Doctoral Dissertation Research: Reform Meets Praxis: An Analysis of School Reform Programs

参考译文：在关于学校改革的大量文献中，研究人员利用变革的制度理论来考察教师的态度和信念在变革过程中的作用。许多这类文献声称，教师认为改革是无效的，相当于现有的做法或教学潮流，因此，不值得采用。教师很容易抵制或逃避这些改革，因为教育结构和实践之间的分离，通常被称为脱钩。即使在最近质疑“脱钩论”的研究中，研究仍然集中在认知和规范上，而不是将新实践与现有实践结合起来的过程。本研究通过以下问题整合了这些工作要素：学校改革的努力如何与教师现有的工作实践相互作用？为了解决这个问题，本研究考察了最近实施“品格教育”改革的学校的教学内容、课堂管理和师生互动模式。它还通过调查教师的兴趣、态度、信仰和资源来收集认知和规范的证据。为了做到这一点，该研究结合了两所美国城市小学（两所公立，一所特许）的教室和其他学校空间的参与者观察和工作人员访谈。该研究的发现具有理论和实践意义。首先，这项研究将有助于社会科学地理解工作在有意政策变化过程中的作用。在此过程中，该项目还通过阐明课堂结构和实践(许多研究将其描述为？黑盒吗?课堂教学。最后，本研究鼓励政策评估者和学校实践者在实施和评估学校改革时采用更广泛的视角。例如，教育心理学的研究已经表明教学和课堂管理之间存在联系。本研究指导教育改革者在设计和评估学校改进工作时考虑教学、课堂管理和组织参与者之间互动模式之间的类似联系。

SES-1003659Elisabeth ClemensKimberly AustinUniversity of ChicagoIn the large literature on school reform, researchers draw on institutional theories of change to examine the role of teacher attitudes and beliefs within the change process. Much of this literature claims teachers perceive reforms as ineffective, equivalent to existing practices or instructional fads and, therefore, not worthy of adoption. Teachers can easily resist or evade these reforms, because of the separation between structures and practices in education, commonly known as de-coupling. Even among recent studies that question the de-coupling thesis, research continues to focus on cognition and norms rather than the process of incorporating new practices with existing ones. This study incorporates these elements of work by asking: How do school reform efforts interact with teachers' existing work practices? To address this question, the study examines instructional content, classroom management and patterns of interaction between teachers and students in schools implementing recently adopted "character education" reforms. It also gathers evidence of cognition and norms by investigating teacher interests, attitudes, beliefs and resources. To do this, the research combines participant-observation in classrooms and other school spaces in two U.S. urban elementary schools (both public, one charter) with staff interviews.Broader Impact The study's findings have theoretical and practical implications. First, this research will contribute to social scientific understandings of the role of work in processes of intentional policy change. In doing so, the project also contributes to the literature in the sociology of education by articulating classroom structures and practices, which many studies describe as the ?black box? of classroom instruction. Lastly, this research encourages policy evaluators and school-based practitioners to adopt a wider lens when implementing and evaluating school reforms. For instance, research in educational psychology already suggests a link between instruction and classroom managemen. This study directs educational reformers to consider similar links between instruction, classroom management and patterns of interaction among organizational actors when designing and evaluating school improvement efforts.