"Mind the gap": cultural revitalisation and educational change

• Published in: School effectiveness and school improvement Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 457 - 478
• Main Author: Main, Katherine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 01.12.2009
• Subjects: acceptance, effectiveness, and sustainability of middle school practice; Adoption (Ideas); Alignment (Education); Attitude Change; Australia; Change management; Change Strategies; cultural revitalisation; Educational Change; Foreign Countries; Government schools; middle school reform; Middle Schools; Middle years; Primary education; reform evaluation; School Culture; School Effectiveness; Secondary education; Teacher attitudes; Australia; Queensland
• ISSN: 0924-3453; 1744-5124
• DOI: 10.1080/09243450903251481

The success or failure of a school reform can be measured by whether the reform has become an accepted, effective, and sustainable part of the school's culture. For example, as the National Middle School Association ( 2003 ) argued, "new programs must become integral to the school culture" (p. 11) before a school can call itself a "middle" school. But how can a school monitor its progress, and at what point can a school claim that a new reform or new programme has become part of its culture? Wallace's revitalisation theory (1956), Hall and Hord's Processural Structure (1986) and Hall, Wallace, and Dossett's Concerns-Based Adoption Model (1973) are used to describe the cultural revitalisation taking place with the introduction of middle schooling into Australia and specifically within 3 Queensland middle schools. Results have highlighted gaps and tension points that need to be resolved before any widespread cultural transformation can be claimed.