1. An Evaluation of Practitioner Based Enquiry as a Method of Building Senior Management Team Capacity and Self-Efficacy
Elizabeth Bolton, Richard Lockhart, Michelle O’Grady
MSc Educational Psychology,
Introduction
Raising attainment and achievement for all pupils is an ongoing focus for schools not only in Scotland, but across the world. Effective teaching can significantly improve outcomes for pupils (Hattie, 2009), and the formation of the ‘National Improvement Framework’ (Scottish Government, 2016) has highlighted the key role of teacher professionalism (the impact of professional learning on children’s progress and achievement) in promoting an equitable and excellent education system for all.
Practitioner Based Enquiry (PBE) is becoming more popular and a widely accepted form of teacher Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL). Systematic enquiry can support teachers to respond to changing circumstances by ‘letting go’ of previous pedagogies and re-skilling in cycles of professional reflective learning throughout their career (Menter, Elliot, Hulme, Lewin & Lowden, 2011). In addition, PBE should lead to deep transformative learning through collaborative working.
Within the local authority, the Educational Psychology Service has been championing the use of evidence-based practice to build a network of schools which follow a Visible Learning (VL) framework to raise attainment. The researchers were interested in discovering the impact of the PBE approach on building teachers’ capacity and self-efficacy.
Procedure
Ethical approval was gained from the University of Dundee. For the online questionnaire, participants were provided with a participant information sheet. Participants were informed they would receive a Smart Survey and that by proceeding to the questionnaire they were confirming their consent. The online questionnaire consisted of fifteen questions and participants were informed it would take no longer than five minutes to complete. With the semi-structured interviews, the researcher explained the process with the participant and asked them to complete the consent form. The interview lasted for approximately fifteen minutes. One of the researchers asked the two guiding questions, along with questions generated in response to the answers given by the participant. The other researcher was tasked with managing the time, operating the audio recording equipment and noting down emerging themes.
Discussion
The theme of collaboration is inextricably linked with reflective practice. As part of the collaborative process of engaging in PBE, SMT members were asked to reflect on their own and others’ practice. They described these experiences as:
Time for reflection was highly regarded by the participants and fundamental to deepening and embedding their learning.
Working collaboratively with people who are both more advanced in their journey and who shared real life examples had positive effects in terms of participants feeling more able to implement VL in their situation.
In terms of Implementation, the data extracted considered the practicalities of implementing the PBE approach, supporting development opportunities and change within a school setting. One participant discussed the importance of sharing information:
The PBE sessions involved the participants reflecting on whether PBE was possible.
At the initial implementation
stage there is importance
on increasing confidence,
competence, support and resources.
The theme of impact focused on attainment; the effect on learning and teaching; developing confidence and self-esteem; developing capacity and empowerment. Comments included:
Throughout the quantitative and qualitative data, confidence is noted as a major factor. Collaboration with colleagues during PBE helped participants to feel more confident embedding the VL approach in their school.
good to build confidence.
let me become aware of where we were and what we need to develop.
I think is was mostly from experiences that people shared about practitioner based enquiry in their own school and how they’ve gone about it. I found that most useful.
Results
Quantitative results
The results from the descriptive statistics analyses for skills and knowledge acquisition (capacity) were M = 3.54; SD = 0.73 and for self-efficacy, M = 3.86; SD = In this study, the participants believed that the PBE approach moderately increased their capacity to implement a VL approach to raise attainment, and they felt relatively more able to support their staff to implement the VL initiatives, as a result of the PBE approach.
To examine any unique relationships between the building capacity and self-efficacy scales, Spearman’s rho analyses were examined for each variable. Four significant positive correlations were found within the knowledge and skills acquisition (capacity); with one significant correlation found between capacity and self-efficacy. This suggests that the PBE approach, in this study, was significant to build SMT capacity in gaining confidence through: mastering skills, providing information, and improving ability to implement VL initiatives.
The results suggest that the PBE approach was successful in improving SMT capacity for implementing a VL framework in their school and in facilitating SMTs to gain confidence in their own ability to motivate their staff.
Qualitative results
Thematic analysis was used to explore the qualitative data through the use of a six-phase framework in line with Braun and Clarke (2006). The six stages were: familiarising yourself with the data, generating initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and producing the report. The researchers worked collaboratively during phase 3 searching for themes and initial codes were generated.
Phase 4 of the thematic analysis revealed the final organising theme to be reflective practice. Main themes were: collaboration, implementation and impact.
PBE helped me to understand it [VL] more from a teacher point of view…how I can share that with my teachers to show …there is an importance around PBE
I suppose it made me think about…is this something I could do at school level?
Research Questions
Will the use of a PBE approach for CLPL build Senior Management Team (SMT) capacity when implementing a visible learning approach to raise attainment?
2. Will the use of a PBE approach for CLPL increase SMT self-efficacy in supporting staff to implement initiatives?
The PBE sessions helped me to develop a clear vision of our next steps as a school
The aim would be in the future to get our educational psychologist in to support practitioner based enquiry and how that can impact on learning and teaching
Methodology
Epistemology
A social constructivist stance was adopted as the research involved knowledge being constructed with the participants.
Methods of Data Collection
The participants were identified as those involved in PBE who were part of the SMT based in a primary school within the local authority. Qualitative data was gathered using semi-structured interviews (n = 2) with some set open questions, plus other open questions generated based on the interviewees responses. An online questionnaire was used for obtaining quantitative data (n = 14).
Research Design (Quantitative & Qualitative)
A non-experimental research design was implemented using an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to facilitate triangulation of research evidence. The online questionnaire allowed for the collection of quantitative data, as participants were required to respond to fifteen questions on a five point Likert scale. Open questions were used for gathering rich, in-depth qualitative data from the semi-structured interviews.
Sampling Methods
The sampling method used was purposeful sampling for gaining participants who are part of the SMT of primary schools in the local authority. All are actively engaged in PBE for raising attainment through the use of a VL approach.
I suppose it is just about having more knowledge and access to people who know
Implications for EP Practice
Supporting schools with the implementation and evaluation of VL approaches.
Shifting the mindset of stakeholders and empowering them to use PBE to improve practice.
Providing consistent follow up to support with momentum and sustainability issues.
Encourage the development of positive relationships between the EPS and school.
Building capacity for schools to use a PBE approach in their daily activities when looking for evidence of impact.
References
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 3, DOI: qp063oa
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London: Routledge.
Menter, I., Elliot, D., Hulme, M., Lewin, J., & Lowden, K. (2011). A guide to practitioner research in education. London: SAGE publishing.
Scottish Government. (2016). National Improvement Framework for Scottish Education. Retrieved from