Intergroup dynamics in education reform: How identity, power, and emotions hinder systemic reform

Abstract

This paper puts forth a theoretical framework to understand how actors at different levels of the U.S. public education system respond emotionally to systemic reform efforts and, in turn, how those emotional responses can hinder reform efforts. I begin with a brief overview of the three predominant ways scholars have thought about systemic reform implementation (i.e., skill and will, political, and cognitive lenses). I then argue that these perspectives overlook important socio-emotional factors that influence how actors in different levels of the system understand, interpret, and respond to reforms. I draw on literature from intergroup relations (specifically identity and power dynamics) to argue that the top-down reforms within the hierarchical structure of the education system exacerbate perceptions of in- groups and out-groups. In turn, actors at the school level experience emotions of anxiety, threat, and shame. Each of these emotions elicits behavioral responses that resist and hinder systemic refor...