Collaboration for effective teaching and learning Ian Thompson
Collaboration for effective teaching and learning. Ian Thompson, Harry Daniels, Lorena Ortega Ferrand, Sarah Cox, Nicole Dingwall. Funded by The John Fell Fund 1
Research developed from Oxford City Learning Concerns � ‘Meeting the needs of vulnerable learners’ � Establishment of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) � BUT � On-going concern about well-being and attainment remain � Concerns about variation between the 7 OCL schools with regard to pupil attainment and the implementation of the intervention 2
Collaborative Project Research Question � What effect does the culture of the school have on collaboration and the attainment of vulnerable pupils? 3
Collaborative problem solving � Provides schools with access to this valuable yet often untapped resource. � Celebrates the contribution of the teacher and seeks to enhance professional standing and confidence. � Places the teacher at the centre of educational development and seeks to support the systematic, reflective action that is characteristic of the best of teacher research.
Hargreaves � Transform knowledge � Shared inquiry � Evidence informed � Situated certainty � Local solutions � Joint responsibility � Continuous learning � Communities Practice of Professional learning communities � Transfer knowledge � Imposed requirements � Results driven � False certainty � Standardized scripts � Deference to authority � Intensive training � Sects of performance Performance training sects 5
Teaching beyond the knowledge economy cultivates; � Flexibility; � Creativity; � Problem-solving � Ingenuity; (inclusiveness); � Collective intelligence (trust); � Professional trust (security); � Risk-taking; � Continuous improvement. 6
Teachers as casualties of the knowledge society • Coach children to memorise standardised learning • Learn to teach as they are told • Undergo in-service training on government priorities • Work harder; learn alone • Treat parents as consumers and complainers • Perform emotional labour • Respond to imposed change with fearful compliance • Trust no one 7
Intervention Research 3 phases: 1. To examine practices of PLCS (SNA; interviews) 2. Share results with heads/key staff- patterns across schools, their school, possible change or types of intervention (e. g. TST) 3. Test hypothesis that collaborative teachers promote effective teaching and learning 8
Phase One � Social Network Analysis � Online questionnaire for all staff (7 schools). Maps patterns of collaboration. � Research champions and senior staff key to undertake data collection. � Interviews with key staff: Head, SENCO, long serving subject teacher, recent subject teacher
Vulnerability: SEN – statement or action plus 2014 10
Vulnerability: English not as a first language 2014 11
Vulnerability: FSM 2014 12
Vulnerability: index of deprivation 13
Activity in schools: Average number of years working in the school, by school 14
Incoming attainment Average KS 2 point score 2014, by school 15
Percentage achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and maths GCSEs 2014, by school First Entry 16
Student Absence 17
Collaboration – what sort? 18
Collaboration: how much? 19
Proportion of teachers that participated in a network of teachers formed specifically for the professional development of teachers, by school 20
Advice – where is it sought? 21
Percentage of members of staff that go to Year Level/Key Stage Team for advice on supporting vulnerable students, by school 22
Percentage of staff members that go to Senior Leadership Team for advice on supporting vulnerable students, by school 23
Percentage of staff members that go to Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) for advice on supporting vulnerable students, by school 24
Percentage of staff members that do not go to any of these groups for advice on supporting vulnerable students, by school 25
Outside the school? 26
Percentage of staff members that agree or strongly agree with statement a) This school provides staff with opportunities to actively participate in school decisions, by school 27
Percentage of staff members that agree or strongly agree with statement d) This school has a culture of shared responsibility for school issues, by school 28
Percentage of staff members that agree or strongly agree with statement g) The school staff share a common set of beliefs about schooling/learning, by school 29
Percentage of staff members that agree or strongly agree with statement i) School staff have an open discussion about difficulties, by school 30
SNA 31
Network Density refers to the number of ties in the network reported as a fraction of the total possible number of ties. In the context of this study, density indicates group cohesion in terms of adviceseeking relations. 32
Reciprocity refers to the degree to which participants in each school select one another or, in other words, whether advice-seeking relations within schools are mutual 33
Network centralisation Centralisation represents the variability in the centrality of individuals in a network. A network with high centralisation is characterised by one or a few highly central educators and many other more peripheral educators. Thus, a network that is highly centralised is one in which advice is sought only from a small set of participants. 34
Network of advice-seeking for supporting vulnerable learners by subject taught 35
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Results � Schools with networks that extend beyond departmental silos are more effective in supporting vulnerable learners' attainment and wellbeing. � School culture has a significant effect on patterns of collaboration. � Some teachers in schools, other than the SENCO, have high degree of centrality developed through the PLCs. 42
Second Project � Analysing the Relationship between Teachers’ Collaboration Patterns, Teaching Practices and Student Literacy Learning and Engagement � Harry Daniels, Mary Daly (SPI), Ian Thompson, Sarah Cox, Lorena Ortega, Nicole Dingwall 43
Collaboration and Literacy � Linked to OCL schools current focus on literacy across the curriculum and social justice agenda (pupil premium) � Analyse the relationship between teachers’ patterns of collaboration, their teaching practices, and their students’ levels of engagement and attainment in literacy learning. 44
Research questions � To what extent are teachers who are highly central to the collaboration networks of their schools more likely to show teaching practices associated with teacher effectiveness than less networked educators? � To what extent do students of highly collaborative teachers exhibit higher levels of attainment and engagement in literacy learning? � To what extent is gender an issue in both teachers' collaborative practices and student engagement/outcomes? 45
Teacher Collaboration � Builds on current work to describe in depth the networks of teacher collaboration and teaching practices concerning vulnerable students at one of secondary schools. � Social Network Analysis (SNA) data used to select the sample of teachers on the basis of individual-level measure of centrality in one school. � Reflects the extent to which each educator is nominated by her/his peers as someone they go to for advice on supporting vulnerable students (centrality). 46
Teaching Practices � Observational data will be gathered to analyse teachers’ classroom practices. � Systematic observation instruments that will be used are the International System of Teacher Observation and Feedback (ISTOF) (Teddlie, Creemers, Kyriakides, Muijs & Yu, 2006), the Lesson Observation Form for Evaluating the Quality of Teaching (Qo. T) and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) (La Paro & Pianta, 2003). � Provide quantitative and qualitative data on different aspects of teaching quality, including measures of teachers’ inclusion and differentiation practices aimed at supporting vulnerable students. 47
Student Learning and Engagement � The levels of attainment and engagement of a sample of year 9 vulnerable students (matched by gender and attainment) taught by the selected teachers will be collected. � Pupils’ levels of attainment in literacy will be captured using the GL assessment literacy levels. � Aspect of engagement using the school connectedness survey � Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (a widely used brief assessment of engagement). � In the analysis of results particular attention will be paid to differences between girls and boys. 48
Next steps…. � Changing the culture of collaborative practices can mean confronting past histories: at school, staff and pupil levels. � Challenge to policy orthodoxy at school, regional national levels. 49
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