What Process of Change Emerged?
The district’s process of change evolved through three cycles of change: adoption, transformation, andinstitutionalization. Although the district began to move into the fourth cycle of renewal, it was brief and soon abandoned.
Adoption. During this cycle the district adopted the middle school concepts. The cycle was distinguished byits focus on the preparation for change: the accumulation and clarification of information about middle schools and the practicalapplications of this model into district schools. The new purpose of the middle schools was clarified for teachers, administrators,parents, and community. Also, numerous activities helped to imprint the concepts into a shared meaning of middle schools.
Transformation. This cycle was distinguished by the experimentation with new structures, values, and purposes(core processes) that resulted in the integration of individual and collective learning. Teachers began working in teams, moved awayfrom junior high practices, and began to alter their personal meaning of early adolescent schooling.
Institutionalization. During this cycle new learning was embedded into the mindsets and routine actions ofparticipants. Teachers increased their mastery in teaching strategies, team leadership, and applications of the core purpose.Also, the junior high philosophy and practices were replaced with a middle school paradigm and the new practices became routine. Inother words, the change“penetrated [so] deeply into the geneticcode…that nothing special need[ed] to be done to keep the changechanged”(Levy, 1986, p. 7).
Renewal. When this cycle occurs in a change process, it is distinguished by generative learning. Although therenewal cycle began within the district, it was abandoned. The district-wide middle school conference that was planned andconducted by cross-school interdisciplinary teams at the beginning of the fourth year of implementation was an effective example ofgenerative learning. However, the event was not repeated. When the middle school director’s position was eliminated from the district’s budget, no one was appointed to coordinate the on-going learning experiences of middle school teachers and principals,monitor the on-going progress made by schools in the middle, or facilitate the indoctrination of new members into the middle schoolphilosophy. Neither was there anyone to plan generative learning experiences to keep the changes evolving. Therefore, the districtdid not use the renewal process to stimulate generative learning.
What Strategies Facilitated and Hindered the Process of Change?
Facilitated Change. Two particularly helpful strategies for facilitating change were the (1) adoption of aphilosophy and prescriptive model for middle schools and (2) site visits to middle schools in action. These strategies providedparticipants with a compelling reason to change andconcrete ideas and a clear and visible representation of what the change wouldlook like and the participants’personal responsibilities within that context (Schwahn&Spady, 1998).