Time for Leaders: Putting Leadership First In Education

This is the first of two articles about Education leadership in Lithuania. The article focuses on a research project, funded by the EU and Lithuania Government, called Time for Leaders, a project designed to bring about change and a greater understanding of leadership in Lithuanian Schools.

Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, the Lithuanian system of education has seen major reforms in curriculum, school structures, testing of students’ achievement and the decentralization of governance. Education is one of the major priorities for further development, along with innovation and the knowledge economy. To fully embed these social changes, Lithuanian education needs to be radically reformed and given new objectives. Over the last three decades major changes have been implemented addressing the structure of the Lithuanian educational system; quality and the creation of the necessary conditions for social-pedagogical self-development and strengthening of relations between educational institutions. The Time for Leaders project shows how the government is taking this a step further and implementing significant changes in education through school leadership.

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      string(5658) "from ourselves. We produced a brief introduction to hospitality as a theological understanding of learning to live well together and then asked the 20 participating schools to draw on this in designing their pedagogy using an approach called ‘What If?’ Learning.One Year 5 lesson involved investigating the durability of rocks. The class was divided into groups, each with a scientific investigation to undertake.  The teacher’s objective was for pupils to show curiosity towards the views of others. Midway through the session when pupils had formulated hypotheses and were planning tests, the teacher introduced ‘unexpected changes’ to the groupings. Children had to engage differently and ‘think about how to work as a team.’ The teacher observed children empathising with the child joining their group who had not contributed to their investigation plan. The group needed to be inclusive, ‘welcoming’ and ‘respectful’ while listening to each other’s viewpoints.  There are a number of interesting features to highlight in this example.The character emphasis developed more than individual grit. It focussed on learning to live well together.Character education was not an add-on to the science. It turned ‘gaining knowledge of science of rocks’ into ‘learning how to work well as a scientist’.What had changed was the framing of the lesson, rather than the content (i.e. learning how to work well as hospitable scientists rather than accumulating knowledge to perform well in a test).Now for the big question – does an approach like this work? That was what the DfE wanted to know. We could have answered this by testing pupils’ academic performance. But how do we find out if they have developed their character through the project? 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Just as each new generation of parents, carers and teachers aims to impart their wisdom to their children, each new generation of academics aims to create a common language that can drive changes in character education at an institutional level.  In the UK, The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtue, based at Birmingham University, is the leading UK organisation focused solely on the examination of how character and virtues impact on individuals and society.  A key conviction underlying the existence of the Centre is that the virtues that make up a good character can be learnt and taught. The Jubilee Centre’s Framework for Character Education in Schools outlines a four-part typology of virtue – Moral, Civic, Performance and Intellectual.  At an international level, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is leading on this.  In terms of character education its main aim is what it calls ‘global competency’, which provides a framework of education which puts social and emotional skills, as well as attitudes and values, on an equal footing with hard disciplinary knowledge.The challenge now is maintaining commitment to a common language of character, which we can all use to communicate effectively with each other; whether you are a Year 6 child or government minister we should all be using the same language when we talk about character. This will help us avoid confusing ourselves with character clichés and catch-all buzzwords.  Development of character requires constant practice in a formal, taught environment, which engages children directly and helps them apply the skills they need. So what works?Here are 3 ways that evidence shows can develop character values in children:Mentoring – individual tutoring and pastoral guidance in a formal setting is proven in research to help students deemed to be ‘at risk’. Careful screening and ongoing supervison of volunteers, monitoring implementation and the long-term commitment of volunteers lead to more successful programmes. (Fostering and measuring skills: improving cognitive and non-cognitive skills to promote life time success: Tim Kautz, James J. Heckman, Ron Diris, Bas ter Weel, Lex BorghansSocial action is one of the most empowering things a young person can do. 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      string(5665) "The Raising the Achievement of all Learners project is a three-year project run by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. The project, which builds on  earlier work on ‘Raising Achievement for all Learners-Quality in Inclusive Education’ aims to explore what pedagogical strategies and teaching approaches are effective in raising the achievement of all learners. It also considers how school leaders can best support the development, implementation and monitoring of inputs and processes for raising achievement. A third focus area for the project is that of collaboration. The project involves a range of stakeholders including school leaders, researchers, teachers, parents and learners as well as local and national policy makers. Three learning communities (LCs) from Italy, Poland and UK (Scotland) have been involved in the project and include learners from the compulsory school and upper secondary school sectors (aged 5-19 years). 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On the second visit they heard about relevant developments and took part in workshops to discuss progress and on-going challenges. Between visits, the communities and all project participants shared ideas and collaborated via an on-line forum. A range of stakeholders from each learning community also completed an on line self-review survey in May 2015 at the start of the project work and again in May 2017.The analysis of the survey will provide information about the perceptions of stakeholders regarding different dimensions of practice including: pedagogy for all learners; support for learning; leadership roles and approaches; learner well-being and participation; curriculum development; partnerships and collaborative working and systems of support for learners, teachers and leaders.This project attempts to move from a focus on the ‘what and why’ to an exploration of ‘how’ learning communities can move towards collaborative learning and more inclusive practice to raise the achievement of all learners.Key messages from the work of the Learning communitiesThe messages here focus on the first project theme of pedagogy and combine the work of the 3 learning communities with contributions from project participants from 33 Agency member countries.Teachers should be enabled to…Create a safe learning environment and promote social and emotional learning as well as academic learning with a focus on well-being;Adjust the curriculum and have freedom to experiment and implement innovative approaches – moving away from subject ‘boxes’; Develop learners’ creativity and encourage the use of imagination, using art, poetry, music, drama as vehicles for learning and using space and time in different ways;Facilitate learning by taking time to understand students and how they learn and to engage with research about what works; Take a learner-centred approach and personalise learning to raise aspirations and develop a ‘growth mindset’;Involve learners in their own assessment and design teaching and learning accordingly;Engage in collaborative practice (i.e. co-teaching);Undertake training on new technologies and approaches to diversity.School leaders should…Create a positive school ethos and use social and cultural activities to add ‘joy’ and develop trusting relationships; Build a school community by establishing a professional culture of learning among teachers, celebrating their diversity and allowing them to develop their interests and talents, for example by taking responsibility for new curriculum areas or particular practices to support learners;Balance competition with collaboration and share tasks between teachers, leaders and other stakeholders, with time for co-working;Encourage innovative forms of professional development for example partnerships with employers to support authentic learning and links with universities to introduce new knowledge or school-based research; Support all staff to engage with learners and families, ensuring an appreciation of the key role played by parents in their children’s education.Policy makers should…Develop a long term, sustainable plan for education in cooperation with all stakeholders;Develop a range of quality indicators for teaching and for ‘measuring’ school success that support equity and value wider outcomes;Review initial teacher education and support professional development opportunities that encourage leaders and teachers to engage with and be involved in research and develop positive attitudes to diversity;Value the contributions made by teachers and school leaders and provide incentives to encourage more stable staffing in schools to allow professional roles and collegial"
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      string(5672) "their students’ learning by enhancing their pedagogic repertoire. A study by NFER for EEF (2017) on the use of research in schools showed that ‘simply communicating research evidence to schools is not enough to improve outcomes’. The challenge is to transform evidence into materials and learning approaches that lead to actual change in classrooms. Teachers are under so much pressure with workload that even compelling research can be overtaken in terms of what is at the forefront of teachers’ minds. We need to question our assumptions about how and why research will make a difference in different classrooms. Alongside well-designed practical approaches, it is essential to appreciate the role that the organisational climate and culture play, in addition to evidence-based knowledge, in bringing about positive change.The diagram below illustrates the importance of incorporating a combination of research and change-theory to bring about improvements. Each quadrant represents a different combination of ‘research evidence’ and ‘approach to change’. Fads or fashions can take root if there are good implementation strategies but insufficient critical focus on evidence. Stories about the widespread adoption of brain gym is an oft cited example. Conversely, effective practice can appear in isolated pockets when there is good use of research-evidence, but strategies for participation and scaling up are less well developed. In the schools I work with, the upper right quadrant is the zone of greatest efficacy. Here change is informed by both a knowledge of research while collaborative enquiry becomes a vehicle for engagement. Strategies for participation, dissemination and sustainability are deployed. Engagement with research needs to be combined with a commitment to, and an understanding of, system change. Leaders need to manage the use of resources, especially that most precious resource – time, to ensure that space is created for disciplined enquiry to take place over a sustained period. Time for planning, analyses and reflection should be identified and scheduled in the calendar. Research-leads or team-leaders can be identified to coordinate and support colleagues. It is important to have agreed methodologies in place to ensure that impact can be evaluated with a degree of credibility. Beyond the essential allocation of resources, it is important to create a positive climate for learning, where reflection, dialogue and open-mindedness is welcomed and encouraged. Judging the provenance of competing claimsI began with a reflection on the changing education landscape in England and the emergence of new organisations (such as academy chains, trusts and commercial companies) many of which claim to use evidence to legitimise their positions. This, together with the use of social media to construct forceful narratives for a variety of commercial and political ends, can be seen as a challenge to the kind of professional scholarship, transparency and independence that more formal professional bodies exercise. A degree of cynicism is also inevitable when a small number of influencers on social media regularly share conference platforms, promote each other’s views and books, and are increasingly invited to serve on government commissions.In the growing marketplace of competing ‘evidence-based’ ideas, it can be very hard for teachers to judge the provenance and trustworthiness of the many claims that are made. Undoubtedly, the current on-line environment tends to polarize and claim false certainties – particularly those which advocate standardised sets of pedagogic approaches. It is timely to consider how other groups of professionals are supported in making sense of competing claims. Long-established professions, such as Medicine and Law, enjoy the support of independent and authoritative professional bodies. These organisations hold the acknowledged authority to describe ‘professionalism’ and ‘professional practice’. They set professional standards and a code of conduct. These organisations safeguard the reputation and independence of the profession. They are also independent of government, trades unions and other organisations with vested interests. Most importantly, they are be seen to be acting in the public interest rather than mainly or solely in the interests of its members. Additionally, alongside the promotion of evidence-based practices, these professional bodies exert influence on ethical values and practices too. In education, this ethical dimension cannot be underestimated. ‘What works’ is not a value-free statement. The questions of what works for whom, in terms of which outcomes, with what unintended consequences, and with what financial and human investment, are ones that can properly be answered only in relation to the underlying question of what education is for. Currently there exist a variety of respected academic bodies and charitable trusts. These include The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), Centre for the use of research and evidence in education (CUREE), Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM), and the Institute for Effective Education (IEE) to name a few, that seek to support teachers’ professional practice through the provision of ‘evidence’ or ‘research’. Generally, they do this in a balanced and even-handed way, and noticeably in a way that popular bloggers and authors are not required to do.The benefit of teachers’ engagement with research seems to be incontrovertible. It is the"
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Professional Development

Seeing through the hullabaloo – cultivating a culture of enquiry

13 Feb 2019

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      string(5731) "of values and techniques they can use to challenge the‘institutionalisation’ that has dominated English residentialcare in recent decades.Care Matters has initiated a national pilot to evaluatethe effectiveness of the social pedagogic approach in thecontext of English residential care, and the evaluation willbe available next year2. In the meantime, our discussionswith Essex County Council, which has implemented trainingfor its residential care workforce in social pedagogic theoryand practice, independently of the national pilot (see thecase study below), lead us to argue that local authoritiesshould train their existing residential care workforcein pedagogic principles, rather than importing socialpedagogues from abroad to work alongside other membersof the children’s workforce, which has the potential tocreate a confusion of roles. To support this process, werecommend that training in the pedagogic approach isincluded in the new qualification framework for residentialcare workers under development by the CWDC. We considerthat this embedded approach has a greater chance ofspreading good practice and transforming the culture ofresidential care.www.teachingtimes.com n Vol 2.1Policy/ResearchEvery Child Journal55Case study: Essex County CouncilSocial Pedagogy ProjectEssex launched their three-year project to introducesocial pedagogy into their children’s residential servicesin September 2008. The project is being developedin partnership between Essex’s residential servicesdepartment, all 12 of Essex’s residential children’shomes, and ThemPra which is providing training in thesocial pedagogic approach to residential staff teams.By spring 2010, over a third of Essex’s residentialcare workforce had undertaken the initial six-daytraining course in social pedagogy, with the aim that allstaff would eventually receive this training. Residentialworkers from the 12 children’s homes have also set upa practitioners network that meets every two months.This has been used to support staff who have not yetreceived social pedagogy training to improve theirpractice in line with pedagogic principles.Since the project began, residential care staff inEssex have reported a number of positive changesto their practice. Most importantly, they feel able todevelop individual relationships with the childrenthey care for, moving away from a previous emphasison needing to treat all children the same. Staff havereported a new spontaneity and sense of fun in theirrelationships with children: “within a five or ten minuteinteraction whilst roller-blading she approached mecompletely differently”.They have also reported a new approach toassessing risk. The pedagogic approach encouragesstaff to balance risk with opportunity before makinga decision on whether an activity is in a child’s bestinterests. This has made staff feel more empowered andconfident in judging risks for themselves, rather thanrelying on guidelines.Essex residential services have found that toachieve a culture change on this scale, the workforceneeds to be engaged as widely and inclusively aspossible. The project implementation team aims tomove towards applying social pedagogy across theboard; their vision is to use social pedagogy to providea coherent theoretical framework for bringing togetherthe perspectives of all agencies that work with childrenand young people in Essex.The ‘life skills’ project was set up at Whistler Walkresidential unit in December 2007 to address the highlevel of unmet need for mental health support amongyoung people in residential care. In its second yearit has expanded to also include St Marks, which is ashorter stay residential unit in the borough.The name ‘life coach’ was chosen to avoid thestigma associated with accessing mental health services.The life coach is a CAMHS child clinical psychologistwho has been funded by a grant from CAMHS to workwith young people and staff on-site at Whistler Walkand St Marks.Three frameworks were selected for the project:Life skills: including cognitive skills, interpersonalskills and emotional coping skillsA solution focused approach: encouraging youngpeople to identify solutions to their problemsSocial pedagogy: the conscious use of relationshipsbetween staff and young people.Young people have either weekly or fortnightly sessionswith the life coach and are encouraged to focus on theirachievements and progress they are making, rather thandwelling on problems.The life coach also works with staff, attending staffteam meetings and providing training on specificmental health issues, such as understanding thesymptoms of depression, and techniques to improvetheir practice, such as reflective learning and usingeffective parenting styles. The life coach is working withstaff to help them focus on the emotional, as opposedto practical, side of caring for young people.The life coach has been able to provide youngpeople at Whistler Walk and St Marks with emotionalsupport as well as mental health support. One youngperson has used her sessions to address her barrier toengaging with her education, and has since successfullycompleted a term at college. Staff have reported thatthe life coach has helped them contextualise difficultand challenging behaviour and feel more able toinfluence this behaviour.nnnCase study: Kensington and Chelsea‘life skills’ projectThe way forward: Mental health supportIn addition to strengthening the relationships betweenresidential care staff and young people in residentialcare, there is also a need to provide better access tospecialist mental health"
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Inclusion

Public care - a last resort?

20 Dec 2010

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