Transformational Pathways: Embracing Change, Fostering Innovation, and Empowering Leaders
Chair(s): Andrea Wullschleger (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, School of Education)
This symposium presents three empirical studies investigating the intersection of organizational change, innovation, leadership, and networks in education. It aims to deepen understanding of how school/district systems can leverage leadership and innovative approaches to systems/systemic change, leading ultimately to better organizational and learning outcomes.
The symposium addresses three core questions:
Study 1: How do interaction routines and innovative climate co-evolve in educational leadership?
Study 2: What lessons can be learned from successful local initiatives to build effective networked learning systems?
Study 3: How do school principals utilize social influence to implement student-centered instructional initiatives?
Scholars who use rigorous and novel methodologies to examine leadership, innovation, and change were selected for this symposium. The first study longitudinally investigates the relationship between administrators' interaction routines and their perceived innovative climate. The second study draws lessons from a program of local systems change to develop strategies for building networked learning systems. The third study explores how district-wide principals exercise social influence in implementing student-centered instructional initiatives.
The session begins with an overview followed by 15-minute presentations for each study. A 40-minute structured discussion allows attendees to exchange ideas, perspectives, and experiences. It concludes with the chair connecting findings from the session.
Presentations of the Symposium
Dynamic Pathways: Investigating the Relationship Between the Changing Landscape of Educational Leaders’ Interaction Routines and Innovative Climate
Andrea Wullschleger1, Yi-Hwa Liou2, András Vörös3, Alan J. Daly4, Katharina Maag Merki5
1University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, School of Education, 2Department of Educational Management, National Taipei University of Education, 3School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham, 4Department of Education Studies, University of California, San Diego, 5Institute of Education, University of Zurich
Background: The educational system is designed as a multi-level system (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2008) where state and district-level policies are implemented in school organizational and instructional practice (Diamond, 2012). In studies of change processes in this system, there has been a shift from examining the school site as the unit of reform to the linkages between central offices and sites (Daly et al., 2014). District-level policies are a collective, strongly interdependent venture (Hooge et al., 2019), and change processes are closely related to the interactions of organizational actors (Daly & Finnigan, 2011). Consequently, if change processes are to be considered at this level, it is necessary to look at social interactions between leaders (Liou & Daly, 2023).
Purpose: This study aims to examine the interaction routines of district leaders and their interplay with innovative climate during district-wide curriculum reform. The central research question guiding this study is: How are administrators' professional interaction routines, their global and local perceptions of innovative climate mutually related, and how do these relationships evolve over time?
Perspectives: Social networks and social capital theory are used to study social interactions and change processes. Social capital theory emphasizes that ties between individuals create a structure that determines access to resources (Coppe et al., 2022). This study focuses on how social interactions develop and change over time, considering routines and their adaptation in the context of educational leadership (Spillane et al., 2011).
Methodology: The study employs a longitudinal survey design collecting quantitative survey data annually at eight points over eight years from the leadership team (district administrators and site principals) in one public school district in the western United States. The sample includes 226 unique leaders who ever participated in the study during the study period, with an annual churn rate ranging between 2% and 17%. The survey data includes leaders’ perceptions of district-wide innovative climate, their perception of colleagues’ attitudes towards innovative ideas, and their interaction routines concerning collaboration. Stochastic actor-oriented models developed for the statistical analysis of dynamic networks and individual behavior were used.
Findings: Preliminary results focusing on a one-year period indicate that collaboration and perceptions of innovative climate are interrelated over time. Specifically, leaders are more likely to report collaboration ties with colleagues whom they see as open to taking risks regarding innovative ideas. In turn, perceiving colleagues to be open to new ideas increases the chance of collaborating with them. However, there is little evidence of district-wide climate having an effect on collaboration routines. Further exploration will reveal the variation in these patterns over the entire eight-year period.
Importance: Understanding the dynamics between interaction routines and innovative climate is critical for educational theory, practice, and policy. In examining the co-evolution of interaction routines and innovative climate, this study contributes to an understanding of how quality professional education can facilitate effective change processes at district level.
Building a Networked Learning System: Drawing Out the Lessons from a Programme of Local Systems Change
Christopher Chapman, Irene Bell, Graham Donaldson, Stuart Hall, Kevin Lowden
School of Education, University of Glasgow
Background: Regional Improvement Collaboratives (RICs) are a set of arrangements designed to promote collaborative working across local authority (LA) boundaries to promote school improvement. At the outset the University of Glasgow established a Research Practice Partnership (RPP) with the WEST Partnership RIC. WEST is composed of eight LAs involving over 1000 educational establishments, serving 35% of Scotland’s children and young people. This paper charts the development of WEST over the course of the last six years and draws out the learning regarding building a Networked Learning System (NLS) (Madrid Miranda and Chapman, 2021).
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which WEST has delivered its vision of building: “a collaborative, Networked Learning System to improve learning experiences and increase attainment for every learner across the region.” (WEST Strategic Plan, 2020-23) and to consider the implications for building capacity across the middle tier of educational systems.
Perspectives: This paper is framed through socio-cultural theory and the development of public service organisations (Douglas, 1982; Hood, 1995). The paper considers the role of relational trust (Bryk and Schneider, 2002) as the connective tissue that underpins authentic collaboration and the development of networks. Such collaboration, combined with learning through systematic evidence building within Research-Practice Partnerships can be characterised as an NLS (Madrid Miranda and Chapman, 2021). NLS’s set out to increase subsidiarity and collective agency regarding decisions about priorities for improvement.
Methodology: This RPP builds on a ten-year research programme by the University of Glasgow (Chapman and Ainscow, 2021). Rooted in site-based professional learning, building leadership capacity, and co-constructed with a diverse range of stakeholders, Design-Based Implementation Research (Fishman et al., 2013) underpins this work. This is approach is guided by four principles:
• a focus on problems of practice from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives;
• a commitment to collaborative design;
• a concern with developing theory and knowledge related to both learning and implementation through systematic inquiry and
• a concern with developing capacity for sustaining change in systems.
The sources of data include annual interviews and surveys, documentary evidence and annual evaluation reports.
Findings: Analysis suggests that WEST provides a context and mechanism for cultural change that promotes subsidiarity and places decision-making and support for improvement closer to the learning level. This said, promoting cultural change is a complex and challenging task which is often compounded by structural challenges that can undermine efforts and hinder progress and there is much work still to be done. Key themes include: Networked learning; collective agency and leadership capacity; understanding variations; safe Spaces for reflection; adding value to the Local Authority activity, managing local and national agendas, and partnership working with stakeholders.
Importance: This paper draws on longitudinal evidence from an innovative RPP from inception to maturity. The paper has significant implications for those wishing to understand and develop collaborative approaches that involve building NLSs that challenge traditional ways of working in education and public services. This paper links to the conference themes relating to leadership, professional learning, inquiry and innovation, improvement.
How School Principals Wield Social Influence in Directing and Implementing Student-Centered Instructional Initiatives: A Case Study
Nicolette van Halem1, Marie Lockton2, David Trautman2, Yi-Hwa Liou3, Alan J. Daly4
1Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, 2Department of Education Studies, University of California, San Diego, 3Department of Educational Management, National Taipei University of Education, 4Department
Background: School principals continuously find themselves in the position to influence instructional initiatives that then directly impact teachers and students (Keddie et al., 2022; Steinberg, 2014; OECD, 2016a,b). Research shows that social networks affect the amount of influence transmitted between school principals (authors, 2019; Goldsmith, 2015). This social influence is critical in promoting instructional innovation because influential actors are likely to form political allies and leverage their political and social power over others, which may shape norms, beliefs, opinions, and decisions (Battilana & Casciaro, 2013; Watts & Dodds, 2007).
Purpose: This case study examines how principals wield social influence in the district leadership team when implementing instructional innovations. In recent years, many educational organizations have shown interest in ideas on student-centered instruction (Kirschner & Stoyanov, 2020; OECD, 2019). The current work takes place in a highly innovative K-12 system where the leadership team has been promoting student-centered instructional initiatives since 2018. This study is part of a Research-Practice Partnership that aims to build leadership capacity around the role of culture, climate, and relationships in successfully implementing instructional initiatives.
Methodology: Interview and network data were used to explore how district initiatives were addressed by principals and how networks within a school district leadership team were leveraged for that purpose. The data for this study were collected in four waves between February 2019 and March 2022, involving 11 principals and 34 district leaders. Principals’ beliefs about implementing student-centered instructional initiatives were examined with interview data and a survey scale in relation to their social influence among district leaders and site leaders over time measured by incoming (daily and weekly) advice ties from district and site administrators in the district. Using stochastic actor-oriented modeling (Snijders et al., 2010) through the RSiena data-analysis package (Ripley et al., 2011), the authors explored how networks and beliefs about the implementation of student-centered instructional initiatives coevolve within the district leadership team.
Findings: Principals addressed district initiatives for student-centered instruction in different ways, coded as ownership, adoption, acceptance, or ambivalence. Relating these approaches to differences in the amount of incoming advice relationships revealed that, regardless of social influence, principals may choose to take ownership of district initiatives or rather prioritize their own vision independently. However, independent decisions of principals with a more central position in the social network yielded a greater following by fellow principals within three to four years time. Our findings show no evidence that principals seek advice among administrators who hold similar beliefs about student-centered instructional initiatives. Instead, they relied on pre-existing relationships to guide advice interactions.
Importance: This high-touch Research-Practice Partnership facilitated an in-depth analysis about the enactment of decision-making processes for change efforts. This is particularly pressing given the high prevalence of seemingly unstable or inconsistent district initiative choices that currently impede schools from realizing sustainable reform (Keddie et al., 2022). The findings suggest that principals wield social influence, although not necessarily through direct impact on colleagues' beliefs. Implications for policy and practice will be discussed.
