Using translation theory to understand and improve reforms in schools

Ongoing reforms are constantly influencing practices in schools. Schools have to adopt both national reform ideas and local school initiatives in order to meet new standards and demands, and to develop new practices. New practices and ideas are expected to be transferred from contexts outside schools into schools, and from one school to another. Schools' unique contexts are rarely taken into consideration. Adopting ideas and implementing them in practice is a complex process, and the quality of the outcomes tends to vary. Sometimes schools succeed in implementing an idea in practice and achieving the desired outcome, but at other times they are unsuccessful. This article introduces a theory that teachers can use in order to better understand and improve reform processes.