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Metaphor and Theory for Scale-up Research: Eagles in the Anacostia and Activity Systems

Item

Title
Metaphor and Theory for Scale-up Research: Eagles in the Anacostia and Activity Systems
Abstract/Description
This chapter proceeds from two very different views on scale-up theory. Cynthia Coburn (2003) provides a retrospective query into normative dimensions of scale-up (depth, spread, transfer of ownership and sustainability) and argues that scale-up is ‘not about numbers’. In contrast, McDonald and colleagues (2006) take a methodological approach to understanding scale-up research in two stages, intervention effectiveness and intervention scaling in multiple contexts, with the focus primarily about the numbers. This chapter builds scale-up theory further by offering four preconditions for scale-up based on a 6-year study of the scale-up of middle school science units. Preconditions include: a close partnership between the university and the school district; recognition that the success of any intervention is determined by the pervasive policy climate of the school system; scale-up decisions being driven by the quality of assessment feedback and other information; and an organised research agenda for systematically introducing the intervention. This leads to an ecological metaphor on scale-up, with the insight that it is ‘information’ that scales up. Further, scale-up is a socio-cultural phenomenon explained by activity theory because it allows overlapping levels of complexity for explanations.
Author/creator
Lynch, Sharon J.
Date
2012
In publication
Second International Handbook of Science Education
Editor
Fraser, Barry J.
Tobin, Kenneth
McRobbie, Campbell J.
Series
Springer International Handbooks of Education
Pages
913-929
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Resource type
en Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
en Published Text
Scholarship genre
en Methodological
en Reflection/Retrospective
Keywords
Curriculum
Equity
Evaluation
Reform
Research methods
Language
en
Open access/full-text available
en No
Peer reviewed
en No
ISBN
978-1-4020-9041-7
DOI
10.1007/978-1-4020-9041-7_61
Citation
Lynch, S. J. (2012). Metaphor and Theory for Scale-up Research: Eagles in the Anacostia and Activity Systems. In B. J. Fraser, K. Tobin, & C. J. McRobbie (Eds.), Second International Handbook of Science Education (pp. 913–929). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9041-7_61
Cited in
Scale and Sustainability of Education Innovation and Improvement
Place
Dordrecht
Item sets
OB Citations - Scale and Sustainability of Education Innovation and Improvement

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