Title: Are Schools still Relevant Keynote Presentation to The Modern Education Desert Lecture Series The Ro
1Are Schools still Relevant?Keynote
Presentation to The Modern Education Desert
Lecture SeriesThe Royal Geographical Society,
London, Tuesday 10th June 2008
Professor David HopkinsHSBC iNet Chair of
International Leadership
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6- Universal education through schooling is not
feasible. It would be no more feasible if it were
attempted by means of alternative institutions
built on the style of present schools. Neither
new attitudes of teachers toward their pupils nor
the proliferation of educational hardware or
software (in classroom or bedroom), nor finally
the attempt to expand the pedagogue's
responsibility until it engulfs his pupils'
lifetimes will deliver universal education. - The current search for new educational funnels
must be reversed into the search for their
institutional inverse educational webs which
heighten the opportunity for each one to
transform each moment of his living into one of
learning, sharing, and caring. - Illich, I. (1971) Deschooling Society
7KNOWLEDGE POOR
1970s Uninformed professional judgement
1980s Uninformed prescription
PROFESSIONAL JUDGEMENT
NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION
2000s Informed professional judgement
1990s Informed prescription
KNOWLEDGE RICH
8OECD Trends
- The nature of childhood and extended
adolescence - The knowledge economy
- Inequality and exclusion
- Changing family and community life
- And more broadly
- Alarming increase in the inequalities between
rich and poor countries - Patterns of population growth
9Why Scenarios?
- Scenarios translate trends into imagined probable
futures, helping us to - understand more about our current direction of
travel, our values and our principles - imagine the preferred future we hope to shape
together - explore how school leaders and policy makers can
work to make this a reality.
10Six OECD Scenarios
- Maintaining the Status Quo
- 1. Bureaucratic school systems continue
- 2. Teacher exodus, the meltdown scenario
- Re-schooling
- 3. Schools as core social centres
- 4. Schools as focused learning organisations
- De-schooling
- 5. Learning networks and the network society
- 6. Extending the market model
111. Bureaucratic School Systems Continue
- strong pressures towards uniformity.
- schools as distinct institutions, knitted
together by complex administrative arrangements. - media commentaries frequently critical in tone,
but radical change is resisted. - fear that change will not address fundamental
tasks of guardianship socialisation, alongside
cognitive development equality of opportunity.
122. Teacher Exodus - Meltdown Scenario
- crisis triggered by a rapidly ageing profession,
exacerbated by low teacher morale and buoyant
opportunities in graduate job market. - large size of the teaching force makes
improvements in relative attractiveness costly,
with long lead times for tangible results. - disparities of the crisis by socio-geographic, as
well as subject, area. - creates vicious circle of retrenchment conflict.
133. Schools as Core Social Centres
- schools enjoy widespread recognition as the most
effective bulwark against social, family and
community fragmentation. - extensive shared responsibilities exist between
schools and other community bodies, expertise and
institutions of further education, shaping, not
conflicting with, high teacher professionalism. - generous levels of financial support meet
demanding requirements for quality learning in
all communities, elevating the esteem of teachers
and schools.
14 4. Schools as Focused Learning Organisations
- schools are revitalised around strong knowledge
agendas (rather than a social agenda), in a
culture of high quality experimentation,
diversity and innovation. - new forms of evaluation and competence assessment
flourish. -
- ICT is used extensively alongside other learning
media, traditional and new. - knowledge management moves to the fore, and the
very large majority of schools have extensive
links to tertiary education and other
organisations.
155. Learning Networks - Networked Society
- dissatisfaction with institutionalised provision
diversified demand leads to the abandonment of
schools in favour of multiple learning networks. - networks are founded on extensive possibilities
of powerful, inexpensive ICT. - deinstitutionalisation of school systems becomes
part of the emerging network society. - various cultural, religious and community voices
come to the fore in the socialisation and
learning arrangements for children.
166. Extending the Market Model
- governments encourage diversification in a
broader environment of market-led change, - many new providers are encouraged by reforms of
funding structures, incentives and regulation. - flourishing indicators, measures accreditation
arrangements start to displace direct public
monitoring and curriculum regulation. - Innovation abounds, as do painful transitions and
inequalities.
17My Preferred Scenario
- Breaking with the past Preferred future
- Transmission model Learning focussed
- Jack of all trades Supported professionalism
- Islands of excellence Networking
- Secret gardens Social centres
18Moral Purpose of Schooling
I get to learn lots of interesting and different
subjects
I know what my learning objectives are and feel
in control of my learning
I can get a level 4 in English and Maths before I
go to secondary school
I know what good work looks like and can help
myself to learn
I know if I need extra help or to be challenged
to do better I will get the right support
My parents are involved with the school and I
feel I belong here
I can work well with and learn from many others
as well as my teacher
I know how I am being assessed and what I need to
do to improve my work
I can get the job that I want
I enjoy using ICT and know how it can help my
learning
All these . whatever my background, whatever my
abilities, wherever I start from
19The G100 Communique
- A group of 100 principals from fourteen
countries (G100) met at the National Academy of
Education Administration (NAEA) in Beijing, China
16-19 October 2006 to discuss the transformation
of and innovation in the worlds education
systems. - They concluded their communique in this way -
- We need to ensure that moral purpose is at the
fore of all educational debates with our parents,
our students, our teachers, our partners, our
policy makers and our wider community. - We define moral purpose as a compelling drive to
do right for and by students, serving them
through professional behaviors that raise the
bar and narrow the gap and through so doing
demonstrate an intent, to learn with and from
each other as we live together in this world.
20The need for a systemic response
- We aspire to a society that is not merely civil
but is good. A good society is one in which
people treat one another as ends in themselves.
And not merely as instruments as whole persons
rather than as fragments as members of a
community, bonded by ties of affection and
commitment, rather than only as employees,
traders, consumers or even as fellow citizens. - The vision of a good society is a tableau on
which we project our aspirations, not a full
checklist of all that deserves our dedication.
And the vision is often reformulated as the world
around us changes, and as we change. - The Third Way is a road that leads us toward the
good society. However, it should be acknowledged
at the outset that the Third Way is indeed fuzzy
at the edges, not fully etched. - Amitai Etzioni The third way to a good society
21Every School a Great Schoolas an expression of
moral purpose
- What parents want is for their local school to be
a great school. - (National Association of School Governors
Education and Skills Select Committee 2004). -
- Test of resolve
- A stress on moral purpose and social justice in
order to equalise life chances - an educational system that enables every
individual to achieve their potential and enhance
their learning skills - enhance teaching quality rather than structural
change - commitment to sustained, systemic change since a
focus on individual school improvement distorts
social equity.
22The Key Question - how do we get there?
- Most agree that
- When standards are too low and too varied
- some form of direct state intervention is
necessary - the impact of this top-down approach is usually
to raise standards. - But when
- progress plateaus - while a bit more might be
squeezed out in some schools , and perhaps a lot
in underperforming schools, one must question
whether this is still the recipe for sustained
reform - there is a growing recognition that to ensure
that every student reaches their potential,
schools need to lead the next phase of reform. - The 64k dollar question is how do we get there?
23Towards system wide sustainable reform
Building Capacity
Professionalism
Prescription
National Prescription
Every School a Great School
Schools Leading Reform
System Leadership
24Four key drivers to raise achievement and build
capacity for the next stage of reform
- Personalising Learning
- Professionalising Teaching
- Building Intelligent Accountability
- Networking and Collaboration
25(i) Personalising Learning Joined up learning
and teaching
- Learning to learn
- Curriculum choice entitlement
- Assessment for learning
- Student voice
My Tutor Interactive web-based learning
resource enabling students to tailor support and
challenge to their needs and interests.
26(ii) Professionalising Teaching Teachers as
researchers, schools as learning communities
The Edu-Lancet A peer-reviewed journal
published for practitioners by practitioners
regularly read by the profession to keep abreast
of RD.
- Enhanced repertoire of learning teaching
strategies - Evidence based practice with time for collective
inquiry - Collegial coaching relationships
- CPD to tackle within school variation
27(iii) Building Intelligent Accountability Balanc
ing internal and external accountability and
assessment
Chartered examiners Experienced teachers gain
certification to oversee rigorous internal
assessment as a basis for externally awarded
qualifications.
- Moderated teacher assessment and AfL at all
levels - Bottom-up targets for every child and use of
pupil performance data - Value added data to help identify strengths /
weaknesses - Rigorous self-evaluation linked to improvement
strategies and school profile to demonstrate
success
28(iv) Networking and Collaboration Disciplined
innovation, collaboration and building social
capital
Autonomous Federations Groups of schools opt
out of LEA control but accept responsibility for
all students in their area
- Best practice captured and highly specified
- Capacity built to transfer and sustain innovation
across system - Greater responsibility taken for neighbouring
schools - Inclusion and Extended Schooling
294 drivers mould to context through system
leadership
Personalised Learning
Networks Collaboration
Professional Teaching
SYSTEM LEADERSHIP
Intelligent Accountability
30System Leadership A Proposition
- System leaders care about and work for the
success of other schools as well as their own.
They measure their success in terms of improving
student learning and increasing achievement, and
strive to both raise the bar and narrow the
gap(s). Crucially they are willing to shoulder
system leadership roles in the belief that in
order to change the larger system you have to
engage with it in a meaningful way.
31System leaders share five striking
characteristics, they
- measure their success in terms of improving
student learning and strive to both raise the bar
and narrow the gap(s). - are fundamentally committed to the improvement of
teaching and learning. - develop their schools as personal and
professional learning communities. - strive for equity and inclusion through acting on
context and culture. - understand that in order to change the larger
system you have to engage with it in a meaningful
way.
32Seven Strong Claims about School Leadership
- School leadership is second only to classroom
instruction as an influence on student learning. - Almost all successful (school) leaders draw on
the same repertoire of basic leadership
practices. - It is the enactment of the same basic leadership
practices not the practices themselves that
is responsive to the context. - School leaders improve pupil learning indirectly
through their influence on staff motivation and
working conditions. - School leadership has a greater influence on
schools and pupils when it is widely distributed. - Some patterns of leadership distribution are much
more effective than others. - A small handful of personal traits explain a
high proportion of the variation (such as being
open minded, flexible, persistent and optimistic)
in leader effectiveness.
33Leadership for Learning
- Setting direction
- Total commitment to enable every learner to reach
their potential - Ability to translate vision into whole school
programmes -
- Managing Teaching and Learning
- Ensure every child is inspired and challenged
through personalized learning - Develop a high degree of clarity about and
consistency of teaching quality -
- Developing people
- Enable students to become more active learners
- Develop schools as professional learning
communities -
- Developing the organization
- Create an evidence-based school
- Extend an organizations vision of learning to
involve networks
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35Powerful Learning
- Is the ability of learners to respond
successfully to the tasks they are set, as well
as the task they set themselves In particular,
to - Integrate prior and new knowledge
- Acquire and use a range of learning skills
- Solve problems individually and in groups
- Think carefully about their successes and
failures - Accept that learning involves uncertainty and
difficulty - All this has been termed meta-cognition it
is the learners ability to take control over
their own learning processes.
36I wrote (with Bruce Joyce) some time ago that
- Learning experiences are composed of content,
process and social climate. As teachers we create
for and with our children opportunities to
explore and build important areas of knowledge,
develop powerful tools for learning, and live in
humanizing social conditions.
37Teaching Models
- Our toolbox is the models of teaching, actually
models for learning, that simultaneously define
the nature of the content, the learning
strategies, and the arrangements for social
interaction that create the learning contexts of
our students. For example, in powerful
classrooms students learn models for
- Extracting information and ideas from lectures
and presentations - Memorising information
- Building hypotheses and theories
- Attaining concepts and how to invent them
- Using metaphors to think creatively
- Working effectively with other to initiate and
carry out co-operative tasks
38Effect Size of Teaching
Student Performance
McKinsey Company, 200711
39The Dialectic between Curriculum, Learning and
Teaching
Role Playing
Group Investigation
Synectics
Curriculum Development
Evaluation
Concept Attainment
Simulations
Curriculum Development
Synthesis
Concept Attainment
Inductive Thinking
Analysis
Models of Learning Tools for Teaching
Concept Attainment
Inductive Thinking
Application
Comprehension
Inductive Thinking
Mnemonic
Inductive thinking
Mnemonic
Knowledge
Simulations
40Act as a Community Leader
Work as a Change Agent
Managing Teaching and Learning
Developing Organisations
Personal Development
Partner another School Facing Difficulties and
Improve it
Moral Purpose
Lead a Successful Educational Improvement
Partnership
Strategic Acumen
Developing People
Lead and Improve a School in Challenging
Circumstances
41System Leadership Roles
- A range of emerging roles, including heads who
- develop and lead a successful educational
improvement partnership across local communities
to support welfare and potential - choose to lead and improve a school in extremely
challenging circumstances - partner another school facing difficulties and
improve it. This category includes Executive
Heads and leaders of more informal improvement
arrangements - act as curriculum and pedagogic innovators who
develop and then transfer best pracatice across
the system - Work as change agents or experts leaders as
National Leader of Education, School Improvement
Partner, Consultant Leader.
42Networking and SegmentationHighly
Differentiated Improvement Strategies
43Governance and Segmentation System
transformation is both complicated and
facilitated by the high degree of segmentation
within the secondary school system.
Autonomous Federations Groups of schools opt
out of LA control but accept responsibility for
all students in their area
- Greater responsibility taken for neighbouring
schools - All failing schools in Federations
- Significantly enhanced funding for students most
at risk - Rationalisation of national and local agency
functions
44Coherent System Design
U N I V E R S A L H I G H
High quality personalised learning for every
student
45Complementary Policy Framework for System Reform
46Every School a Great School Framework
47The Logic of System Leadership
Learning Potential of all Students
Repertoire of Learning Skills
Models of Learning - Tools for Teaching
Embedded in Curriculum Context and Schemes of Work
Whole School Emphasis on High Expectations and
Pedagogic Consistency
Sharing Schemes of Work and Curriculum Across and
Between Schools, Clusters, Districts, LEAs and
Nationally
48Paulo Freire once said
- No one educates anyone else
- Nor do we educate ourselves
- We educate one another in communion
- In the context of living in this world
49Professor David Hopkins HSBC Chair in
International Leadership