Chapter 2: Teacher Risk Taking Changes in the Context of School Reform: A Sociocultural and Cognitive Motivational Perspective

Imagine if you will, a middle school in an urban community. The neighborhood surrounding the school has seen changes in demographics and levels of income, as middle- to upper-middle-class White residents moved outward, and new immigrant and other ethnic groups located in the area. Some teachers in the school realized these new students coming into their school as a result of the changing demographics had different learning needs and educational backgrounds than did the students they had previously taught. The education policy context was also changing, and external accountability requirements were quickly changing. In an effort to meet these new demands on their professional lives, a core group of staff comes together to seek out external grant and professional support that they believed would provide the resources to help them adapt. They wrote a grant proposal, received it and the accompanying professional support. The three years that followed entailed a change process that was ambitious in scope and complexity. This is a story of a small group of professionals who were highly committed, ambitious, and hopeful living in a time of fast and uncertain change— who took the initiative to meet these changing conditions.