Candy Beal

Creating Pathways of Change One School Begins the Journey

In this article, the authors explore community members’ perceptions of change at an elementary school during the 1st year of implementing the Accelerated Schools Project. After conducting 23 interviews with a representative sample of the school community, three themes emerged: creating a school identity, experiencing a community of mind, and developing a sense of human agency. Despite critics who say that organizational reform efforts rarely influence instructional practices, First Way Elementary may have defied the odds, based on participants’ perceptions, by making instruction their primary focus within the context of creating a new school organizational structure. The discussion focuses on how the school community made this happen in such a short period of time and the challenges they face as they continue to make changes.

Reculturing Teacher Education: One College Begins the Journey

Abstract In this paper we document the first year of a reculturation process of the middle-years teacher education program at North Carolina State University. Employing Henry Levins Accelerated Schools process as a vehicle for change, we illustrate the beginning signs of reculturation in our College as we moved from separation to connection, from individual to collective vision, and from inquiry to action. We provide examples of the kinds of progress we made in our inquiry groups and outline what we think needs to happen in order to sustain our momentum for continued progress.