well formed through the Vision 2000 Project. In spite of this, most respondents struggled with questions related to school vision before they offered any response. Eventually, however, most referred to striving to prepare students for life in the 21st century as a significant portion of the school vision. Preparing students as knowledge workers with the expertise to use new technology came through as a strong sub-theme of this image. Clearly, academic work is a dominant focus and effectively seems to be a base upon which much of the attributed general school success is founded. The school's faculty most certainly all shared an attitude about the main goal of the school--to provide the best education possible. It is apparent that while teachers were not always acutely aware of the formal vision as expressed in Vision 2000, there is a culture of congruent beliefs that they do consider important. It is this collective understanding of shared beliefs, albeit at times implicit, that guides what they do.Conclusion
The framework of the learning organization allowed us to examine the process in which the school faculty engaged as they questioned their whole way of operating. If we had started by examining the success of the planned change as articulated in Vision 2000, we do not believe that we would have found the unexpected, nor fully grasped the significance of the partnerships. The learning organization lens provided sharp images of all aspects of change in the school, going beyond what was on the surface of the planned change efforts to reveal the unanticipated, the complexity hidden deep within the process. For example, Vision 2000 did not, and could not, anticipate the significant factors which influenced what happened in this school: the opportunities to learn at the National Institute which came from the partnership with the telecommunications company, the enhanced morale resulting from the winning of national and provincial awards, the just-in-time training provided by the newly hired teacher-librarian, and the synergy created by the action research team. In fact, without the active participation in this research by the school leaders through the action research model we used, we would never have obtained the images we did of school reform and change, of a school moving towards the ideal of becoming a learning organization.
Note
1The provincial Department of Education, in an authorized document Learning to learn: Policies and guidelines for the implementation of resource-based learning in Newfoundland and Labrador schools (1991) defines resource-based learning as a philosophy in which students actively participate in their own learning using a wide variety of resources.
References
Brown, J., Button, C., Noseworthy-Button, C., & Sheppard, B. (1997). External evaluation of the school improvement program in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John's, NF: Innovaction International.
Caldwell, B. (1997). The impact of self-management and self-government on professional cultures of teaching: A strategic analysis for the twenty-first century. In A. Hargreaves & R. Evans (Eds.), Beyond educational reform: Bringing teachers back in (pp.62-76). Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Calhoun, E. (1994). How to use action research in the self-renewing school. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Cranston, N. (1994, Summer). Translating the 'new organization' into educational settings. Studies in Educational Administration, 60, 24-31.
Fullan, M. (1995). The school as a learning organization: Distant dreams. Theory into Practice, 34(4), 230-235.
Fullan, M. (1993). Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. New York: The Falmer Press.
Hargreaves, A., & Evans, R. (1997). Teachers and educational reform. In A. Hargreaves & R. Evans (Eds.), Beyond educational reform: Bringing teachers back in (pp. 105-125). Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Kozma, R., & Schank, P. (1998). Connecting with the 21st Century: Technology in support of educational reform. ASCD Yearbook: Learning with technology. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Leithwood, K. (1995a). The sources and nature of leadership: Staff survey. Toronto, ON: OISE.
Leithwood, K. (1995b). The process of professional learning: Staff survey. Toronto, ON: OISE.
Leithwood, K., & Duke, D. (1998). A century's quest to understand school leadership. In J. Murphy & K.S. Louis (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational leadership. New York: Longman.
Leithwood, K., Jantzi, D., & Steinbach, R. (1995). An organisational learning perspective on school responses to central policy initiative. School Organization, 15(3), 229-252.
Lieberman, A. (1995). The work of restructuring schools. New York: Teachers College Press.
Louis, K.S. (1994). Beyond managed change: Rethinking how schools improve. School effectiveness and school improvement, 5(1), 2-24.
Miles, M., & Huberman, A. (1994).Qualitative data analysis: A sourcebook of new methods. (2nd ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Murphy, J., & Hallinger, P. (1993). Restructuring schooling: Learning from ongoing efforts. Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.
Newfoundland Department of Education. (1991). Learning to learn: Policies and guidelines for the implementation of resource-based learning in Newfoundland and Labrador schools. St. John's, NF: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
O'Neil, J. (1995). On schools as learning organizations: A conversation with Peter Senge. Educational Leadership, 52 (7), 20-23.
Redding, J., & Catalanello, R. (1992, May). The fourth iteration: The learning organization as a model of strategic change. Thresholds in Education, 47-53.
Sagor, R. (1992). How to conduct collaborative action research. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline. New York: Doubleday.
Senge, P., Roberts, C, Ross, R, Smith, B., & Kleiner, A. (1994). The fifth discipline fieldbook Toronto: Doubleday.
Sergiovanni, T. (1995). The principalship: A reflective practice perspective. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Stoll, L., & Fink, D. (1996).Changing our schools. Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Author Notes
He has spent a significant part of his career in the K-12 school system as teacher, department head, vice-principal, principal, and assistant superintendent. Previous to his joining the Faculty of Education at Memorial University, September 1994, Bruce taught graduate courses at University of Ottawa, Ontario and St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada.
bsheppar@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/~bsheppar
Jean Brown is currently associate professor in the field of Educational Leadership at Memorial University. Her research interests relate to Educational Leadership, Educational Change, and Teacher leadership. Jean was the principal investigator in the Newfoundland study for the Canadian Education Association Exemplary Schools Project. Additionally, she has been quite active in the field of Learning Resources. She chaired the Committee for the development of the "Learning to Learn" document that has resulted in the widespread implementation of Resource-Based Learning in Newfoundland and Labrador. Her current research program involves working with action research teams at the school and district level.
jbrown@morgan.ucs.mun.ca
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/~jbrown
IEJLL - Educational Partnerships Theme
Series
External Reviewers
(In addition to the usual members of the IEJLL Editorial Team)
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