THE POLICY LANDSCAPE

Bob Burstow

King’s College, London

Policy is Good• The “Researcher Teacher” as a criterion of the Big Six for

Teaching Schools• ResearchEd13 in September and subsequent versions

• How much is one related to the other?• How long will the energy and drive of the second last –

and how can we ensure it outlasts a change in policy?• How can we avoid the mistakes of the past?

• What were the mistakes of the past?

The Profession: Craft balance

Profession Craft

The Profession: Craft balance

Profession Craft

Knowledge

The Profession: Craft balance

Profession Craft

Practical

The Profession: Craft balance

Profession Craft

PracticalKnowledge

The Profession: Craft balance

Profession Craft

Practical

Knowledge

The Profession: Craft balance

Profession Craft

Practical

Knowledge

The Profession: Craft balance

Profession Craft

PracticalKnowledge

Who ‘Owns’ Education?

Stephen J. Ball (2012): The reluctant state and the beginning of the end of state education, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 44:2,

89-103

“English education policy has come full-circle

– In the nineteenth century, the English state hesitantly and slowly moved from a patchwork education system of many providers to a national system locally provided.

- In the twenty-first century, the English state is moving back towards a patchwork of many providers with enhanced institutional autonomies and marginalising the role of local delivery and coordination”

From partnerships to apprenticeships

Cognitive apprenticeships(Brown, Collins and Duguis 1989)

Additionally include pedagogic interventions such as engaging with theories of learning and expert knowledge, critical reflection, enquiry and investigation. These help trainee teachers to understand the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’ of practice and make the thinking behind practice visible. (Collins, Brown and Holum 1991)

Traditional apprenticeships

Learning through participation in practice in combination with mentoring or coaching to address day-to-day problems arising from practice.

The last time(s) we tried this…• Lawrence Stenhouse defines the role of teachers in research

between 1978 & 1982 (HCP & CARE)• Bridget Somekh and the Action Research movement• David Hargreaves 1996.

“Teaching as a Research Based Profession: possibilities and prospects.” TTA Annual Lecture.

What happened?•Politics•Funding•Poor control

What has changed?•Technology•Communication speed•Our understanding…

What the evidence says• Sahlberg 2012 balance between learning through doing and learning

through other means

• Higher levels of academic engagement linked to higher pupil test scores, better prepared and more effective teachers. (Darling Hammond 1998)

• Balanced relationship between theory and practice, using and undertaking research on learning and teaching lead to more effective teachers (Schleicher 2011:20)

• Teaching experience shouldn’t take over completely on the theoretical part of education fundamental to obtaining high quality teachers. (Musset 2010:46)

• OfSTED report (2010) that found ‘there was more outstanding teacher education delivered by higher education-led partnerships than by school-centered initial ITE partnerships and employment based routes.’

BERA report: Research and the Teaching Profession: Building the Capacity for a Self Improving System

Key findings abut effective teaching and professional learning

• A common set of practices and approaches to teaching and professional learning are a key feature of top performing and most improving school systems

• Key features of effective teaching include strong focus on subject knowledge and pedagogic content knowledge and the capacity to diagnose problems quickly and accurately and draw from a wide range of instructional techniques to identify the best solution

• Key features of professional learning include collaborative enquiry, peer review and observation, using data from a range of sources, engaging in disciplined innovation to test new ideas and evaluate the impact on teaching and learning.

4

eg

Social, Political and Cultural Awareness

eg

What Next?

Circle or Cycle

What Next?

Evolution or Fragmentation

What Next?

Leap forwards or “Sideways” Step

Working within schools• So “schools felt more of a stake in the process of school

improvement” and “collaborating schools contributed to a wide range of improvements”

• But “materials from external sources can play an extremely significant role”(Ainscow 2012)

Burstow, B. & Maguire, M. 2013.

Disentangling What it Means to be a Teacher in the Twenty-first Century: Policy and Practice in Teachers’ Continuous Professional Learning.

In: Mcnamara, O. (Ed.) Teacher Learning in the Workplace: widening perspectives on practice and policy. London: Springer.

THE CHALLENGE IS FOR US ALL