Ian Thompson, Harry Daniels, Lorena Ortega Ferrand, Sarah Cox, Nicole Dingwall. Funded by The John Fell Fund 1 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 What effect does the culture of the school have on collaboration and the attainment of vulnerable pupils? 3 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. Professional learning communit ies Performance training sects Transform knowledge Shared inquiry Evidence informed Situated certainty Local solutions Joint responsibility Continuous learning Communities of Practice Transfer knowledge Imposed requirements Results driven False certainty Standardized scripts Deference to authority Intensive training Sects of performance 5 Flexibility; Creativity; Problem-solving (inclusiveness); Ingenuity; Collective intelligence (trust); Professional trust (security); Risk-taking; Continuous improvement. 6 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 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 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 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 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 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 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 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 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 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 (QoT) 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 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 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