Comenius: Future School Leaders Action Research Carol Taylor

“It is about turning intuitive and spontaneous judgements into more systematic investigations, and it starts with the everyday questions that headteachers ask themselves…” (Handscomb and MacBeath, 2008) What?

Learn from research approaches Rigorous Clear focus on impact Clarity of anticipated impact Evidence-based Support through coaching Bring about change Identify focus, gather and use evidence Experiment with and refine practice Bring about change

Action / Enquiry Research: what is it? Typical cycle includes: Identifying an issue Audit & reflect on what is already happening Planning a piece of development work Implementing the action Reviewing what has happened Replanning the next steps

“School-based enquiry and research are now being seen to make an important contribution to self–evaluation, improvement and the professional learning of staff.” (Handscomb and MacBeath, 2004) Why do it?

Engaging in research is a professional development activity. It involves reflecting on your own practice, gaining new insights and making changes as a result It gives headteachers a chance to consolidate existing skills and develop new ones. It provides opportunities to plan a research activity, refine questions, gather data, analyse results and share your findings with others. GTCE

What can it do..? “Many report that their involvement has a rejuvinating effect and increases their appetite for leadership. In many instances involvement in the research has a direct impact on practice in the school as participants introduce new approaches based on the learning from their enquiry …. and benefit from the opportunity to reflect on their own practice and explore that of colleagues…… “ Also: “that their involvement in undertaking research has increased interest in enquiry based learning more broadly in the school, and encouraged others to complete research themselves”. ( NCSL – Research Associates programme & what those involved in enquiry based research say)

What we do know is ….. Powerful instrument in school improvement and individual motivation, empowerment / self confidence Must be rigorous and evidenced based On – the job learning effective and sustainable Most beneficial in groups of staff / whole school. Collaboration = impact on pupil achievement and school improvement Teachers retain control – others facilitate Staff modeling attitudes and behaviours they advocate Organisations need to value, encourage and support and pay attention to findings! Ensures policy and practice are not regarded as separate activities

Enquiry Model

Ask –Meaningful questions –Curiosity –Redefining questions Investigate –Research –Literature search –Discuss with colleagues Create –Make connections –Synthesis –Critical analysis Discuss –Share knowledge –Discuss conclusions Reflect –Recommendations –New questions

Opinion An opinion is an idea or assertion for which there is no evidence Always ask “what evidence do they present to support their assertions”?

Evidence Assertions should always be supported by evidence. Four key questions - is the evidence presented:  reliable: e.g. supported by other research or commentators  sufficient: i.e. presents enough evidence to sufficiently ‘prove’ something  relevant: e.g. relevant to current situation or circumstances  credible: is it ‘believable’?

 The factual strand  What ?  The retrospective strand  How?  The sub-stratum strand  Why?  The connective strand  What next? The Four Strand Approach to Reflective Practice Fish, Twinn and Purr (1991)

Factual / what? Setting the scene What actually happened? Pinpointing significant / critical incidents What did you feel, think and do? Retrospective / how? Involves looking back over the whole event, seeking patterns and new meanings and reviewing intentions Process outcomes and personal views

Sub-stratum / why? What assumptions, beliefs, culture, customs, attitudes or values underlie the event? What were the environmental demands? Connective / what next? Implications for future practice? What was learned? What could be changed? Could concepts or assumptions be challenged?