AASCIT - Journal - All Issues

ISSN: 2375-3781

International Journal of Modern Education Research

The Journal

Manuscript Information

Lights, Camera, Learning Improvement Action—A Multimedia Case Development ‘Immersive-Learning’ Approach to Building Educators’ Instructional Teaming Capacity for School Turnaround Success

International Journal of Modern Education Research
Vol.5 , No. 3, Publication Date: Aug. 16, 2018, Page: 48-60

449 Views Since August 16, 2018, 325 Downloads Since Aug. 16, 2018

Paper in PDF (1384K)

Follow on

Authors

[1]	Joseph Gerard Claudet, Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA.

Abstract

This article presents lessons learned from a multi-year, externally funded school-university collaborative partnership project—the School Leadership Case Simulation (SLCS) Project—exploring the use of multimedia case development techniques as immersive learning means for: 1) reenergizing elementary and secondary educators and school community stakeholders’ potential for collaborative organizational learning and positive school improvement vision-building; and 2) nurturing educators’ instructional teaming capacity for jumpstarting demonstrable instructional improvement. The unique case learning approach employed in this multi-year, funded project effort—utilizing a combination of organizational case development and analysis, theatrical portrayal, and movie scene production techniques—taps into the collaborative teaming potential of groups of educators (teachers, counselors, instructional coaches, campus principals, and assistant principals) and school community stakeholders (parents, school board members, community social services providers, and business leaders) in multiple elementary and secondary school settings to help these stakeholders learn how to think differently and work together in new ways through coming together as a multimedia case production team to investigate their own context-specific, school-community instructional improvement challenges. The article provides an overview of key features of the school-university partnership project’s “immersive learning” design along with a brief description of project activities. The SLCS project’s unique use by collaborative teams of university researchers, multimedia production specialists, and school educators and community stakeholders of moviemaking as a creative “organizational case learning tool” for reinvigorating instructional teaming practices in elementary and secondary schools and school districts is highlighted. Five important lessons learned from collective, multi-year SLCS project work completed by the multiple teams of school community case development participants and university researchers working together in project activities about “team-centered organizational learning” and how to effectively navigate the often challenging “socio-politics of instructional turnarounds” are presented and discussed.

Keywords

Multimedia Case Learning, Instructional Teaming, Transformative Change, Organizational Renewal

Reference

[01]	Allison, E., Besser, L., Campsen, L., Cordova, J., Doubek, B., Gregg, L., Kamm, C., Nielson, K., Peery, A., Pichford, B., Rose, A., Ventura, S., & White, M. (2010). Data teams: The big picture—looking at data teams through a collaborative lens. Englewood, CO: Lead + Learn Press.
[02]	Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2010). Driven by data: A practical guide to improve instruction. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
[03]	Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2012). Leverage leadership: A practical guide to building exceptional schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
[04]	Bowers, A. J., Shoho, A. R., & Barnett, B. G. (2014). Using data in schools to inform leadership and decision making. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
[05]	Claudet, J. G. (2011). Using multimedia case development as a critical reflective tool for revitalizing school stakeholders’ organizational learning. Creative Education Journal, 2 (3), 199-207.
[06]	Claudet, J. G. (2012). Redesigning staff development as organizational case learning: Tapping into school stakeholders’ collaborative potential for critical reflection and transformative leadership action. Open Journal of Leadership, 1 (4), 22-36.
[07]	Claudet, J. G. (2013). Instructional leadership and the sociopolitics of school turnarounds: Changing stakeholder beliefs through immersive collaborative learning. Advances in Applied Sociology Journal, 3 (7), 258-281.
[08]	Claudet, J. G. (2015). Some illustrated comments on designing and conducting problem-based inquiry in high needs school districts. Open Journal of Leadership, 4 (3), 73-85.
[09]	Datnow, A., & Park, V. (2014). Data-driven leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
[10]	Dufour, R., & Marzano, R. (2011). Leaders of learning: How district, school, and classroom leaders improve student achievement. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
[11]	Fullan, M. (2001). The new meaning of educational change (3rd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
[12]	Fullan, M. (2006). Turnaround leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
[13]	Klar, H. W., & Brewer, C. A. (2013). Successful leadership in high-needs schools: An examination of core leadership practices enacted in challenging contexts. Educational Administration Quarterly, 49 (5), 768-808.
[14]	Leithwood, K. (2010). Characteristics of school districts that are exceptionally effective in closing the achievement gap. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 9, 245-291.
[15]	Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Strauss, T. (2010). Leading school turnaround: How successful leaders transform low-performing schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
[16]	Lerman, J., & Hicks, R. (2010). Retool your school: The educator’s essential guide to Google’s free power apps. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
[17]	Martinez, M. R., & McGrath, D. (2014). Deeper learning: How eight innovative public schools are transforming education in the twenty-first century. New York: The New Press.
[18]	Marzano, R., Heflebower, T., Hoegh, J. K., Warrick, P., Grift, G., Hecker, L., & Wills, J. (2016). Collaborative teams that transform schools: The next step in PLCs. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research.
[19]	Marzano, R., Warrick, P. B., Rains, C. L., & Dufour, R. (2018). Leading a high reliability school: Use data-driven instruction and collaborative teaching strategies to boost academic achievement. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
[20]	Marzano, R., Warrick, P. B., & Simms, J. A. (2014). A handbook for high reliability schools: The next step in school reform. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research.
[21]	Pappano, L. (2010). Inside school turnarounds: Urgent hopes, unfolding stories. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
[22]	Schön, D. A. (Ed.) (1991). The reflective turn: Case studies in and on educational practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
[23]	Shulman, L. (1989). Teaching alone, learning together: Needed agendas for the new reforms. In T. J. Sergiovanni and J. H. Moore (Eds.), Schooling for tomorrow: Directing reforms to issues that count, pp. 166-187. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
[24]	Spillane, J. P. (2006). Distributed leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
[25]	Stringer, P. (2013). Capacity building for school improvement: Revisited. Boston, MA: Sense Publishers.
[26]	Wayman, J. C., Cho, V., & Richards, M. P. (2010). Student data systems and their use for educational improvement. In P. L. Peterson, E. Baker, & B. McGraw (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education (Vol. 8, pp. 14-20). Oxford: Elsevier.