The Impact of Educational Change on Conventional High Schooling

• Main Author: Kew, Kristin L.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Boston College 2010
• Subjects: culture; educational change; high schools; politics; traditional grammar of schooling
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1406

Thesis advisor: Andy Hargreaves === Reform has been difficult at all levels of schooling but secondary schools have proved the most intractable to change (Sarason, 1990). Some of the reasons include the persistence of long-standing conventions, the struggle between competing interests, the size and complexity of the organizations being changed, and ironically the negative impact of reforms that are designed to bring about change. Creating equity among the nation's students requires rethinking and questioning long-term and ingrained identities. This change is threatening to the status quo and pressures many to actively preserve and perpetuate cherished beliefs and practices. The objective to close the achievement gap and "provide all children with the kind of schooling once offered only to a small elite" (Meier, 2002, p. 3) is thwarted by a number of factors, one of which is the factory-style structures and models of classic schooling (Cuban, 1984; Meier, 2002; Oakes & Lipton, 2002; Sarason, 1990; Tyack & Tobin, 1994). This is particularly apparent in conventional high schools which have maintained their existing epistemologies for long periods of time, holding steadfast to the "traditional grammar of schooling" (Tyack & Tobin, 1994). To understand why and how traditional secondary schools choose and maintain their values and structures, and how that illuminates educational change; this dissertation explores a detailed historical case study of how a non-traditional high school underwent a fundamental change by becoming a high school representative of the traditional grammar of schooling. Research explored the technological, political, and cultural forces that influenced the change and what these forces tell us about educational change in general. Findings revealed that successful reforms were initiated at the grass-roots level by the principals but only within the parameters allowed by the school community. External reforms from the district and state government were rarely sustained over time. The changing economy, the politics, and culture of the island directly impacted change initiatives and contributed to the school's drift towards an increasingly traditional grammar. === Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. === Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. === Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.