Abstract
School improvement depends, fundamentally, upon collective agency—a group capability to work productively together and solve problems. Unfortunately, many schools operate in contexts of adversity that can pose considerable challenges with developing collective agency. Schools serving high-poverty communities of color often face chronic resource shortages, difficulties to reach their students, and negative reputations. Research has shown how such experiences of adversity can invite destructive tendencies that interfere with collective agency—including defensiveness, learned helplessness, and fragmenting conflict. However, prevailing approaches to researching school improvement have obscured insight into how collective agency may develop in adverse contexts. To study this, this paper draws on over 70 hours of participant observation and more than 50 reflective conversations conducted over 1 year with a Californian middle school facing adversity. Drawing on literature about group development and work teams, the article traces interaction patterns in three work groups, including one I led. The study finds clear efforts to develop collective agency at times, but it is a fragile emergence. Across all groups, collective agency becomes enabled when initiative to address a problem combines with manageable tasks, simple solutions, and group affirmation. However, these processes do not enable groups to fully address the complex problems they face, leaving groups vulnerable to recurrent experiences of inefficacy and overwhelm that quash collective agency. The findings offer a new understanding of school improvement amid adversity as a struggle to improve at “the next level of work,” calling for reforms designed to sustain a foundation of collective agency.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated and analyzed during this study are not publicly available to protect the confidentiality and anonymity of research participants.
References
Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E., & Teasdale, J. D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87(1), 49–74.
Achinstein, B. (2002). Community, diversity, and conflict among schoolteachers: The ties that blind. Teachers College Press.
Anagnostopoulos, D. (2006). “Real students” and “true demotes”: Ending social promotion and the moral ordering of urban high schools. American Educational Research Journal, 43(1), 5–42.
Anyon, J. (1997). Ghetto schooling: A political economy of urban educational reform. Teachers College Press.
Ashforth, B. E., & Lee, R. T. (1990). Defensive behavior in organizations: A preliminary model. Human Relations, 43(7), 621–648. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679004300702
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 273–285.
Berends, M., Bodilly, S. J., & Kirby, S. N. (2002). Facing the challenges of whole-school reform: New American schools after a decade. RAND.
Biesta, G., Priestley, M., & Robinson, S. (2015). The role of beliefs in teacher agency. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21(6), 624–640.
Biesta, G., & Tedder, M. (2007). Agency and learning in the lifecourse: Towards an ecological perspective. Studies in the Education of Adults, 39(2), 132–149.
Bonanno, G. A. (2004). Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? American Psychologist, 59(1), 20–18.
Brannan, M. J., & Oultram, T. (2012). Participant observation. In G. Symon & C. Cassell (Eds.), Qualitative organizational research: Core methods and current challenges (pp. 296–313). SAGE Publications Inc.
Branscombe, N. R., Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (1999). The context and content of social identity threat. In N. Ellemers, R. Spears, & B. Doosje (Eds.), Social identity: context, commitment, content (pp. 35–58). Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Bridwell-Mitchell, E. N. (2015). Theorizing teacher agency and reform: How institutionalized instructional practices change and persist. Sociology of Education, 88(2), 140–159.
Bryk, A. S., Gomez, L. M., Grunow, A., & LeMahieu, P. G. (2015). Learning to improve: How America’s schools can get better at getting better. Harvard Education Press.
Bryk, A. S., & Schneider, B. (2002). Trust in schools: A core resource for improvement. Russell Sage Foundation.
Bryk, A. S., Sebring, P. B., Allensworth, E., Luppescu, S., & Easton, J. Q. (2010). Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago. University Of Chicago Press.
California Department of Education. (2018). California School Dashboard. https://www.caschooldashboard.org/.
Calkins, A., Guenther, W., Belfiore, G., & Lash, D. (2007). The turnaround challenge: Why America’s best opportunity to dramatically improve student achievement lies in our worst-performing schools. Mass Insight Education.
Cameron, K. S., Kim, M. U., & Whetten, D. A. (1987). Organizational effects of decline and turbulence. Administrative Science Quarterly, 32(2), 222–240.
Cameron, K. S., Sutton, R. I., & Whetten, D. A. (1988). Issues in organizational decline. In K. S. Cameron, R. I. Sutton, & D. A. Whetten (Eds.), Readings in organizational decline: frameworks, research, and prescriptions (pp. 3–17). Ballinger Publishing Company.
Cannon, M. D., & Edmondson, A. C. (2001). Confronting failure: Antecedents and consequences of shared beliefs about failure in organizational work groups. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22(2), 161–177.
Carver-Thomas, D., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2019). The trouble with teacher turnover: How teacher attrition affects students and schools. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 7(36). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.27.3699
City, E. A., Elmore, R. F., Fiarman, S. E., & Teitel, L. (2009). Instructional rounds in education: A network approach to improving teaching and learning. Harvard Education Press.
Coburn, C. E. (2006). Framing the problem of reading instruction: Using frame analysis to uncover the microprocesses of policy implementation. American Educational Research Journal, 43(3), 343–379.
Coburn, C. E., Penuel, W. R., & Geil, K. E. (2013). Research-practice partnerships: A strategy for leveraging research for educational improvement in school districts. William T. Grant Foundation.
Coghlan, D., & Brannick, T. (2007). Doing action research in your own organization. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Cohen, D. K., Peurach, D. J., Glazer, J. L., Gates, K. E., & Goldin, S. (2013). Improvement by design: The promise of better schools. University of Chicago Press.
Cong-Lem, N. (2021). Teacher agency: A systematic review of international literature. Issues in Educational Research, 31(3), 718–738.
Cooperrider, D., & Whitney, D. D. (2005). Appreciative inquiry: A positive revolution in change. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Daly, A. J. (2009). Rigid response in an age of accountability: The potential of leadership and trust. Educational Administration Quarterly, 45(2), 168–216.
Daly, A. J., & Chrispeels, J. (2005). From problem to possibility: Leadership for implementing and deepening the processes of effective schools. Journal for Effective Schools, 4(1), 7–25.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2007). Race, inequality and educational accountability: The irony of ‘no child left behind.’ Race Ethnicity and Education, 10(3), 245–260.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world and education: How America’s commitment to equity will determine our future. Teachers College Press.
Datnow, A. (2012). Teacher agency in educational reform: Lessons from social networks research. American Journal of Education, 119(1), 193–201.
Datnow, A. (2020). The role of teachers in educational reform: A 20 year perspective. Journal of Educational Change, 21(3), 431–441.
Datnow, A., Hubbard, L., & Mehan, H. (2002). Extending educational reform: From one school to many. Routledge Falmer.
Datnow, A., Park, V., & Kennedy-Lewis, B. (2012). High school teachers’ use of data to inform instruction. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 17(4), 247–265.
Datnow, A., & Stringfield, S. (2000). Working together for reliable school reform. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 5(1–2), 183–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2000.9671386
De Dreu, C. K. W., & Vianen, A. E. M. V. (2001). Managing relationship conflict and the effectiveness of organizational teams. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22(3), 309–328.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
Dedoose. (2018). [Computer software] (8.0.35). SocioCultural Research Consultants, LLC. www.dedoose.com.
Demerath, P. (2018). The emotional ecology of school improvement culture: Charged meanings and common moral purpose. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(5), 488–503.
Diamond, J. B. (2007). Cultivating high expectations in an urban elementary school: The case of Kelly School. In J. P. Spillane & J. B. Diamond (Eds.), Distributed leadership in practice (pp. 63–84). Teachers College Press.
Dooner, A.-M., Mandzuk, D., & Clifton, R. A. (2008). Stages of collaboration and the realities of professional learning communities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(3), 564–574.
Drury, J., Cocking, C., & Reicher, S. (2009). The nature of collective resilience: Survivor reactions to the 2005 London bombings. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 27(1), 66–95.
Edmondson, A. C. (2004). Psychological safety, trust, and learning in organizations: A group-level lens. In Trust and distrust in organizations: Dilemmas and approaches (pp. 239–272). Russel Sage Foundation.
Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383.
Edmondson, A. C. (2003). Managing the risk of learning: Psychological safety in work teams. In M. A. West, D. Tjosvold, & K. G. Smith (Eds.), International handbook of organizational teamwork and cooperative working (pp. 255–276). Wiley.
Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998). What is agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), 962–1023.
Erickson, F. (1994). Where the action is: On collaborative action research in education (Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education 123; Qualitative Research Methodologies in Music Education Research Conference).
Ewing, E. L. (2018). Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and school closings on Chicago’s south side. University of Chicago Press.
Farley-Ripple, E., & Buttram, J. (2015). The development of capacity for data use: The role of teacher networks in an elementary school. Teachers College Record, 117(4), 1–34.
Feldman, A. (1999). The role of conversation in collaborative action research. Educational Action Research, 7(1), 125–147.
Finnigan, K. S., & Daly, A. J. (2012). Mind the gap: Organizational learning and improvement in an underperforming urban system. American Journal of Education, 119(1), 41–71.
Finnigan, K. S., & Stewart, T. J. (2009). Leading change under pressure: An examination of principal leadership in low-performing schools. Journal of School Leadership, 19(5), 586–621.
Forsyth, D. R. (2014). Group dynamics (6th ed.). Wadsworth.
García, E., & Weiss, E. (2019). The teacher shortage is real, large and growing, and worse than we thought (The perfect storm in the teacher labor market). Economic Policy Institute.
Gardner, H. E., Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Damon, W. (2008). Good work: When excellence and ethics meet. Basic Books.
Gersick, C. J. G. (1988). Time and transition in work teams: Toward a new model of group development. Academy of Management Journal, 31(1), 9–41.
Goddard, R. D., & Goddard, Y. L. (2001). A multilevel analysis of the relationship between teacher and collective efficacy in urban schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(7), 807–818.
Goddard, R. D., & Skrla, L. (2006). The influence of school social composition on teachers’ collective efficacy beliefs. Educational Administration Quarterly, 42(2), 216–235.
Goldstein, D. (2014). The teacher wars: A history of America’s most embattled profession. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
González, N., Moll, L. C., & Amanti, C. (Eds.). (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Grossman, P., Wineberg, S., & Woolworth, S. (2001). Toward a theory of teacher community. Teachers College Record, 103, 942–1012.
Gutiérrez, K. D., Cortes, K., Cortez, A., DiGiacomo, D., Higgs, J., Johnson, P., Lizárraga, J. R., Mendoza, E., Tien, J., & Vakil, S. (2017). Replacing representation with imagination: Finding ingenuity in everyday practices. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 30–60.
Hackman, J. R. (2002). Leading teams: Setting the stage for great performances. Harvard Business School Press.
Hackman, J. R. (2002). Why teams don’t work. In R. S. Tindale, L. Heath, J. Edwards, E. J. Posavac, F. B. Bryant, Y. Suarez-Balcazar, E. Henderson-King, & J. Myers (Eds.), Theory and research on small groups (pp. 245–267). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47144-2_12
Hackman, J. R., Wageman, R., Ruddy, T. M., & Ray, C. R. (2000). Team effectiveness in theory and practice. In C. L. Cooper & E. A. Locke (Eds.), Industrial and organizational psychology: Linking theory with practice (pp. 109–129). Blackwell.
Harris, A., & Chapman, C. (2004). Improving schools in difficult contexts: Towards a differentiated approach. British Journal of Educational Studies, 52(4), 417–431.
Harris, A., Day, C., Hopkins, D., Hadfield, M., Hargreaves, A., & Chapman, C. (2003). Effective leadership for school improvement. Routledge.
Hart, P. M. (1994). Teacher quality of work life: Integrating work experiences, psychological distress and morale. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 67(2), 109–132.
Herman, R., Dawson, P., Dee, T., Greene, J., Maynard, R., Redding, S., & Darwin, M. (2008). Turning around chronically low-performing schools. IES practice guide. NCEE 2008–4020. National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
Herr, K., & Anderson, G. L. (2014). The action research dissertation: A guide for students and faculty (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Hopkins, D., Ainscow, M., & West, M. (1994). School improvement in an era of change. Cassell.
Horn, I. S., & Little, J. W. (2010). Attending to problems of practice: Routines and resources for professional learning in teachers’ workplace interactions. American Educational Research Journal, 47(1), 181–217.
Hubbard, L., Mehan, H., & Stein, M. K. (2006). Reform as learning: School reform, organizational culture, and community politics in San Diego. Routledge.
Huberman, M., Parrish, T., Hannan, S., Arellanes, M., & Shambaugh, L. (2011). Turnaround schools in California: Who are they and what strategies do they use? California Comprehensive Center at WestEd, American Institutes of Research.
International Monetary Fund. (2023). World economic outlook: A rocky recovery. International Monetary Fund.
Ishimaru, A. M. (2018). Re-imagining turnaround: Families and communities leading educational justice. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(5), 546–561. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-01-2018-0013
Jacobson, S. L., Brooks, S., Giles, C., Johnson, L., & Ylimaki, R. (2007). Successful leadership in three high-poverty urban elementary schools. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 6(4), 291–317.
Jehn, K. A., & Mannix, E. A. (2001). The dynamic nature of conflict: A longitudinal study of intragroup conflict and group performance. Academy of Management Journal, 44(2), 238–251.
Johnson, S. M. (2019). Where teachers thrive: Organizing schools for success. Harvard Education Press.
Johnson, S. M., & Birkeland, S. E. (2003). Pursuing a “sense of success”: New teachers explain their career decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 581–617.
Johnson, S. M., Reinhorn, S. K., Charner-Laird, M., Kraft, M. A., Ng, M., & Papay, J. P. (2014). Ready to lead, but how? Teachers’ experiences in high-poverty urban schools. Teachers College Record, 116(10), 1–50.
Jonassen, D. H. (2000). Toward a design theory of problem solving. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(4), 63–85.
Kantor, H., & Lowe, R. (2006). From new deal to no deal: No child left behind and the devolution of responsibility for equal opportunity. Harvard Educational Review, 76(4), 474–502.
Klar, H. W., & Brewer, C. A. (2013). Successful leadership in high-needs schools: An examination of core leadership practices enacted in challenging contexts. Education Administration Quarterly, 49(5), 768–808.
Kraft, M. A., Papay, J. P., Johnson, S. M., Charner-Laird, M., Ng, M., & Reinhorn, S. (2015). Educating amid uncertainty: The organizational supports teachers need to serve students in high-poverty, urban schools. Education Administration Quarterly, 51(5), 753–790.
Lasky, S. (2005). A sociocultural approach to understanding teacher identity, agency and professional vulnerability in a context of secondary school reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(8), 899–916.
LeCompte, M. D., & Dworkin, A. G. (1991). Giving up on school: Student dropouts and teacher burnouts. Corwin Press.
Lee, V. E., & Smith, J. B. (1996). Collective responsibility for learning and its effects on gains in achievement for early secondary school students. American Journal of Education, 104(2), 103–147.
Leithwood, K., & Louis, K. S. (2012). Linking leadership to student learning (1st ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Lenhoff, S. W., Singer, J., & Gottfried, M. (2022). Thinking ecologically in educational policy and research. Peabody Journal of Education, 97(1), 1–5.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Lipman, P. (2004). High stakes education: Inequality, globalization, and urban school reform. Psychology Press.
Lipman, P. (2011). The new political economy of urban education: Neoliberalism, race, and the right to the city. Routledge.
Little, J. W. (1982). Norms of collegiality and experimentation: Workplace conditions of school success. American Educational Research Journal, 19(3), 325–340.
Little, J. W. (2003). Inside teacher community: Representations of classroom practice. Teachers College Record, 105(6), 913–945.
Lockton, M., Weddle, H., & Datnow, A. (2020). When data don’t drive: Teacher agency in data use efforts in low-performing schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 31(2), 243–265.
Louis, K. S., & Kruse, S. D. (1995). Professionalism and community: Perspectives on reforming urban schools. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Louis, K. S., Murphy, J., & Smylie, M. (2016). Caring leadership in schools: Findings from exploratory analyses. Educational Administration Quarterly, 52(2), 310–348.
Martinko, M. J., & Gardner, W. L. (1982). Learned helplessness: An alternative explanation for performance deficits. Academy of Management review, 7(2), 195–204.
Maxwell, J. A. (2013). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Sage Publications, Inc.
McLaughlin, M. W. (1987). Learning from experience: Lessons from policy implementation. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 9(2), 171–178.
Meyer, M. W., & Zucker, L. G. (1989). Permanently failing organizations. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Meyers, C. V., & Smylie, M. A. (2017). Five myths of school turnaround policy and practice. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 16(3), 502–523.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). SAGE.
Mintrop, R. (2004). Schools on probation: How accountability works (and doesn’t work). Teachers College Press.
Mintrop, R. (2016). Design-based school improvement: A practical guide for education leaders. Harvard Education Press.
Mintrop, R., & Charles, J. (2017). The formation of teacher work teams under adverse conditions: Towards a more realistic scenario for schools in distress. Journal of Educational Change, 18(1), 49–75.
Mintrop, R., & Ordenes, M. (2017). Teacher work motivation in the era of extrinsic incentives: Performance goals and pro-social commitments in the service of equity. Education policy analysis archives, 25, 44.
Mintrop, R., & Sunderman, G. L. (2009). Predictable failure of federal sanctions-driven accountability for school improvement—and why we may retain it anyway. Educational Researcher, 38(5), 353–364.
Mintrop, R., & Zumpe, E. (2019). Solving real-life problems of practice and education leaders’ school improvement mind-set. American Journal of Education, 125(3), 295–344.
Moolenaar, N. M. (2012). A social network perspective on teacher collaboration in schools: Theory, methodology, and applications. American Journal of Education, 119(1), 7–39.
Morsy, L., & Rothstein, R. (2019). Toxic stress and children’s outcomes: African American children growing up poor are at greater risk of disrupted physiological functioning and depressed academic achievement. Economic Policy Institute.
Nguyen, T. D., Lam, C. B., & Bruno, P. (2022). Is there a national teacher shortage? A systematic examination of reports of teacher shortages in the United States (EdWorkingPaper 22–631). Annenberg Institute at Brown University. https://doi.org/10.26300/76eq-hj32
Nicolaidou, M., & Ainscow, M. (2005). Understanding failing schools: Perspectives from the inside. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 16(3), 229–248.
Olsen, B., & Sexton, D. (2009). Threat rigidity, school reform, and how teachers view their work inside current education policy contexts. American Educational Research Journal, 46(1), 9–44. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831208320573
Ordenes. (2018). Commitment as struggle: Teachers serving students in the face of socioeconomic adversity [Dissertation]. University of California.
Orr, M. T., Berg, B., Shore, R., & Meier, E. (2008). Putting the pieces together: Leadership for change in lowperforming urban schools. Education and Urban Society, 40(6), 670–693.
Park, V., Daly, A. J., & Guerra, A. W. (2012). Strategic framing: How leaders craft the meaning of data use for equity and learning. Educational Policy, 27(4), 645–675.
Payne, C. M. (2008). So much reform, so little change: The persistence of failure in urban schools. Harvard Education Press.
Peck, C., & Reitzug, U. C. (2014). School turnaround fever: The paradoxes of a historical practice promoted as a new reform. Urban Education, 49(1), 8–38.
Penuel, W. R., & Gallagher, D. J. (2017). Creating research-practice partnerships in education. Harvard Education Press.
Potter, D., Reynolds, D., & Chapman, C. (2002). School improvement for schools facing challenging circumstances: A review of research and practice. School Leadership & Management, 22(3), 243–256.
Redding, C., & Henry, G. T. (2018). New evidence on the frequency of teacher turnover: Accounting for within-year turnover. Educational Researcher, 47(9), 577–593.
Rice, J. K., & Malen, B. (2003). The human costs of education reform: The case of school reconstitution. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(5), 635–666.
Rollow, S., & Bryk, A. S. (1995). Catalyzing professional community in a school reform left behind. In K. S. Louis & S. D. Kruse (Eds.), Professionalism and community: Perspectives on reforming schools (pp. 105–132). Corwin Press.
Rosenholtz, S. J. (1989). Teachers’ workplace: The social organization of schools. Longman, Inc.
Rutledge, S. A., Cohen-Vogel, L., Osborne-Lampkin, L., & Roberts, R. L. (2015). Understanding effective high schools: Evidence for personalization for academic and social emotional learning. American Educational Research Journal, 52(6), 1060–1092.
Santoro, D. A. (2011). Good teaching in difficult times: Demoralization in the pursuit of good work. American Journal of Education, 118(1), 1–23.
Saxena, S., & Shah, H. (2008). Effect of organizational culture on creating learned helplessness attributions in R&D professionals: A canonical correlation analysis. Vikalpa, 33(2), 25–46.
Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2009). Burnout: 35 years of research and practice. Career Development International, 14(3), 204–220. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430910966406
Schein, E. H. (1996). Kurt Lewin’s change theory in the field and in the classroom: Notes toward a model of managed learning. Systems Practice, 9(1), 27–47.
Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Schensul, J. J., & LeCompte, M. D. (2013). Essential ethnographic methods: A mixed methods approch (2nd ed., Vol. 3). AltaMira Press.
Schram, S. F., & Soss, J. (1998). Making something out of nothing: Welfare reform and a new race to the bottom. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 28(3), 67–88.
Seligman, M. E. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development, and death. Freeman.
Sherin, M. G., & van Es, E. A. (2009). Effects of video club participation on teachers’ professional vision. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(1), 20–37.
Sherman, D. K., Kinias, Z., Major, B., Kim, H. S., & Prenovost, M. (2007). The group as a resource: Reducing biased attributions for group success and failure via group affirmation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(8), 1100–1122.
Smith, G. (2001). Group development: A review of the literature and a commentary on future research directions. Group Facilitation, 3(1), 14–45.
Spillane, J. P., & Kim, C. M. (2012). An exploratory analysis of formal school leaders’ positioning in instructional advice and information networks in elementary schools. American Journal of Education, 119(1), 73–102.
Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation. Waveland Press, Inc.
Staw, B. M., Sandelands, L. E., & Dutton, J. E. (1981). Threat rigidity effects in organizational behavior: A multilevel analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, pp. 501–524.
Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M., & Thomas, S. (2006). Professional learning communities: A review of the literature. Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 221–258.
Stosich, E. L. (2016). Joint inquiry: Teachers’ collective learning about the common core in high-poverty urban schools. American Educational Research Journal, 53(6), 1698–1731.
Stosich, E. L. (2017). Leading in a time of ambitious reform: Principals in high-poverty urban elementary schools frame the challenge of the common core state standards. The Elementary School Journal, 117(4), 539–565.
Stringfield, S. (1998). An anatomy of in effectiveness. In L. Stoll & K. Meyers (Eds.), No quick fixes: Perspectives on schools in difficulty (pp. 209–221). The Falmer Press.
Teddlie, C., & Stringfield, S. (1993). Schools make a difference: Lessons learned from a 10 year study of school effects. Teachers College Press.
Trujillo, T., & Scott, J. (2014). Superheroes and transformers: Rethinking teach for America’s leadership models. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(8), 57–61.
Tseng, V., Easton, J. Q., & Supplee, L. H. (2017). Research-practice partnerships: Building two-way streets of engagement. Social Policy Report, 30(4), 1–17.
Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of small-group development revisited. Group and Organization Studies, 2(4), 419–427.
Turner, M. E., & Horvitz, T. (2001). The dilemma of threat: group effectiveness and ineffectiveness under adversity. In M. E. Turner (Ed.), Groups at work: Theory and research (pp. 445–470). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Turner, M. E., Pratkanis, A. R., Probasco, P., & Leve, C. (1992). Threat, cohesion, and group effectiveness: Testing a social identity maintenance perspective on groupthink. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(5), 781–796.
Vansteenkiste, M., & Ryan, R. M. (2013). On psychological growth and vulnerability: Basic psychological need satisfaction and need frustration as a unifying principle. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 23(3), 2630280.
Wacquant, L. (2008). Urban outcasts: A comparative sociology of advanced marginality. Polity Press.
Walsh, F. (2003). Family resilience: A framework for clinical practice. Family Process, 42(1), 1–18.
Weddle, H. (2023). Team emotion matters: Exploring teacher collaboration dynamics over time. Journal of Educational Change, 24, 77–105.
Weingart, L. R. (1997). How did they do that? The ways and means of studying group process. In Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 19, pp. 189–239). JAI Press Inc.
Westheimer, J. (1998). Among school teachers: Community, autonomy, and ideology in teachers’ work. Teachers College Press.
Wheelan, S. A. (2005). Group processes: A developmental perspective (2nd ed.). Pearson Education.
Wilcox, K. C., & Angelis, J. I. (2011). High school best practices: Results from cross-case comparisons. The High School Journal, 94(4), 138–153.
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. The University of Chicago Press.
Wood, D. (2007). Teachers’ learning communities: Catalyst for change or a new infrastructure for the status quo? Teachers College Record, 109(3), 699–739.
Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69–91.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Rick Mintrop for his extensive and thoughtful advice for this research, Miguel Ordenes for inspiring and supporting this work, thoughtful peer reviewers whose gracious feedback helped improve this manuscript, and the educators who allowed me to participate in their work and share in their struggle.
Funding
This research was part of a larger study funded by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest. The author has no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.
Ethical approval
An Institutional Review Board approved this research. All human subjects gave their informed consent prior to participating in the research.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendices
Appendix A
Coding framework
Exert leadership
Set direction | Take initiative |
Communicate goals | |
Make suggestions | |
Laissez faire | |
Doubt authority | |
Influence | Direct group/avoid influencing |
Retreat/hold firm | |
Model practices | |
Perceive no influence | |
Meeting facilitation | Ad hoc/planned agenda |
Cancel meeting |
Manage tasks
Define task | Unclear/clear |
Internally/externally determined | |
Process task | Focus/avoid |
Make progress | |
Simplify | |
Refuse | |
Plan action steps/no action steps | |
Follow through/no follow through | |
Type of demand | Receive information |
Team building | |
Learn procedures | |
Open conversation | |
Make decision | |
Give advice | |
View models | |
Apply learning | |
Develop curriculum/PD | |
Identify problem of practice | |
Set goals | |
Write reflection | |
Review data | |
Examine artifacts |
Manage interpersonal dynamics
Process conflict | Avoid conflict |
Personalize conflict | |
Productive task conflict | |
Group affirmation | Seek affinities/focus on incompatibilities |
Validate/denigrate others | |
Emphasize limitations | |
Appreciate good work | |
Psychological safety | Disclose/silence, hide concerns |
Handle problems
Face up | Acknowledge problem |
Ignore, deny problem | |
Seek solution | |
Lament, no solution | |
Resign | |
Share what works | |
Responsibility | Accept/Deflect |
Shared/Individual | |
Locus of control | External/internal |
Navigate complexity | Understand/avoid complexity |
Frame actionable problem | |
Oversimplify | |
Complex problem-complex solution | |
Complex problem-simple solution | |
Simple problem-simple solution |
Urgencies and frustrations
Lack accountability | Coverage of classrooms |
Low PD attendance | Negative reputation |
Lack trust | Lack academic focus |
Lack teacher buy-in | Disorganization |
Teacher turnover | PD schedule |
Fragmented faculty | PD quality |
Collaboration struggles | Student failure |
Low performance | Student disengagement |
Special Ed. needs | Student skill gaps |
Elementary school | District supports |
Union constraints | Irrelevant meetings |
Passions and desires
Authentic connection | Service to whole child |
Academically engage students | Being student-focused |
See students improve | College preparation |
Build community | PD with inquiry |
Feel supported | PD with application |
Have direction, vision | Become AVID school |
Improve performance | Improve reputation |
Align school practices | Visit classrooms |
Be on same page | Collegiality |
Team accomplishment | Collaboration |
Be recognized | Appreciate positive |
Appendix B
Data set summary from participant observation with two additional groups
Meeting events | Hours of obs | Pages of field notes | Meetings with audio | Audio hours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Staff PD | 4 | 20 | 38 | – | – |
Faculty Mtgs | 10 | 13 | 43 | – | – |
Totals | 14 | 33 | 81 | 0 | 0 |
Appendix C
Phases of collective agency and contributing processes for two additional work groups
Group processes | Faculty PD | Staff meetings | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Phases of highest collective agency | ||||
1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
Nov | Mar–Apr | Nov | Mar | |
Initiative | Lead activities for deeper learning, team building | Insist on PD, demonstrate lesson, “inspire” | Organize student-led training | Call for “serious discussion” |
Manageability | Watch videos, slideshow | Invite all staff to share any examples | Students model strategy, faculty practice | Follow district prompts for local accountability plan |
Simplicity | Address deeper learning with study skills, college assembly | Focus on “what works” for deeper learning | Address academic performance with school-wide note-taking strategy | Focus on school’s success with building community |
Affirmation | Celebrate successes Claim school as “family” | Claim “progressive” conversations, “amazing” teachers and students | Appreciate students as “great speakers,” “learned a lot” | Hail school for “aloha spirit,” call reputation “undeserved” |
Phases of lowest collective agency | ||||
1 | 1 | 2 | ||
Dec–Feb | Sept–Oct | Dec–Feb | ||
Overwhelming Complexity | Propose school-wide initiatives No follow up | Cover compliance items | Cover compliance items | |
Inefficacy | Privately lament low-quality PD, admit difficult classroom problems | Privately lament “bad” meetings | Share accountability data | |
Defensiveness | Lobby for wink days Claim PD cannot solve our problems | Silence problems, focus on “bright spots” | Emphasize positive results, deflect negative results | |
Helplessness | Concede, cancel PDs Claim “no influence” over teachers | Focus on mandated trainings | “Can’t all be down to me” | |
Unproductive Conflict | Claim others cannot be trusted “People will shoot you” if PD is held | “We are so divided” | See “bright spots” as denial | |
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Zumpe, E. School improvement at the next level of work: the struggle for collective agency in a school facing adversity. J Educ Change (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-023-09500-x
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-023-09500-x