Abstract

School improvement has become a goal in many education systems globally, with the mantra of ‘whole school change’ adopted as key to achieving that goal. However, whole school change is complex and interpreted variously. In Australia, a case in point is the drive to lift literacy outcomes. Drawing on qualitative data from a study of literacy teaching practice in one Australian state, this article aims to unravel the multiple meanings and enactments of whole school approaches to literacy. The study established that while most participating schools espoused such an approach to literacy improvement, the ways in which they enacted this approach varied, with different types and levels of change emerging. Combining Cuban’s orders of change framework (focussed on purposes) and May’s phases of school readiness for change (focussed on processes), we developed a three-level framework of whole school change: external, pragmatically driven change; structural and/or nascent cultural change; and internal, culturally driven change. Taking this multidimensional approach to understanding whole school improvement sheds light both on its complexity and on the challenges of sustainability. Two clear implications arise from the findings: the importance of focussing simultaneously on purpose and process, and the necessity of systemic support.

摘要

学校改进已成为全球许多教育系统的目标，“整个学校变革”的口号是实现该目标的关键。然而，整个学校的变化是复杂的，并有不同的解释。在澳大利亚，提高识字率的动力就是一个很好的例子。本文利用来自澳大利亚一个州的扫盲教学实践研究的定性数据，旨在揭示整个学校扫盲方法的多重含义和制定。该研究表明，虽然大多数参与的学校都支持这种提高读写能力的方法，但它们实施这种方法的方式各不相同，出现了不同类型和不同程度的变化。结合古巴的变革顺序框架（侧重于目的）和梅的学校变革准备阶段（侧重于过程），我们制定了整个学校变革的三级框架：外部的、务实驱动的变革；结构和/或新生的文化变革；以及内部的、文化驱动的变革。采用这种多维方法来理解整个学校的改进，既可以揭示其复杂性，也可以揭示可持续性的挑战。研究结果产生了两个明显的含义：同时关注目的和过程的重要性，以及系统支持的必要性。