Leadership

Research and Evidence Based Capacity Building in Disadvantaged Communities

Research and Evidence Based Capacity Building in Disadvantaged Communities:

Lessons from research and from R&D in Blackpool and North Wales

Presentation by Philippa Cordingley to the 2017 National ResearchEd event at Chobham Academy Stratford

The session explored the key building blocks for building momentum in school improvement through the lens of a year of research and evidence based development work in Blackpool secondary schools and across schools in North Wales drawing on interim impact reports. It focussed on issues such as understanding both capacity and barriers in depth, phasing, co-construction, scaffolding and harnessing the contributions of various stakeholders

 

If you want access to the presentation please email paige.johns@curee.co.uk

Possibility Thinking: Reimagining the Future of Further Education and Skills

These essays are deliberately optimistic and each responds to a ‘what if’ question, with authors being invited to respond with deliberate idealism about the future possibilities. The collection has not been designed with the intention of providing a single narrative, but rather to open up new trains of thought, to offer provocations and challenges, and it covers divergent themes and ideas. We have focused on what the sector can do for itself, mindful of the policy context, but occasionally identifying ways that policy might enable, rather than constrain, sectoral innovation and public value

About the authors 2

Acknowledgements 4

Foreword - Dame Ruth Silver 5

Introduction - What if the further education and skills sector got a little more optimistic? - Mark Londesborough 7

Beyond Levels - Goverance and the role of National Leaders of Governance

A presentation to the LearningFirst event at Sheffield, Hallam University on 5th November 2016. Governors (and trustees) are now firmly ensconsed in the leadership accountability system which is now a joint enterprise with heads and other senior leaders. This short presentation outlined the contradictory pressures on governors, particularly about their level of engagement with pupil performance, and what they needed to exercise their role effectively. The presentation went on to outline how National Leaders of Governance can support governing bodies in this.

How TASC (Thinking Actively in a Social Context) helped to ensure rapid school improvement

Aim: To raise expectations and the levels of achievement of all pupils; To lift the self-esteem and motivation of both staff and pupils; To actively involve parents and governors in school development; To give ownership and to develop pupils pride in their primary school; and To create a positive learning environment and a school culture which celebrates excellence throughout the whole school.

Whose voice is important in decision-making in the primary school?

Aim: This study set out to use action research to implement approaches aimed at increasing the participation of children and teachers in making decisions about their own learning. We intended to investigate the potential of these strategies to give greater responsibility, involvement and ownership to those in the classroom, and to explore the role of leadership.

Sports education: a vehicle for the inclusion and performance of your underachieving and disaffected pupils

Aim: To improve the attainment (A-C %) of disaffected and underachieving GCSE PE pupils through the integration of a school-specific leadership model, to improve pupils attitudes towards and engagement with learning and to marginalise poor behaviour through implementation of the flexible model as a vehicle for citizenship, fostering a sense of belonging, equality, accountability, ownership and enjoyment.

Reservoirs of Hope as a metaphor for spiritual and moral leadership in headship, and why some headteachers leave headship early 'when reservoirs run dry'

Aim: The study aimed to: Describe the perceived spiritual and moral bases of headship in a range of heads; Explore the use of the metaphor of reservoirs of hope in describing the preservation of individual values and institutional self-belief against external pressures; Promote practitioner reflection on critical incidents when spiritual and moral leadership was tested; Codify heads individual strategies for sustainability, replenishment and development; and Analyse why some headteachers leave headship early due to the possible failure of their sustainability strategies when reservoirs of hope