Project management

Managing a school project Objectives: Project management, theory and practice Planning and organisation Communication Time management Finance and reporting The creative use of evaluation Dissemination Student voice School partnerships

Definition: ‘A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. It is performed by people, constrained by limited resources, planned, executed and controlled’ PMBOK Guide

An international education project..... Usually involves pupils and teachers in contact with schools outside of their own country Visits, exchanges and placements (face-to-face) Joint curriculum projects School development projects eTwinning and/or other virtual contacts International professional development

Activity: Agenda for a project planning meeting in your school Group 1: The annual bi-lateral exchange of older students (two weeks) aimed at improving their language skills Group 2: A new joint curriculum project on sustainable development involving 6 schools in 4 countries Group 3: A school development project looking at sharing good practice in the teaching of ICT Group 4: An eTwinning project (10 schools) on famous artists Group 5: A job shadowing programme for language teachers

Planning: Items to discuss

Planning: items to discuss General aims Strengths of the schools involved Who will be involved: staff and/or pupils Methods and frequency of communication Language Cultural issues Areas of the curriculum to be involved Timing –project activities, visits, school holidays, exams Who does what – roles Contingency and risks

An intercultural scenario The project uses English as a working language but one of the schools always sends the Headteacher to project meetings whose language skills are ‘survival’ at best. As a result this school is constantly misunderstanding the project’s tasks. “My partner always agrees with everything I say, but actually doesn’t always manage to follow through.”

What has happened here? How do you think the co-ordinator and partner feel about the situation? Why do they feel that way? What assumptions have they both made? What actions could they take?

The project plan Evidence that the plan has been prepared jointly with the partner school(s) Clear aims, objectives and milestones Clear links to the curriculum in all countries For JCPs - a sense of progression – not just a series of ‘getting to know you’ activities Balanced budget

Project management guidance Survival Kit website: With downloads:  Publication in EN, DE, FR, IT and RO  Project management tools:  Templates  Examples  Resources e.g. partner agreements, planning forms, staff cost sheets, evaluation tools…

Gantt chart – a simple planning tool SeptOctNovDecJanFeb Task 1   Task  2.2  = milestones (may also be pressure points for the project) Monitoring and evaluation Climate change events and student conference Introductory activities Visit in November and climate change project starts

Additional planning tools Produce a simple Gantt chart: Use open source software: ProjectManagement-with-GanttCharts

Planning for communication What means of communication are available for international project work ? How useful are each of these? (Score 1 - 5) What is the potential in each for intercultural misunderstandings? What agreements and rules should we make ?

Financial management: some ground rules Align the budget to the project’s aims Always link the budget to the work plan What is eligible expenditure? Value for money Create systems for managing finance Visit etiquette Keep all receipts and other evidence

Evaluation 1Why is evaluation important? 2Stages in evaluation 3Collecting the evidence and implementing changes. What techniques will you use? ‘ How will you evaluate, during and after the Partnership, whether the aims of the partnership have been met and the expected impact has been achieved?’

Why is evaluation important? To improve the quality of the project To provide a context for open discussion on project performance To reveal strengths as well as weaknesses and identify obstacles to progress

Stages in evaluation Planning for evaluation: Agree the priorities for evaluation. It is impossible to evaluate everything! Check that everyone shares a common vocabulary Agree how responsibility for evaluation will be shared across the partnership Discuss timing, create an evaluation workplan

Collecting and interpreting evidence: ‘How do we know?’ What are we going to evaluate? The processes of the project (classroom activities, meetings, communications) The outputs of the project (materials, website, DVDs) The outcomes of the project - more difficult! Do we know the original situation? (Benchmarking of skills, knowledge, attitudes) What will be our indicators of change?

Activity: Collecting the evidence and implementing changes Compare the evaluation techniques you already use at school Which ones might be useful in an international project? How do you reach all of your target groups?

Collecting and interpreting evidence: ‘How do we know?’ Which evaluation tools should we use? 1Question- naire 2Learning Log 3Webtool 4User Group 5 Stats Analysis 6Interviews Self evaluation is often highly effective Use evaluation tools which are carefully structured and make the indicators clear:

Evaluation diary Activity (including dates) Target Groups Brief rationale and description of activity Impact Future modifications NAMESCHOOL/ORGANISATION

Evaluation diary Activity (including dates) Theme or title Target Groups Who with? Brief rationale and description of activity Why did I do it?What did I do? Impact How did it go? Future modifications If I was to do this activity again what would I change and why. NAMESCHOOL/ORGANISATION

Project self evaluation: Used at a team meeting The timetable has been respected Planned activities have taken place Communications were efficient Partners have contributed as stated in the workplan We have met the goals we agreed at the last meeting The partners have learned from each other Have we a good partnership?

Evaluation of a project meeting INDICATORS: Sufficient information was sent before the meeting and communication was efficient Partners were given time for introductions (or re-introductions) and had time to update each other on their backgrounds and what they can bring to the project The agenda has been respected and any changes negotiated Partners have all contributed to the meeting The goals of the meeting were met The working environment was adequate for the proposed tasks Planned activities have taken place The partners have a clear idea of their next steps The accommodation, food and social element were adequate

Analyse results - if possible at a team meeting Draw attention to the positives as well as the challenges Adapt: workplan, activities, communications, management styles, budgets Inform everyone involved - try not to impose! Record all the reasons for the changes Implementing change: ‘What are we going to do next?’

Summary Begin early in the project Involve others (possibly an external evaluator, but also target group representatives) Use appropriate types of evaluation Use evaluation mechanisms that predict the development of the project Record all data and data analysis and use it in project implementation

Sustaining the project All funding has an end point - 1,2,3 years Think strategically about what you want to do when the period of funding ends What can you do to keep things moving after that? Do partnerships have to be forever ? Planning for sustainability should be a partnership activity

Life after funding Use funded time to get systems sorted out (communication channels, IT, timetables for projects, the best curriculum areas, staff enthusiasm) Great projects with overseas partners don’t have to cost money – e.g. e-projects A partnership agreement?

A partnership agreement Planning for an agreement is a joint process The document will probably evolve during the funded period of the project Signing the agreement should be an important project milestone and an occasion for celebration! Set regular review dates as the project moves on

Activity Does the end of funding mean the end of a partnership ? What is your most successful low-cost/free international project ? What is the best fundraising event at your school?

Dissemination – initial thoughts How do I get the partners motivated for dissemination? How to find suitable dissemination channels for this project? Website and newsletter- will it be enough? Who would help us to spread information about our project on the European level? Why should we disseminate anyway? Isn’t it enough that the students benefit from our work?

Dissemination A special day (or other event in school) with an international theme: - Europe Day - International Day of Languages - Spring Day etc

Student voice: key questions What does “student voice” mean to you? What is your experience of “student voice”? The voice of just some, or all students? And what do we do with what they tell us?

Involving the whole community Examples of community involvement from Comenius applications: -Other educational institutions (including universities) -Churches, mosques, synagogues and their community groups -Local businesses -‘Heritage’ sites - Tourist information providers -Local performers -Wildlife trusts -Media -Local Administration, Community Police

A definition of a great school partnership A great school partnership should be:

A definition of a great school partnership A great school partnership should be: - Sustainable - Not (entirely) funding led - Soundly managed - Motivating to staff and pupils alike - Supported by senior management - Involving for the wider school community - Integrated into the curriculum - Strategically planned - Addressing global issues - Contributing to key competence development of teachers and pupils All of these factors contribute to the development of critical cultural awareness and intercultural learning and understanding.

An intercultural scenario One of the partner schools has a few Roma pupils who do not appear to get the opportunity to take part in the project. One of the other schools has many more Roma pupils and integrates them into most school activities including this project. A teacher from the first school makes frequent negative comments about the Roma and this is causing ill feeling in the partnership.

What has happened here? How do you think the other partners feel about the situation? Why do they feel that way? Are they making any assumptions? What should they do next?