Leading long lasting changes in educational systems and schools

Tartu City EstoniaOctober 20, 2015

Anna Kristín Sigurðardóttir University of Iceland

Agenda

• Successful educational changes at national and local level

• Data driven / evidence based practice• Teacher professionalism and educational

change• Holistic approach to systemic

improvement• Some suggestions - A model for systemic

improvement

Educational system

Interdependence

Five overlapping phases of research on school and system improvement – what have we

learned?

1. Understanding the organisational culture of the school.2. Action research and research initiative at the school level. 3. Managing change and comprehensive approaches to school

reform. 4. Building capacity of student learning at the local level and

continuing emphasis on leadership.5. Towards systemic improvement where the complexity of the

educational system is emphasised as well as interdependency of different components. Improvement efforts need therefore to focus on different levels of the system; classroom, school, municipality and/or national level.

Hopkins, Stringfield, Harris, Stoll og Mackay, 2014

Community

Childrens‘ achievement and well beeing

Student background - SES status- Language environment- Attitudes - Physical conditions

The teacher / teaching methods

Professional community

Leadership

Educationalauthority

Effects on childrens‘ academic achievements and well beeing.

School

Leisure and extra school

activity

• The main challenge is to understand how to create coherence between different levels in the system and how various components of the system affect the improvement process differently in different cultural and social context.

• The focus must be on the whole system rather than small parts of it.

Hopkins, Stringfield, Harris, Stoll og Mackay, 2014

Two kinds of capital that drives the system

• Quick outcomes• The strive for young, cheep and

flexible staff. • Finding the “right” people• Policy making and surveillance

Business capital(accountability)

• Education is long term investment• Teachers’ professionalism and

continuous professional learning.• Human capital, social capital and

decisional capital.

Professional capital

Hargreaves and Fullan (2012) PC = f(HC, SC, DC)

Approaches to increase the quality of the educational system

Accountability• Competition within and

between schools and systems. • Outcome based inspection.• Privatization and free choice.• Outcome measurements used

for control. • Enroll teachers that are able to

enhance high grades among students – get rid of the other.

• Evidence based practice.

Professional capital• Interdependency and coherency.• Clear demands for

professionalism and teachers professional competences.

• Equality and fundamental values.

• Outcome measurements used for increases understanding and development.

• A learning community. • Evidence based practice – with

creative and critical approach.

Different approaches to educational change

(Hargreaves & Shirley 2012).

I:

II:

III:

IV

A lot of innovations but Inconsistency in the system “fix the parts”, strong professional autonomy and state support.

Top-down pressure, centralisation , accountability, competition and market orientated changes and standardisation.

Focus on teaching methods, balance between professional autonimy and acountebility. Performance driven targets and testing. Capacity building and use of data.

Moral purpose, inclusive school, data used for inquiry and understanding, distributed leadership, equity. professionalism , democracy and sustainable school development.

Anna Kristín SigurðardóttirHargreaves, Boyle and Harris, 2014, bls 10Hargreaves, Boyle, and Harris, 2014

OECD. (2012). Equity and Quality in Education. Supporting disadvantaged students and schools.

“The highest performing education systems are those that combine equity with quality.”

Forwords by Barbara Ischinger, Director for Education

Agenda

• Successful educational changes at national and local level

• Data driven / evidence based practice

• Teacher professionalism and educational change

• Holistic approach to systemic improvement

• Some suggestions - A model for systemic improvement

“Evidence is the engine for change”

It helps to create space for rethinking by interrupting existing ways of thinking and focusing attention on overlooked possibilities for moving practice forward.

(Ainscow, 2015, p. 83)

What is wrong with the “what-went- right” approach (Steiner-Khamsi, 2013)

• Using data does not necessarily lead to better practice; it depends on how it is used and whether it is appropriated for the context.

• The process of using data for educational improvement is far from being straightforward, assuming that practitioners follow the guidance offered by data or evidence in taking decisions (Spillane, 2012)

• Making universal claims based on standardised international comparison without considering local conditions, may lead to false claims about “best practice”, especially if it transfers between contexts without regard for differences.

Evidence based practice

• Data / evidences should be made to inform teachers’ inquiry and decision making rather than for control.

Hargreaves and Shirley (2012)

Agenda

• Successful educational changes at national and local level

• Data driven / evidence based practice• Teacher professionalism and

educational change• Holistic approach to systemic

improvement• Some suggestions - A model for systemic

improvement

Teachers as professionals

• The importance of classroom level as a predictor for pupils outcome, is highlighted.

• It’s all about the teacher.• The teacher is the most important when

raising achievement.

• What does this mean for teachers professionalism?

• Many factors influence academic achievement.

• Achievement is a long term results• Many teachers (and other) affect

students’ learning process.

• It is about the teachers as a group / collective professionalism

It is easier to be a good teacher in one school than in another!

It is easier to be a good school in one community than in another!

Teachers professionalism (The development in the UK)

• Traditional professionalism, emphases teacher autonomy. (ca. 1955 – 1975).

• Accountability, demands for effectiveness and improved outcomes: (from ca. 1975, appeared in educational act 1988).

• Managerial professionalism, results for everyone (Every child matters), centralised lesson plans, best practice, collaboration (after ca 1997 - ?).

• Collaborative professionalism, interdisciplinary collaboration, the school in the community. (Now)

• Democratic professionalism, listen to different stakeholders, “pupils’ voice”, the teachers are active agents and leaders for changes rather than victims. (Now and future)

Whitty, G. (2008).

Overlapping phases

The “new professionalism”

The teacher is: • co-worker• investigator (researcher) • leader• learner• knowledge broker• takes care of his/her own professionalism

as well as the group.

• Skoðið líka þetta myndband með Fullan: http://vimeo.com/41310303

“If we want to improve teaching … we must therefore improve the conditions of teaching that shape them, as well as the cultures and communities of which they are apart.”

(Hargreaves og Fullan, 2012, bls. 47)

Agenda

• Successful educational changes at national and local level

• Data driven / evidence based practice• Teacher professionalism and educational

change• Holistic approach to systemic

improvement• A model for systemic improvement

Educational system

Interdependence

System leadership involves the interaction between different systems / institutions / ideas.

Anna Kristín Sigurðardóttir

" Systems " are: • dependent on each other so

that a change in one results in a change in another,

• complicated and best managed by those who are closest to the operation itself,

• members have shared vision and understanding of each other work,

• success in one based on results in another.

• The focus must be on the whole system rather than small parts of it.

Hopkins, Stringfield, Harris, Stoll og Mackay, 2014

Holistic approach for systemic improvements

27

Municipality

School

classroom

Shared focus on children's’ achievement and well being.

Better academic outcomes and child well-being

Agenda

• Successful educational changes at national and local level

• Data driven / evidence based practice• Teacher professionalism and educational

change• Holistic approach to systemic

improvement• Some suggestions - A model for

systemic improvement

What could hinder / holistic approach interdisciplinary collaboration?

• Lack of time?• Different institutional roles / ways of working / culture / interest? • Different roles of professionals / ways of working / culture /

interest? • Lack of coherence (or quality) in policy making at municipality /

national level. • The focus is more on the institution or group of professionals

rather than the pupils or other stakeholders. • Weak leadership at all levels. • Collaborative projects are not interesting / appropriate or likely

to be successful. • Competition between systems, schools or individuals

What might help

• Creating a shared vision for the whole system.

• Building relationships and networking throughout the system.

• Using evidences for inquiry.• Collaboration should be a central theme

in teachers professionalism (rather than autonomy).

• Professional learning community

Systemic improvement

Polic

y an

d le

ader

ship

– Fa

mili

es a

nd c

omm

unity

– p

hysi

cal e

nviro

nmen

t.

Sta

ndar

ds –

Cur

ricul

um -

Inst

ructi

on –

Ass

essm

ent -

Rec

ours

es-

Based on: Cowan, Joyner & Beckwith, 2012.

Organisational routines(Spillane, Parise & Sherer, 2011)

summary

• Capacity building, inquiry orientated practice, professional collaboration, and data driven decisions are considered as central themes in sustainable (long lasting) improvements

Fullan, 2007; Hargreaves & Shirley, 2012; Levin, 2012; Stoll & Louis, 2007

• Re-creating education will be a job for communities committed to the future that has a future, not just for professional educators.

Senge, 2010

Um hvað snýst málið?

Anna Kristín Sigurðardóttir

How glad I am that our end is okay.

Shared responsibility

Thank youThank you

RefernecesAinscow, M. (2015). Towards self-improving school systems. Abingdon UK: Routledge.London: Routhledge Farmer. Cowan, D., Joyner, S., & Beckwith, S. (2012). Getting serious about the system. California: Corwin.Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers College Press. Hargreaves, A., Boyle, A. og Harris, A. (2014). Uplifting leadership. How organizations, teams and communities raise performance. San Francisco CA: Jossey- BassHargreves, A. og Fullan, M. (2012). Professional capital. Transforming teaching in every school. New York: Teachers College press. Hargreaves, A og Shirley, D. (2012). The global fourth way. The quest of educational excellence. London: Sage Publication.Hopkins, D. Stringfield, S., Harris, A., Stoll, L., & Mackay, T. (2014). School and system improvement: a narrative state-of-the-art review. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 25(2), 257–281.Levin, B. (2012). System wide improvement. Brussel: The International Academy of Education.Senge, P. (2010) Education for interdependent world. Developing systems citizens. Í Second international handbook of educational change, bls 131-152. SpringerSpillane, J. P. ( 2012). Data in practice: Conceptualizing the data-based decision-making phenomena. American Journal of Education, 118(2), 113–141.Spillane, J. P., Parise, L. M., & Sherer, J. Z. (2011). Organizational routines as coupling mechanisms: Policy, school administration and the technical core. American Educational Research Journal, 48(3), 586–619.Steiner-Khamsi, G. (2013). What is wrong with the ‘What-Went-Right’ approach in educational policy? European Educational Research Journal, 12(1), 20–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/eerj.2013.12.1.20Stoll, L., & Louis, K. S. (Eds). (2007). Professional learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas. Maidenhead UK: Open University Press. Whitty, G. (2008). Changing modes of teacher profeeesionalism: traditional, managerial, collaborative, democratic. Í Cunningham, B. Exploring professionalism. P. 28-48. London: Institute of Education