Implications for ISTE practice

The ISTE role in change for improvement

We can conceptualise ISTEs as being “brokers” (Wenger, 1998) who offer leadership that fosters connections at the boundaries of two communities of practice: the ISTE community and that of the teachers and school leaders with whom they work. The discussion around Figure 7 captures this idea. It places ISTEs in context as practitioners operating in a system-wide culture of inquiry focused on learning that leads to change for improvement. By participating in a joint inquiry into real problems situated in teachers’ practice, ISTEs can help integrate the processes of learning and change both within and across organisations.

Sometimes ISTEs are involved in a major systemic change, for example, when assisting in the implementation of a new curriculum. At other times, their role is to introduce a single innovation, such as the use of a new assessment tool. At all times, however, their focus is on helping schools to build coherence between national and school-wide policies in order to improve student outcomes.

Effective ISTEs share the characteristics of effective leaders in a culture of change as described above (pages 161–163). This includes the understanding that their leadership should prepare others for when they won’t be there. The purpose of professional development is to build the capacity, motivation, and commitment of people and organisations to learn, inquire, change, and improve. This means helping to foster communities of practice characterised by a “culture of inquiry” that is focused on improving student outcomes.

Taking reform ideas to different communities and ensuring that they result in change and improvement that is deep, complex, enduring, and regenerative requires a difficult balancing act from ISTEs. It requires, for example, a focus on evidence of the relationship between teacher practice and student outcomes. Such a focus may generate a sense of dissonance that can disturb teachers’ sense of professional identity but ultimately lead to a greater sense of collective efficacy. It requires the ability to negotiate co-operative relationships with teachers and school leaders and to understand and respond to people’s changing needs as they learn, change, and inquire. It means knowing when to apply pressure and when to lend support. These aspects of the consequences of this model of change and learning are discussed further in the chapter Communication and Relationships.

Pages 159–171 outline some factors that could underpin the development of a common theory of improvement for New Zealand, and pages 21–25 propose such a theory for ISTEs. ISTEs, whether based in schools or working as external consultants, are uniquely placed to contribute to such theories.

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