Leadership

Sensor-Based IoET To Facilitate Learning For Children In Rural Thailand

The use of Internet of Things devices in the classroom can have major educational benefits and appeal to both genders if designed and used in the right way, according to new research carried out by the University of Kent.

Researchers from the School of Engineering and Digital Arts (EDA) worked in primary schools in northern Thailand to test how a specially designed Internet of Educational Things (IoET) device could improve both active learning engagement and outcomes.

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      string(320) "The English education system is experiencing an era of unprecedented change, at least as significant as the move to Local Management of Schools after 1988. Nowhere are these changes more keenly felt than amongst the leadership teams and governing bodies of the country’s schools. This research offers a fascinating ..."
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      string(383) "... to mentionCase study 6: Continuing development of leadership skills and capabilitiesA special school serving children with severe and profound learning difficulties and/or physicaldifficulties across the 3-19 age range was graded outstanding in its most recent Ofsted inspection(2011). Of significance is the progress that children make throughout each"
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      string(535) "The English education system is experiencing an era of unprecedented change, at least as significant as the move to Local Management of Schools after 1988. Nowhere are these changes more keenly felt than amongst the leadership teams and governing bodies of the country’s schools. This research offers a fascinating consideration of the schools’ landscape and clearly highlights how it has evolved over the 10 years since the first review of school leadership in England in 2002. By the National College for School Leadership - 2012"
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      string(5650) "on leadership succession challenges andthe lack of appetite on the part of staff to take on senior leadership and headship roles. Although this wasnot always the case in their own schools, many heads commented that this was frequently across their widernetworks. Staff were reported to be ‘turned off’ by increasing expectations and accountability. An exceptionto the general picture was provided by a headteacher in an inner urban area, who had recruited staff fromthe Future Leaders and Teach First programmes, and who reported ‘no concerns at all’ about the future ofleadership and on the calibre of staff recruited through these accelerated routes.Table 7.8: Improvements to strategic leadership – (chairs of governors)How, if at all, could strategic (SLT and governors) leadership in your institution be improved? %More time/opportunities for the SLT and governors to meet/work/train together 8Governors need more/funded time for their commitment 5Governors need more training/to develop more expertise to lead the school forward 11Governors need more involvement in key roles (eg monitoring and evaluating) 6Governing body needs to comprise skilled/motivated people 5N = 347Note: From an open-ended question where more than one answer could be put forwardOnly responses given by 5 per cent or more of respondents are presented in the table.The percentages in this table are weighted by school type and student FSM eligibility.Source: NFER and IOE leadership survey for the National College, 2012To plan for succession, headteachers more commonly reported building this into their way of working witha general preference for ‘growing their own’. This often began at recruitment, with time invested to selecthigh-quality teachers with leadership potential and by asking about leadership ambitions at interview.Performance management was also used – ‘we always ask staff where they want to be in five years’ –and aspirations identified through performance reviews were commonly said to be supported throughdevelopment opportunities. Examples specifically mentioned included providing for:— opportunities to take responsibility within the school, eg through bursaries, rotating subject co-ordinationand/or giving responsibility for leading curriculum initiatives— staff to work alongside or support other schools, in leadership roles or as an AST, with the new SLE rolebeing mentioned in some cases— leadership provision through external providers, such as National College programmes or local variants— courses provided by other national training networks— visits to other schools to see good practice— an accreditation route for support staff, to provide a ladder of opportunity— opportunities to gain a Master’s, eg school-based programmes delivered by HE institutionsIt was considered important that, alongside real opportunities to take a lead responsibility, coaching andsupport were also available. New opportunities, such as those offered by the school becoming a teachingschool were also seen to provide new ways in which to develop the leadership skills of staff.107 © National College for School LeadershipOn the appeal of leadership, headteachers themselves were still often of the view that it was the bestjob in education but they were less certain about the future direction headship was taking, given recentpolicy developments. Headship had often been seen as ‘a work of passion’ but some heads were no longersure whether it was as alluring and appealing as before. Heads were often currently seen as being veryvulnerable, particularly in relation to the new Ofsted framework which presents challenges at all levels:whether you are a leader of a ‘poor’ or an ‘outstanding’ school. Others saw the role of head as becomingincreasingly like that of a chief executive officer of a business, and commented that “that’s not what I wentinto leadership to do”. Chains and federations were also commonly seen to be taking over the role of thelocal authority, a development not all welcomed. As has been discussed, this also had implications for thesources of support available to heads and other school leaders.SummaryJust over 4 in 10 headteachers had plans to stop or had already stopped using services provided by theirlocal authority despite local authority provision emerging as the most effective/beneficial activity. A largemajority – nearly 9 out of 10 – identified their local authority as a current source of external support, withjust over one-half citing it as one of the three most important sources but only 3 in 10 stating that it wouldremain as important over the next 18 months. Headteachers recognised their local authority as an effectiveand beneficial service, but they also appear to be diversifying support by forming partnerships or alliances tofacilitate and sustain aspects of the local authority improvement services.Heads of schools with an Ofsted judgement of ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ were least likely to refer to NLEs or LLEs,whilst those from ‘outstanding’ schools were more likely to refer to the National College and the SchoolsNetwork (previously SSAT) as sources of support and advice. Secondary heads were less likely to mentionCase study 6: Continuing development of leadership skills and capabilitiesA special school serving children with severe and profound learning difficulties and/or physicaldifficulties across the 3-19 age range was graded outstanding in its most recent Ofsted inspection(2011). Of significance is the progress that children make throughout each"
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Leadership

Review of the school leadership landscape

6 Jul 2017

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      string(5838) "activities. The design of the library has integrated physical movement and knowledge in various spatial scenarios. Spatial differentiation support different learning situations and opportunities for gaining knowledge for children and adults. The design prioritizes imaginative furnishings over bookshelves and traditional library interior. The interior now features striking characteristics such as a yellow desert with a termite tower, green rice fields and a blue jellyfish – all designed to activate new ways of behaving at the library and interacting with the surroundings. 20150215_PLAN 1_200_TGThe design is based on a system of shelves and storage modules built into a landscape that also allows for new ways of curating books, music, art and other theme based exhibition elements. Libraries are traditionally places where noise is forbidden and people keep to themselves. In the Children’s Library, people can interact with other people. 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Early Years

Disruptive Designs

1 Feb 2018

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      string(5726) "rear with aVGA sensor on thefront.Apple has packed ahuge amount morepixels into the 9.7-inch screen – 1536 x2048. However, we’relooking at a screenthat’s technically alot less sharp than theiPhone 4 (which has 330 PPI density)– around 264PPI.Apple has got around this fact by stating thatthe screen is meant to be held at 15 inches from theface, rather than the iPhone’s 10 inches, and as such thesharpness is the same.The colour reproduction is pretty close to reality – it lacks the http://www.teachingtimes.comThis month’s New Productspunch of the Super AMOLED HD screens seen on the likes ofthe Samsung Galaxy Note for instance, but it will depend onpersonal preference as to whether that’s a good thing.Internet browsing, photo viewing and movie sessions are allmuch improved over the iPad 2. The home screen is laid outin a very similar way to the iPhone, except we’re seeing somemuch larger icons for the apps you’ve downloaded. 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It’s a simplesystem and one that’s prevalent throughout the system, even in most apps,meaning you can easily jump in and out of applications where necessary.The new iPad is nearly 60g heavier than the previous version, and ismarginally thicker. the design features curved edges, oleophobic scratch-proofglass and aluminium chassis. There’s also an increase in RAM from 512MB to1GB.http://www.teachingtimes.comSuppliers and Support ServicesWhat sort of teaching allows students to take ownership oftheir own learning?What will motivate and excitechildren’s curiosity and haul them outof passivity? What style of teachingwill develop their intellectual skillsto the point that they can becomeeffective agents of enquiry in anyfield?How can we make lessons exciting andcreative for students and teachers?These questions are the golden grailsof modern teaching. The governmenthas sought to address them bynumerous initiatives… But none ofthese initiatives have succeeded asthey might have done because theyignore the key question. ‘What sort ofteaching is needed to achieve thesegoals?’Intelligent Learning is a teachingpractice course, executed throughsix half hour video sessions, whichaddress in detail the changes inpedagogy you and your school needto introduce to start addressing theissues of motivation and becoming athinking and learning community.The central theme of the course is togive students the skills to ask moreand searching questions. …it’s thequestioning skills, not of the teacherbut of the student that really countsin developing their cognitive abilitiesand engagement. 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It helps me understand how I can develop effectivequestioning within my classroom – lots of ideas which I shall try.’North Tyneside EAZ Network Learning CommunityIntelligent LearningAll for less than the cost of one consultant forone day…or one teacher on a one day course!Is there a better CPD spend than this?Written and presented By Steve WilliamsAcclaimed by the NUTIn the pack are:Six half hour videos on DVDSupporting guides for each video, written by programme users in schoolsthemselvesA CD of supporting articles and materials to stimulate professionaldevelopment and curriculum design•••Price:£235.00+ vatTo order call: 0121 224 7599 or Fax orders: 0121 224 7598intelligent learning ad.indd   1 8/6/10   16:13:40The materials in this pack will help all teachers to:Connect children directly with a picture or paintingGive children a personalised starting point for learningGet children asking authentic questions (the questions they reallywant to ask and answer)Encourage exploratory talking and thinkingStart the processes of critical and creative thinkingBuild confidence in making judgements, taking decisions andmaking choicesExplore six techniques in detail and learn how to apply these tolessons they have already plannedRefine and adapt the techniques to meet the needs of specificgroups of pupils including able learners■■■■■■■■Using art to developcreative and criticalthinkingLearning Without Limits 1How to challenge"
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Digital Learning

New Products Update: April

19 Apr 2012

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      string(5647) "draining anddemoralising aspects of the job. Fantastic progress in theschool often doesn’t make it beyond the gate.Latent prejudices and negative mutual perceptions canform high walls that parents , staff and pupils mustconstantly attempt to climb. This is not the case for allschools. Many enjoy the benefits of a highly supportivecommunity. However, where relations are difficult, theroad to improvement is so much steeper.Taking a strategic approach to community engagementcan help heads to break down barriers. I t can help toreduce the impact of scrutiny or poor communicationsand facilitate new oppor tunities for the school.3. Take a new approach to behaviour managementBeha viour is constantly cit ed as one of the mostchallenging areas for heads to deal with. When behaviouris poor, pupil learning and safety in the school suffer. I t isalso demoralising for many staff and pupils at all levels inschools. The role of headship can be rather depressingwhen you know your staff can ’t wait to leave the buildingat the end of the day.There are coun tless bo oks, w orkshops andtechniques on improving behaviour. S o, if this is anarea of concern for you, why not try something moreradical? One e xample is the approach used in SanDiego. S ome schools there use a behaviour databaseto carefully monitor and resp ond quickly to behaviourissues. Teachers have a ‘behaviour buzzer’ that theycan press to aler t a couple of ‘Cagney and Lacey-style’charac ters from the community who are based in theschool. The y immediately respond and the behaviourissue is  dealt  with outside the classroom. Thisapproach is already being successfully used by someschools in the UK.In one school in the north of England, the database islinked through to children’s services . Social workers arealerted of problems at the earliest opportunity. At the clickof a mouse, a teacher can see who last contacted a pupil’sparents and when. This enables them to respond moreappropriately to their needs. This secondary school isconsidering the restructuring of TLR requirements as a43January 2006 Managing Schools TodayHeadshipHeadshipHeadshipHeadshipHeadship Recruitmentthe job. ‘Be the best leader you can be’ may sound a littletrite. However, a renewed focus on you as a leader shouldprove fruitful in your quest for greater enjoyment.Although some people seem to be natural leaders,extensive research suggests that the competencies ofeffective leaders can be learned and developed. Muchwor k has gone into building our understanding of thesecompetencies, and opportunities are available to headsto explore them.Have you considered the opportunities available fromNCSL or other organisations specialising in leadershipdevelopment? Have you signed up for the LeadershipPr ogramme for Ser ving H eadteachers (LPSH), forexample? Those who have will already have had anoppor tunity to get feedback from colleagues about theleadership styles they use and climate they create.Take time to consider the type of leader you want tobe and the type of leader you tend to be. This can helpyou to identify your strengths t o help improve yourleadership. Boyatzis would argue that you should focusmost of your energy on using the things you’re good atto achieve your goals. Although you should not ignoreyour weaknesses, a deficit model of personaldevelopment is fundamentally uninspiring.System changes6. Offer deputies transfer feesThe notion of transfer fees is more commonly associatedwith football clubs. But what if schools could pay transferfees for deputies?Scho ols need to b e proactively developing theirtalented middle leaders and deputies for headship. Thetime bomb described in Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders(NCSL) needs to be disarmed. But some schools arereluctant to groom their talented deputies only to seethem leave. A good deputy is hard to find. So should a raftof potential incentives be intro duced to encourageschools to develop the headteachers of tomorrow?The proposal here is that every time someone becomesa headteacher, the government pays a ‘transfer fee’ to eachof the schools they have worked in. This is on the groundsthat those schools have contributed to their development.This would provide a real incentive for developing leadersand encouraging people to move forward. It would alsohelp recoup the costs of professional development.Already the schools tha t invest in their staff attracttalented people seeking to develop quickly. They alsobenefit from their skills while they’re there. If schools wereto financially benefit from investing in futur e leaders,would they be even more inclined to do so?7. End the generic headteacher roleCurrently the role of headteacher, although changing,remains in essence much as it has been for many years.The head leads and manages the school and the teachingand learning that take place within it. Much of the trainingand development on offer is gener ic and the ter m‘headship’ is used ubiquitously. But it is becoming moreapparent that for all the similarities, there are somemarked differences between different types of headshiprole. Recent NCSL research into the nature of urban schoolleadership raises the question ‘to what extent should wedifferentiate between headship roles?’The new status for Chart ered Urban Headteachersrecognises the unique challenges that urban schoolleadership presents. Should we be establishing similarapproaches to rural headship, tur naround headship orspecialist schools headship? This specialisation couldinspire fo cused career planning and development ofspecific expertise and"
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Leadership

A Job With A Future: Part 2

1 Jan 2005