Us and Them Conflict, Collaboration, and the Discursive Negotiation of Multishareholder Roles in School District Reform

This article explores the conflict that emerged during the work of university researchers, education consultants, and district multishareholder teams engaged in a partnership for school reform. The authors draw on analysis of naturally occurring talk and other data collected over 2 years to explore...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inSmall group research Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 397 - 437
Main Authors Gillispie, Jesse, Chrispeels, Janet H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.08.2008
Sage
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Behavior Problems
Biological and medical sciences
Collaboration
Conflict
Consultants
Discourse Analysis
Discursive Practices
Education reform
Educational Reform
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Membership
Positioning
Pronouns
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
School Districts
Securities markets
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social psychology
Stockholders
Teams
Teamwork
University research
analysis of discourse
management teams
educational change
collaboration
conflict
Human
Social group
Management
Conflict
Social interaction
Cooperation
Work team
Bargaining
Discourse analysis
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:This article explores the conflict that emerged during the work of university researchers, education consultants, and district multishareholder teams engaged in a partnership for school reform. The authors draw on analysis of naturally occurring talk and other data collected over 2 years to explore the presence of conflict between a multishareholder team and a group of consultants during a 4-day learning lab. Investigation shows how discursive practices produce, reproduce, and transform the group over time, ultimately leading to the collaboration necessary for implementation of the reform plan. The authors elaborate on two main discursive practices: (a) the juxtaposing and problematizing of behavior, positioning participants' group membership in relation to the speaker, and (b) the use of certain pronouns. Analysis informs educational leaders working in multishareholder teams by illustrating discursive practices that might facilitate and hinder collaboration among different shareholders.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1046-4964
1552-8278
DOI:10.1177/1046496408319877