Practice Theory as a Framework of

Transformation: Exploring the Impact of Group

Consultancy Projects

June 2016

Education Doctorate in Professional Practice

University of Hawaiʻi at MānoaTwomey, S., Lambrev, V., Alencastre, M., Hussey, S., McEwan, H.,

Baxa, G., Hampton, C., Leong, K., Noh, E., & Watanabe, J.

Presentation Outline

Introduction to EdD Program

Introduction to Consultancy Projects

Looping at Mililani ‘Ike Elementary School

Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy, Evaluation of Teacher Training Program

Feasibility Study for a Charter School Serving Micronesian Students

Conceptional Framework - Practice Theory

Methodology

Data Analyses, Results and Implications of Study

EdD Cohort II (2014-17)

Consultancy Projects are...

One of two research program elements completed over the three years of

the Ed.D. program;

Designed to address real-world problems of practice (e.g., problems,

issues, themes) that originate from proposals submitted from external

“clients” (e.g., local educational and community organizations);

Organized into small research teams consisting of 3 or more doctoral

students guided by a faculty member and field mentor(s)/advisor(s); and

Advisory in nature; to provide clients with recommendations and

strategies for implementation.

Range of Consultancy Projects - Cohorts I and II

Public K-12 Charter SchoolsDefining Student Success in a Hawaiian Language Immersion Charter School

Kīkaha Nā Iwa (Exploring Post-Secondary Transitions)

Papakū Makawalu and Brain Research

Data-Driven Decision Making for Hawaiʻi Public Charter Schools Network

Public K-12 SchoolsFormative Assessment through the Data Team Process

Kauhale O Waiʻanae Youth Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Initiative

The Mililani Complex Character Education Program

Looping at Mililani ʻIke Elementary School

Independent Schools & Community Settings

Transitions in Technology at Punahou School

HAIS Accreditation Project

Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy, Evaluation of Teacher Training Program

Feasibility Study for a Charter School serving Micronesian Students

Consultancy Project Timeline (General)

Fall ‘14

Semester 1Spring ‘15

Semester 2

Fall ‘15

Semester 3Summer ‘15

Client proposal

review,

presentations and

interviews

Selection and

notification of

proposals

Initial meetings

with client, scope

and statement of

work, project

timeline and work

plan

Drafting

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Initial meetings,

assign individual

responsibilities and

establish scope of

work

IRB application to

Human Studies

Initial review of

literature,

observations and

data collection

Progress reports to

cohort, client and

advisors

Jan

Feb

Mar

May

Data collection and

analysis completed

Preparation of

reports

Formal

presentation to

cohort and clients

Sept

Oct/

Nov

Dec

Group and client

work as needed

...The Journey Continues...

Jun/

Jul/

Aug

Current Study:

Exploring the Impacts of Consultancy Projects

Research Questions

In what ways did student learning and client learning act together to create

transformative learning as a form of leadership practice?

What role did practice architectures play in supporting transformative learning?

Practice Theory

Communities of Practice (Lave & Wenger, 1998)

“ecologies of practices” and “travelling practices” (Kemmis, Wilkinson,

Edwards-Groves, Hardy, Grootenboer, and Bristol, 2014)

Practice Architectures Practices shaped by what Kemmis et al (2014) describe as ‘practice

architectures’; certain structures that hold them and that can enable and

constrain them.

Architectures exist through sayings (e.g., language-discursive spaces), doings

(e.g., activities that participants undertake), and relatings (e.g., relationships that

occur in the practice).

Some of these structures are pre-existing and others are new (e.g., developed

when a certain practice unfolds).

The idea that we can understand practices better by exploring the

structures/arrangements that hold them.

Methodology: Qualitative Case Studies

Analyzed three community-based action research projects over two years

(2014-2016):

Looping at Mililani ‘Ike Elementary School

Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy, Evaluation of Teacher Training

Program

Feasibility Study for a Charter School serving Micronesian students

Existing Data: Student, client and advisor evaluations; and final

client and academic reports.

New Data: Questionnaire from students and clients of the three

consultancy projects studied.

To Loop or Not To Loop?

What is looping?

An educational practice of keeping students together with the same teacher for two or more

years; around since the early 1900’s

Pros: looping allows teachers and students to know each other well and develop/implement

a more comprehensive academic curriculum

Challenges: staff, student population, parents, culture, and community

Who?

Mililani ʻIke Elementary School opened in 2004 as a looping school

Impacting staff workload and morale at the school

Methodology

y

Emergent Themes

Sharing

● Honest and open

communication

● Mililani ʻIke voted

no longer to loop

● Learning one’s

strengths and

weaknesses

● Learning the

process of

research

● Bonding and

building

relationships

Results

Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy

Improving the Service, Reach, and

Curriculum of the Teacher Training Program

Culture-Based Education

Pathway to improve native well-being

Authentic environments

Experience-based learning

Research Methodology

PHASE 2:

Data Themes

PHASE 3:

Recommendations

School Staff & Admin

Waʻa Org

Kānehūnāmoku Staff

Community

Curriculum

Marketing

Funding

Networking

PHASE 1: Qualitative &

Quantitative Data Collection

CURRICULUM

Engage in collaborative planning with school administration and teachers

• Align with system-wide and school level initiatives

• Develop curricula and assessments

• Provide coordinated support for teachers

MARKETING

Develop strategic marketing materials• Enhance website and social media

• Partner with organizations

• Extend promotional materials

FUNDING

Explore innovative funding strategies that support sustainability and expansion

• Explore other funding sources

NETWORKING

Collaborate and plan with other organizations to promote Kānehūnāmoku program mission, vision and

foster cultural experiences

• Extend voyaging Community of Practice and partner with cultural organizations

• Promote Kānehūnāmoku as a model

• Connect schools to various community resources

GOAL: Enhance teacher and student understanding of

Polynesian voyaging.

Recommendations

Feasibility Study for a Micronesian Culture Based

Charter School and other Educational Programs

Problem of Practice

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of establishing

a Micronesian Culture Based charter school in

Hawai’i to address the growing concerns from

Micronesian students and families regarding their

negative experiences in school.

Rationale:

- Improve Student Success

- Cultural & Language Loss

- Racial Tensions in Hawai’i

Spectrum of Possible

Consultants

CommunityClients

Voice

IdentityLeadership

Awareness

Social

Justice CRT

ValidationStoriesVision

Opportunity

Data Analysis

Data Sets: Student evaluations, client evaluations, advisor evaluations, final

reports, questionnaire responses from students and clients

Phase I: Deductive coding arising from research questions and theoretical

framework

Student learning, client learning, transformation of practice - architectures that

hold practices

Phase II: Inductive coding with existing and new data to look for new codes

New mindsets, collaboration, and support for identity and growth as scholars

Architectures of Transformation

Collaboration and support within consultancy project groups and at

clients’ sites

New experiences leading to mindset transformation

Identity development as scholars and professionals (e.g, a climate of

individual and professional growth)

Interdependent, interconnected, intersubjective architectures: sayings,

doings, relatings (Kemmis et al, 2014)

“Not so much what we learned, but how we learned.”

Results: Architecture of Shared Ecology of Collaboration and Support

“I think this was a great learning

experience as a researcher

working in a group setting. We

all offered our own leadership

qualities and while we didnʻt

always share the same points of

view, we were open to each

other and understood each

otherʻs views (norming) which

led us to complete a very

thorough report on such a

sensitive topic.”

(Student Questionnaire, Looping)

“It was a blessing to meet each

other weekly where we held

each other accountable to the

work, but also had time to share

our personal life journeys as

well. In fact, our consultancy

group has committed to

continue meeting as often as

possible, now focused on our

own dissertations”

(Student questionnaire)

“Teachers were provided opportunities to share

their emotional information. This allowed all

voices to be heard. As a result all teachers were

able to participate in a follow up faculty discussion

and have an active voice in the decision.”

(Client questionnaire, Looping)

“[Advisor and mentor] played very

effective roles in their support, guidance,

challenges, questioning, encouragement,

presence, and their respect for our own

professionalism. Never have I ever felt

anything less than collegiality as fellow

academics and educators. They were

truly truly present to our team both

mind, heart, and time.”

(Student project evaluations)

“Students were very supportive

and flexible to meet the needs

and requests of our faculty.”

(Client project evaluation)

Results: Architecture of New Experiences Leading to

Transformation of Old Mindsets“I came back from Majuro

more aware of what it means

to be Marshallese. This heart

- knowledge informs my

head-knowledge of the

discrimination and other

challenges that face

Micronesian students and their

families in Hawaii.”

(Student questionnaire,

Micronesian study)

“We have spent countless hours

together, working on each aspect

of this dynamic question: How

do we improve the educational

opportunities for Micronesian

children? How do we honor

their identity and set up the

systems to support them and

achieving their goals?”

(Final report, Micronesian study)

“Our teachers were able to share their

thoughts to a process that would help in

consolidating information. They were able to

hold conversations with each other on a

very emotional topic and keep an open mind

to the school's focus. The process brought

our teachers together to make a decision.”

(Questionnaire, Looping)

‘I feel like we learned a lot about ourselves and the work we do,

and how others view our work. We use this information to inform

what kinds of evaluation and assessment we want to do/have in the

future.’ (Questionnaire, Kānehūnāmoku)

Results: Architecture of Learning Together: Cultivating a Culture

of Individual and Professional Development as Scholars

‘This was a valuable

experience and

prepared me for

what will come as I

begin my own

dissertation’; ‘This

was an extremely

helpful process in

preparation for the

research done for

our dissertations.

Doing this project as

a group provided

support needed for

novice researchers

like us.’

(Student course

evaluation)

“I had many uncomfortable moments doing

different parts of the research (interview - can we

diverge from the script?; transcript - what do I leave

in?; analysis - how do we know we coded

consistently? Does it make sense to exclude an outlier

participant?) and still wonder if we did it “right.”

This means I learned.” (Student questionnaire)

“the need for

consistent self

evaluation”

(Questionnaire,

Looping)

‘We started out having a vague idea of what information we were

looking for that could support the work that we were doing in our school.

Given that and the overall complexity and dull subject matter of the brain

and cognitive function, the group did an excellent job in providing a

well-thought out and functional product with recommendations on how

their research could support our current & future efforts. If they were

available to contract for a second year of consultancy work, we would

definitely jump at that opportunity!’ (Client project evaluation)

“I learned the

process to create a

project/dissertation.

It helped prepare

students with a

similar approach to

work individually

on his/her

dissertation’

(Student

questionnaire)

Implications of Study

Living System. The practices of our consultancy groups occurred in the present but are part of a living

system that draws both from the present, past and looks to the future.

Traveling Practices. The observation of these particular arrangements shows how two independent

practices—those of students and clients—were able to ‘travel’ across practitioners’ and clients’ sites and to

impact one another in a process of reciprocal transformative learning and growth.

Reciprocal Transformation and Growth. Consultancy projects have the potential to design ecological

spaces of interrelated learning communities where groups of learners, comprised by doctoral students and

clients, collaborate in an organic practice, generate new experiences provoking old mindsets, and engage in

transformative learning that enhances social justice leadership practice.

Community Benefit. Extending the importance of consultancy projects well beyond the personally significant

dissertation defense and graduation - development as intellectuals and scholars across sites with a common goal of

social justice.

Mahalo! Thank you!

“This was a journey of social justice more

than a project” (Student course evaluation)

Implications of Study

Contact Information• Sarah Twomey, Current Director of EdD - twomey@hawaii.edu

• Hunter McEwan, Former Director of EdD – hunter@hawaii.edu

• Veselina Lambrev, EdD Mentor - veselina@hawaii.edu

• Sylvia Hussey, EdD Mentor - sylvia3@hawaii.edu

• Makalapua Alencastre, EdD Mentor - kaawa@hawaii.edu

• Gari Baxa, Doctoral Candidate - gari@hawaii.edu

• Camille Hampton, Doctoral Candidate - camillet@hawaii.edu

• Kari Leong, Doctoral Candidate - kleong@hawaii.edu

• Ed Noh, Doctoral Candidate - ednoh@hawaii.edu

• Jerelyn Watanabe, Doctoral Candidate - jerelynw@hawaii.edu

Twomey, S., Lambrev, V., Alencastre, M., Hussey, S., McEwan, H., Baxa, G., Hampton, C., Leong, K., Noh, E., &

Watanabe, J. (2016, June). Practice theory as a framework of transformation: Exploring the impact of group

consultancy projects. Paper presented at the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate convening, Portland, OR.

Citation