Childrens

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Childrens UniversityNational evaluation

• John MacBeath
• Joanne Waterhouse

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Trends shaping education

• A new economic landscape
• Knowledge intensive service economies
• Widening divides between affluence and poverty
• populations on the move, new diversities
• Transformative technologies
• users create content
• Changing social connections and values
• complex configurations of home life

(OECD, 2008)
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UNICEF 2008

• The true measure of a nations standing is how
  well it attends to its children their health
  and safety, their material security, their
  education and socialization, and their sense of
  being loved, valued, and included in the families
  and societies into which are born
• (An Overview of Child Well Being in Rich
  Countries (2007 p. 3).

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Child well-being in rich countries A summary
table
Dimension 3 Dimension 4 Dimension 5 Dimension 6
Dimensions of child well-being Average ranking position (for all 6 dimensions) Educational well-being Family and peer relationships Behaviour and risks Subjective well-being
Netherlands 4.2 6 3 3 1
Sweden 5.0 5 15 1 7
Denmark 7.2 8 9 6 12
Finland 7.5 4 17 7 11
Spain 8.0 15 8 5 2
Switzerland 8.3 14 4 12 6
Norway 8.7 11 10 13 8
Italy 10.0 20 1 10 10
Ireland 10.2 7 7 4 5
Belgium 10.7 1 5 19 16
Germany 11.2 10 13 11 9
Canada 11.8 2 18 17 15
Greece 11.8 16 11 8 3
Poland 12.3 3 14 2 19
Czech Republic 12.5 9 19 9 17
France 13.0 18 12 14 18
Portugal 13.7 21 2 15 14
Austria 13.8 19 16 16 4
Hungary 14.5 13 6 18 13
United States 18.0 12 20 20 -
United Kingdom 18.2 17 21 21 20
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NESTED LIVES

• Children and young people live nested lives, so
  that when classrooms do not function as we want
  them to, we go to work on improving them. Those
  classrooms are in schools, so when we decide that
  those schools are not performing appropriately,
  we go to work on improving them, as well. But
  those young people are also situated in families,
  in neighbourhoods, in peer groups who shape
  attitudes and aspirations often more powerfully
  than their parents or teachers.
• (David Berliner, 2005)

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The nesting of childrens learning

• The family and neighbourhood context
• The social and economic context
• The national cultural context
• The global policy context
• The school context
• The OHSL contexts

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Entre les murs

• its naturalistic portrayal of the energy and
  high tension of the classroom
• the chaos, the challenges to, and idle assertions
  of authority, the clashes and power struggles,
  and, the tedium, a wholly absorbing microcosm of
  human interaction.

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Push..

• Social capital as the primary determinant of
  school success
• The significant impact of the peer effect
• The continued failure to close the achievement
  gap
• The inherent limitations of schooling
• The high stakes competitive environment

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.and pull

• The liberating effect of time, space and lack of
  pressure
• Opportunities for self determination and self
  direction
• Broadening contexts and opportunities for
  learning
• The collegiality of relationships with supportive
  adults
• The fulfillment and empowerment which come from
  experiencing success

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Pupil
Teacher/Tutor
Parent
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BENS STORY

• Creative Writing I really used to struggle with
  stories and my writing so I took a course in
  Creative Writing. The teacher gave us loads of
  different ideas for starting off, not just
  pictures but words and feelingshow to get going.
  I learnt loads and that. I won a prize for the
  most improved pupil in Literacy. That Creative
  Writing course definitely helped me.
• Glass Painting Id never done that before,
  using the pens to outline the shape and the
  different coloured fillers. That helped me in Art
  when we were designing different symbols and in
  Geography when had to present our maps. 
• Clay Modelling I learnt how to use the
  modelling tools, how to hold them and get it to
  do what you wanted. When we did clay in class I
  was showing other people how to do it.

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Sarah

• The teacher
• The real value of CU for Sarah has been the
  opportunity over a number of years to meet
  different adults and to adapt to their different
  ways. There is a difficult transition period when
  Sarah meets a new adult. It is a testing time
  for Sarah. But CU has enabled her to make these
  transitions and the experience of coping and
  holding her own in different environments has
  enabled a smoother transition to secondary
  school. She has become a class councillor this
  year for the first time and had been a bright
  little spark at meetings
• The parent
• Choice of activities within Bicester CU has been
  important for Sarah as each time she has been
  able to find something to enjoy, a taster of new
  things. Her involvement has led to a slow
  development of her confidence over the years. She
  now sees people in Bicester whom she has met at
  CU activities and is delighted that they know her
  and acknowledge her. Building these contacts
  across Bicester has been important for her
  confidence.

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(No Transcript)
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Teaching and learning in the wild

• Embedded in relationships
• Contextualised
• Learner-centred
• Concerned with skills and dispositions
• Supportive but challenging
• Enjoyable but risky
• Relaxed but alert
• Age blind

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LEARNING INTHE UNFAMILIAR
tasks/ problems
unfamiliar
novel problems in familiar contexts
unfamiliar problems in unfamiliar contexts
familiar problems in familiar contexts
familiar problems in novel contexts
contexts/situations
familiar
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LEARNING INTHE UNFAMILIAR
unfamiliar
tasks/ problems
novel problems in familiar contexts
unfamiliar problems in unfamiliar contexts
familiar problems in familiar contexts
familiar problems in novel contexts
familiar
contexts/situations
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• 12 KEY THEMES

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• 1. Perceptions and expectations
• How the CU is perceived by teachers, by parents,
  by community and public, by the media, and by
  politicians and policy makers politicians
• 2.Questions of purpose
• What is the primary purpose?
• Who tells the CU story?
• 3.The place of community
• What is the place of community?
• How are CU activities embedded within wider
  strategic policies?
• 4. Parents and families
• What initiatives may be taken, and can be built
  on, to inform and engage parents both at local
  and national level?
• 5. Provision
• What is the nature of opportunities to learn?
• How are children challenged to move beyond their
  comfort zone?
• 6. Maximising use of the inside and outside
  environment
• Who are the potential partners locally and what
  construction sites may offer as yet unexplored
  opportunities for pupils and teachers learning?
  

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• 7.Targeting
• Who is the CU for?
• 8. Direction, co-ordination and resourcing
• How do CU centres direct and co-ordinate their
  work?
• Where is the locus of decision-making?
• 9. Staffing
• Who staffs CU?
• How much rests on voluntarism and goodwill?
• 10. Curriculum and pedagogy
• What is the CU Curriculum?
• What is the nature of pedagogy?
• 11. Incentives and rewards
• What makes children want to sign up to the CU?
• What makes them come back for more?
• What are the attractions for their parents?
• 12. Capacity, growth and sustainability
• What will sustain the CU over the coming years?
• How are the pressures and obstacles addressed?

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Success factors

• Choice
• Active participation
• Extension and novelty
• Outcome
• Pride and confidence building
• Recognition for achievement positive
  reinforcement
• Enjoyment in a challenging tasks and perseverance
• Time and space
• Adult relationships (vertical v horizontal)
• The feelgood factor
• Inclusiveness

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A weighting exercise

• Choice
• Active participation
• Extension and novelty
• Outcome
• Pride and confidence building
• Recognition for achievement positive
  reinforcement
• Enjoyment in a challenging tasks and perseverance
• Time and space
• Adult relationships (vertical v horizontal)
• The feelgood factor
• Inclusiveness

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4 questions

• 5 key things you offer in your curriculum
• What percentage of time is allocated to your CU
  role?
• What percentage of time is given to your CU role
• What would you like to see highlighted in the
  next evaluation?