Poco a Poco: Leadership Practices Supporting Productive Communities of Practice in Schools Serving the New Mainstream
Item
Title
Poco a Poco: Leadership Practices Supporting Productive Communities of Practice in Schools Serving the New Mainstream
Abstract/Description
Purpose: Culturally and linguistically diverse students frequently do not receive equitable educational opportunities. Schools across public and private sectors that are striving to ameliorate this problem typically work in isolation, not collaboratively. This article examines how communities of practice emerge within a network of schools striving to effectively educate these students.
Data Collection and Analysis: We employ qualitative case study methodology drawing data from relational network survey data, archival documents, interpersonal communications, and field notes. In cycles of coding, we analyze these data to identify the learning architecture that structures the communities of practice within this network.
Findings: First, we found the emergent communities of practice were extemporaneous, tentative, and localized. Second, we found that applying the learning architecture shed light on the nature of the learning within these communities of practice. In this case, it revealed that the communities of practice (a) enjoyed relatively strong levels of participation but relatively ineffective reifications, (b) experienced a dynamic tension between local and global influences, and (c) allowed individuals to negotiate new identities in varied and complex manners.
Conclusions: This study shows the messiness that unfolds as school leaders pursue organizational learning toward the end of improving educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students, and how the learning architecture framework can help school leaders make sense of and respond to this in a nuanced manner.
Data Collection and Analysis: We employ qualitative case study methodology drawing data from relational network survey data, archival documents, interpersonal communications, and field notes. In cycles of coding, we analyze these data to identify the learning architecture that structures the communities of practice within this network.
Findings: First, we found the emergent communities of practice were extemporaneous, tentative, and localized. Second, we found that applying the learning architecture shed light on the nature of the learning within these communities of practice. In this case, it revealed that the communities of practice (a) enjoyed relatively strong levels of participation but relatively ineffective reifications, (b) experienced a dynamic tension between local and global influences, and (c) allowed individuals to negotiate new identities in varied and complex manners.
Conclusions: This study shows the messiness that unfolds as school leaders pursue organizational learning toward the end of improving educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students, and how the learning architecture framework can help school leaders make sense of and respond to this in a nuanced manner.
Author/creator
Date
In publication
Volume
52
Issue
1
Pages
3-44
Resource type
Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
Published Text
Scholarship genre
Empirical
Open access/full-text available
No
Peer reviewed
Yes
ISSN
0013-161X
Citation
Scanlan, M., Kim, M., Burns, M. B., & Vuilleumier, C. (2016). Poco a Poco: Leadership Practices Supporting Productive Communities of Practice in Schools Serving the New Mainstream. Educational Administration Quarterly, 52(1), 3–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X15615390
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