LEADING LEARNING 3 September 2007 Possible Script: Welcome to Leading Learning 3 and thank you very much for the commitment and the example you are showing in giving time to this today.

CCEA Principals Assessment Conference Nov/Dec 2007 Leading Learning 1 November 2005 Leading Learning 2 April/May 2006 Curriculum Leader Day 1 September/October 2006 Curriculum Leader Day2 November/December 2006 Learning Area Day 1 February/April 2007 Leading Learning 3 September 2007 Development Team 3……. October 2007 …… CCEA Principals Assessment Conference Nov/Dec 2007 Co-ordinating the Assessment and Reporting of the Cross Curricular Skills February 2008 Area of Learning 2 February – April 2008 Possible Script: This Conference is the third phase of a programme of support for the implementation of the revised curriculum, co-ordinated by the Partnership Management Board and delivered by CASS across Northern Ireland.

THE SUPPORT MODEL Reculturing versus restructuring Leadership sponsorship Collaborative work cultures Peer advocacy Internal school development Link Officer support Possible Script: At LLI we outlined the rationale for the support model agreed by all schools in Northern Ireland. Research evidence is clear and consistent on the importance of leadership sponsorship in implementing change. That is why, across Northern Ireland, so far, 3 conferences have been built in to offer you the space to consider the leadership implication of the changes. Another condition which is central to success is the nurturing of collaborative work cultures, professionals working together to establish their understandings about and to design, deliver and review learning. Encouraging this collaborative working, Michael Fullan calls “reculturing.” Fullan makes the distinction between ‘restructuring’ and this ‘reculturing’. ‘Restructuring’ does just what it says on the tin: changes in the structures and related formal elements of the organisation. Some of this will probably be necessary but research shows that by itself it makes no difference to the quality of the learning. What does make a difference is ‘reculturing’. Fullan is categorical: ‘There is no substitute for internal school development…….’ For this reason the NI support model is one of capacity-building. Schools will be supported to create a dialogue about the learning in your classrooms. Each school has a designated Liaison Officer whose role it is to support capacity building efforts. This is not the same as the cascade model which was about receiving and transmitting information. Capacity building is about creating a dialogue about effective learning and changing our ways of working accordingly. This is not a one-off event. When she spoke to the primary principals in Armagh the Minister made it clear that the implementation of the curriculum was a process and the ETIs monitoring of the implementation looks at the development of the staff and the culture as much as classroom implementation.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES To map and reflect progress to date. To continue to develop an understanding of the process of capacity building. To explore school-based capacity building strategies to support the implementation of the revised curriculum. Possible Script: Today we hope to build on LL1 and LL2. We will give you the opportunity to review your own evidence and external evidence to date on how things have gone so far and we will look at the actions you might take this year to develop further the capacity of your organisation to enhance the learning.

PROGRAMME 9.30 - 10.00 Welcome and Introduction 10.00 - 10.15 The External Evidence (Jigsaw) 10.15 - 10.40 Where Do They Say We Are? 10.4O - 11.15 COFFEE 11.15 - 11.45 Where Do We Think We Are? : The implementation of the revised curriculum in your school 11.45 - 12.00 The Curriculum Progress Chart 12.00 - 12.15 The Next Steps 12.15 – 12.45 Tactical v Capacity Building Action 12.45 –1.45 Lunch 1.45 – 2.15 Agreeing a Focus 2.15 – 3.00 Creating/Sharing/Changing 3.00 – 3.15 Using your Curriculum Leaders 3.15 – 3.30 Evaluation and close of conference

EVALUATION OF 06/07 IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAMME - JIGSAW Expert Groups : What do you consider to be the key messages in this material? Home Groups: What do you consider to be the key messages to emerge from all the material? Presenters Notes: Participants sit in school groups (Home groups). Each participant is given one of the sources of evidence in which to become an ‘expert’. Each participant then joins prospective ‘experts’ in the same focus from the other Home Group, to form an ‘expert’ group. Each expert group works at its chosen area and addresses the questions supplied. The ‘experts’ then return to their Home Group to share in putting their findings together and addressing the task supplied. (What are the key messages?) One ‘Home Group’ can feedback and any additional points can be added.

COFFEE 10.45 – 11.15

CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION In your school groups, reflect on actions which you have carried out to date in the context of the Knoster factors and complete the fish diagram. Presenters Notes: Each school receives the outline of a fish skeleton. They are asked to record actions they have taken during the planning year which they feel contributed to progress. Facilitator conveys appropriate actions to whole group/ wider group Feed back structured under Knoster headings. Possible Script: At LL1 we offered you the Knoster model for managing change and we used it as a planning tool. Now we are going to use the same model for the purposes of review.

THE CURRICULUM PROGRESS CHART Individually, give a score against each of the factors for each of the stakeholder groups. Then, using the extra chart, agree a final scoring, as a school group. The final totals will give you an indication as to what factor and which group of people may need attention. Presenters Notes: Participants are each given a copy of the Progress Chart and one extra copy per school. Facilitators can remind participants that score should be based on evidence. Outcomes are purely for the purpose of self-evaluation and are not to be shared with the other groups. Possible Script: This exercise is just a rough and ready attempt to see what you might need to attend to next and with which group.

THE NEXT STEPS Possible Script: Now we have examined the external evaluation evidence of progress so far and you have evaluated your own school’s progress. We will spend the remainder of the day looking at the next steps you might take in the light of your learning from this morning’s review. In this first year of implementation you will continue the process of building the capacity of your teachers and your school to deliver the outcomes that this curriculum has been planned to deliver. Before you begin to look at the actions you might take in this coming year, let’s first clarify what we mean by ‘capacity’.

WHAT IS MEANT BY CAPACITY? ‘Internal capacity is the power to engage in and sustain continuous learning of teachers and the school itself for the purpose of enhancing pupil learning.’ Louise Stoll Improving School Effectiveness Possible Script: Building capacity is about creating the conditions in which your teachers can learn whatever they need to know to deliver this change in their practice. This won’t happen of its own accord – it needs to be planned for and supported. But just as importantly, capacity building is about how the school itself learns about just how well it is led, managed and structured in order to produce ‘pupil learning’.

Curriculum Aim The Northern Ireland Curriculum aims to empower young people to achieve their potential and to make informed and responsible decisions throughout their lives. Curriculum Objectives To develop the young person as an individual To develop the young person as a contributor to society To develop the young person as a contributor to the economy & environment Possible Script: Let’s remind ourselves what the pupils in our schools are supposed to be learning. This is a challenging agenda. The evidence we have looked at this morning suggests you are meeting that challenge. Let’s look at what we can learn from the experience.

TACTICAL STRATEGIC CAPACITY BUILDING Short term quick wins; can be reactive quick fixes Narrow focus Addresses symptoms and anecdotal evidence Often off the shelf Tends to be top down ‘imposed’ for speedy completion Hierarchical – focuses on compliance Compliance sought – monitoring sufficient Risk of isolated use, not part of overall strategy STRATEGIC Medium term, can be reactive Medium focus – applying what works more widely Addresses symptoms using some evidence to identify causes Some customisation to fit circumstances Some consultation with staff Support for implementation is customised to need Ownership supported by evaluation and formative feedback Improvement philosophy that embraces whole school CAPACITY BUILDING Long term, proactive, built up slowly over time, started early. Wide focus – big picture in time and place. Whole system thinking Addresses causes using a range of evidence Customised to fit circumstances Staff fully engaged in problem solving Support for implementation encourages autonomy and responsibility Self sustaining Part of a long term, sustainable improvement philosophy Possible Script: In this past year which has been about kick-starting your schools’ learning for this curriculum, some of the approaches you have taken may best be described as ‘tactical’ and at this stage such approaches were appropriate, but for best results you need longer lasting effects. Activities under each of the headings are all valid and need to / will take place at different stages of development. School will have a mixture of all of these at any one time. Provide examples of “activities” . Have copies of the slide on the table for the participants.

IN YOUR SCHOOL GROUPS Evaluate the actions on your fishbone by using the highlighters provided to mark each action as either Tactical, Strategic or Capacity Building. Presenters Notes: Facilitators can encourage the sharing of points of interest around the table and with the room. If possible, facilitators share those activities which help illustrate the next slide (eg school agreed that all teachers would concentrate on AFL or holding workshops to explore AFL approaches or share outcomes). 3 highlighters per school needed to highlight tactical strategic and capacity building on the fishbone

LUNCH 12.30 – 1.30

THE BIGGER PICTURE Possible Script: We are well aware that implementing the revised curriculum in Year 8 is not the only thing on your horizons. The agenda is complex and diverse. But the approach we are suggesting here may be helpful to you in bringing coherence to this agenda. Everything with which you are juggling is ultimately targeted at pupils learning and achievement (bring up 1st Circle), and that has been what we have just been looking at, through the medium of the revised curriculum (bring up 2nd Circle). Our research model and the evaluation evidence we have looked at tell us that pupils’ learning and achievement will only be enhanced by teachers working together to look at their practice, and design and review new ways of working (bring up 3rd Circle). This work will be enhanced by working in partnerships – clusters, with Specialist Schools, with parents (bring up 4th Circle). In September 2008 DE intends to implement a new School Improvement Policy (5th Circle) that will require you to self-evaluate, target set etc. This is the same process we are describing here and this focussed approach will allow you to address all of these elements in a unified way in your SDP (6th Circle) and allow you to integrate the PRSD requirements in a meaningful way at the same time (7th Circle).

Pupil Learning & Achievement Formally monitored and evaluated by Documented in Strategically managed by Enhanced by Led by Within the context of Pupil Learning & Achievement A Professional Learning Community The Revised Curriculum & the Entitlement Framework Action plan to be deconstructed according to Capacity building indicators Circles on this diagram School Development Plans and Action Plans School Improvement Process Partnerships PRSD

Towards an Integrated Approach Remind the participants of the danger of fragmentation of the agenda We need a possible approach which will link together the priorities

TACTICAL STRATEGIC CAPACITY BUILDING Short term quick wins; can be reactive quick fixes Narrow focus, sometimes a result of short sightedness Addresses symptoms and anecdotal evidence Often off the shelf Tends to be top down ‘imposed’ for speedy completion Hierarchical – focuses on compliance Compliance sought – monitoring sufficient Risk of isolated use, not part of overall strategy STRATEGIC Medium term, can be reactive Medium focus – applying what works more widely Addresses symptoms using some evidence to identify causes Some customisation to fit circumstances Some consultation with staff Support for implementation is customised to need Ownership supported by evaluation and formative feedback Improvement philosophy that embraces whole school CAPACITY BUILDING Long term, proactive, built up slowly over time, started early. Wide focus – big picture in time and place. Whole system thinking Addresses causes using a range of evidence Customised to fit circumstances Staff fully engaged in problem solving Support for implementation encourages autonomy and responsibility Self sustaining Part of a long term, sustainable improvement philosophy Possible Script: In this past year which has been about kick-starting your schools’ learning for this curriculum, some of the approaches you have taken may best be described as ‘tactical’ and at this stage such approaches were appropriate, but for best results you need longer lasting effects.

KEY QUESTIONS What do good outcomes for our pupils look like? What does good practice in our classrooms look like? What works? What doesn’t? What more do we need to do? Possible Script: In effect, going through the implementation of the Action Plan will allow you to answer these questions for yourselves and for ETI

CURRICULUM LEADERS 3 Possible Script: Your curriculum leaders team will be coming out to us next. The ETI suggests that the most effective work was done when the CL team was facilitated to follow-up the out-centre experience and were given the opportunity to facilitate, debate and dialogue back in their schools. Unlike last year we are not suggesting that you deliver a similar day to this back in school. The Curriculum Leaders Day in October will be very similar to today. They will return to school with similar understandings of what the external evaluation evidence says and their self-evaluation evidence which will provide a further triangulation point for you to help you plan your actions for this year. Their afternoon will differ from yours in that they will look at their team’s progress and then explore specific strategies that they might employ with your staff to support the debate about teaching and learning in your classrooms. So what we are asking you to commit to is a discussion with your CL team as to HOW you can facilitate their work and WHEN they might work with others in your school. In order for your CL team to be able to use the day effectively please have this discussion with them.