Enhancing R&D capacity in schools: North of England conference

January 2013

An executive agency of the Department for Education

Toby Greany Acting Executive Director, Leadership Development, National College

• Key drivers: autonomy, collaboration, freedom, diversity, self-improvement, accountability

• The challenges: building capacity, confidence and trust

• The goal: that elements of a devolved system are held in balance so that …1. Autonomy doesn’t become isolation2. Diversity doesn’t act as a barrier to

collaboration3. Accountability doesn’t become

regulation

The big picture

How will research and evidence be created, collated and communicated in a self-improving system?

“Education has never had really effective links between research and practice. Education research is the great unreformed parts of the system. Too little has an impact on children's learning, and too few teachers use research evidence to inform their teaching. Teaching schools could change that. Initial training should include how to use research and evidence and teaching schools should hold a research budget to fund teachers as researchers.”

Estelle Morris, The Guardian, 26th July 2011

Toolkit of strategies to improve learning¹

Approach Potential gain

Cost Overall cost benefit

Effective feedback +9 months ££ Very high impact for low cost

Meta-cognition and self-regulation strategies

+8 months ££ High impact for low cost

Peer tutoring/peer assisted learning

+ 6 months ££ High impact for low cost

Early intervention + 6 months £££££ High impact for very high cost

One to one tutoring + 6 months £££££ Moderate impact for very high cost

Homework + 5 months £ Moderate impact for very low cost

Learning styles + 2 months £ Low impact, low or no cost

Teaching assistants + 0 months ££££ Very low/no impact for high cost

Ability grouping ± 1 month £ Very low or negative impact for very low or no cost

School uniforms ± 1 month £ Very low or negative impact for very low or no cost

¹ Summary for Schools (selected lines), Professor Steve Higgins et al, Durham University, May 2011

A model for knowledge mobilisation?

Carol Campbell and Ben Levin; Developing Knowledge Mobilisation to Challenge Educational Disadvantage and Inform Effective Practices in England, EEF; 2012

But how do teachers learn and adapt?

“The significant people for a school teacher are other teachers, and by comparison with standing in that fraternity the good opinion of students is a small thing and of little price. A landmark in one’s assimilation to the profession is that moment when he decides that only teachers are important”.

Willard Waller, The sociology of teaching (1932)

“There is a ‘discussion culture’ among teachers… interspersed with

timid attempts at the level of actual implementation… To get from a peer discussion to its enactment in one’s classroom is a phenomenal leap.”

Michael Huberman, Teachers as artisans and tinkerers

An alternative model for evidence informed practice¹

The plan for teaching and learning

Improvisation where the plan does not work

Personal tinkering + inflow from researchers?

Systematic tinkering with partners

Systematic innovation with partners

Distributed innovation to partner schools

From common practice to full JPD

Self-improving school system

¹ From David Hargreaves

An attempt to learn the lessons from thinking on knowledge mobilisation and from previous attempts at R&D innovation networks

• 1000 flowers bloom - no overall tight theme, planned outcome

• Topics too narrow or parochial- no breakthrough potential

• Different projects don’t join up - no jigsaw, no body of new knowledge

• Agenda annexed by academic researchers

As well as offering training and support for their alliance themselves,

teaching schools will identify and co-ordinate expertise from theiralliance, using the best leaders and teachers to:

1. play a greater role in recruiting and training new entrants to the profession

2. lead peer-to-peer professional and leadership development3. identify and develop leadership potential4. provide support for other schools5. designate and broker Specialist Leaders of

Education (SLEs) 6. engage in research and development

Role of teaching schools

Professional continuum

• Teacher Continuing Leadership

training professional development

development

National research themes -2012-14

• What makes great pedagogy? • What makes great professional development

which leads to consistently great pedagogy? • How can leaders lead successful teaching

school alliances which enable the development of consistently great pedagogy?

• Closing the gap…

• link research explicitly with developments in learning and teaching - teachers as innovators not researchers

• keep a sharp focus and make sure it is manageable• find ways align individual, departmental, whole-school and

alliance interests• seek out opportunities to foster pupil/teacher dialogue • share the process, capture the learning and use the

outcomes of research beyond the project – push and pull• plan for the longer term development of research

engagement (link research and CPD)• be ambitious and confident about using research to secure

gains in pupil achievement

adapted from Sharp and Handscomb, 2008

Making a difference in schools and alliances

Questions and discussion

What is your experience of developing research and increasing the use of evidence in schools?

-what are the challenges?-what works well?