tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/school-partnerships-31883/articlesschool partnerships – The Conversation2022-08-21T13:09:25Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1881892022-08-21T13:09:25Z2022-08-21T13:09:25ZIf I could change one thing in education: Community-school partnerships would be top priority<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479730/original/file-20220817-8128-s4twhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C22%2C3529%2C1856&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Parent council meetings' need a name change to represent the wider spectrum of families and kinship invested in children and youth. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students thrive in environments where they are seen and valued as contributing members of classroom communities. </p>
<p>A major aspect of social development in education is <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-an-identity-safe-classroom-becki-cohn-vargas-dorothy-steele">students’ identity formation</a>. At a very early age, students are asked <a href="https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/program-planning/considerations-for-program-planning/instructional-approaches">to make connections between</a> what they are learning, their lives and the world around them.</p>
<p>This is about more than just their sense of self. In classrooms, they seek to foster a <a href="http://studentexperiencenetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Structures-for-Belonging.pdf">sense of belonging</a> and acceptance within their school and community, and learn how to negotiate their place in society. </p>
<p>But what happens when learners <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-curb-anti-black-racism-in-canadian-schools-150489">don’t see themselves reflected in what is being taught or don’t feel a sense of belonging</a>? Very early on, there is disengagement and disconnection. Both can have a lasting negative impact on student achievement and well-being. </p>
<p>I am a researcher focused on African, Afro-Caribbean and Black youth and families’ schooling experiences. If I could do one thing to change elementary education in Canada, I would appeal to school staff to understand the importance of the school-family-community partnership to improve the outcomes of all students. </p>
<h2>Go together</h2>
<p>There is an African proverb that states <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/07/30/487925796/it-takes-a-village-to-determine-the-origins-of-an-african-proverb">if you want to go fast, go alone and if you want to go far, go together</a>. How a community, including a school community, prioritizes the needs of students is critical for their success. </p>
<p>When schools, families, and communities work together as partners, students benefit. <a href="http://dropoutprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Family_Involvement_Makes_a_Difference_20100914.pdf">The benefits</a> include safer school environments, strengthening parenting skills, encouraging community service, improving academic skills and achieving other desired goals that benefit students.</p>
<p>So, how do we do this partnership? </p>
<h2>Learn</h2>
<p>As the late cultural theorist and educator bell hooks tells us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When teachers teach with love, combining care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust, we are often <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-Community-A-Pedagogy-of-Hope/hooks/p/book/9780415968188">able to enter the classroom and go straight to the heart of the matter</a>, which is knowing what to do on any given day to create the best climate for learning.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Teachers are also learners. How effectively they learn is deeply influenced by everyday interactions between their students and themselves. </p>
<p>By taking time to learn about the students in classrooms, teachers gain a greater sense of students’ strengths and areas of need. It also means identifying any barriers that may hinder learning and participation. </p>
<p>Teachers have the opportunity to find out students’ interests, what excites them, and what is important to them and their families. <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-keys-evolving-lifelong-learner">Teachers who are lifelong learners</a> understand that <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED569110.pdf">family and community are critical</a> for the growth and development of students. </p>
<h2>Affirm student identities</h2>
<p><a href="https://etfovoice.ca/feature/culturally-relevant-and-responsive-pedagogy-early-years-its-never-too-early">Culturally relevant and responsive teaching</a> provides the framework to build learning environments that are inclusive and honour the lived experiences of learners and their families. </p>
<p>The idea of an inclusive education begins with affirming students’ identity <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-intersectionality-all-of-who-i-am-105639">and intersectionalities</a> — the whole of who they are and all facets of their lives. It centres on being concerned with what and how students learn. This simple yet transformative approach can help teachers rethink engaging students. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Students standing and waiting for a bus outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers have the opportunity to find out what excites students, and what is important to them and their families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Knowledge holders are out there</h2>
<p>All families and communities are filled with resources and knowledge holders who could support classroom learning.</p>
<p>Their contributions not only build school capacity but respond to the needs of students — especially families of Black, Indigenous and racialized students. Schools can do this by establishing rapport, integrating families’ interests into the classroom and the curriculum <a href="https://teaching.betterlesson.com/strategy/146/creating-and-implementing-a-family-partnership-plan">and then taking action with them to solve problems together</a>. </p>
<p>When teachers and school staff consider the “family” as participants in a child’s education, they must think about how definitions of family vary across time and cultural contexts. This includes recognizing caregivers such as siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even community members as kin who often step in to care for children. </p>
<h2>Building relationships</h2>
<p>Families want to be involved and partner with school staff to ensure success for children and youth. That requires reciprocity and teachers co-ordinating relationships to build a bridge between home and school cultures. Developing such a relationship relies on interdependence, understanding and shared decision-making.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.panoramaed.com/blog/5-family-engagement-strategies">Collaborations with families</a> — especially people that are frequently positioned as passive or absent — will foster supportive and trusting relationships.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two moms seen at a table with their little boy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Engaging families only in one way assumes a limited picture of their realities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reduce the barriers</h2>
<p>Families do not show up in schools the same way. Engaging them only in one way assumes a limited picture of their realities. For example, <a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/overcoming-barriers/">2SLGBTQ+ families</a> and <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1238333.pdf">newcomers</a> encounter barriers and discrimination. </p>
<p>How might schools make “parent council meetings” more accessible and inclusive?
Start with a name change to make these more inclusive to represent the wider spectrum of families and kinship in real-world communities. </p>
<p>Such spaces are where community members might gain a deeper understanding of what is happening within the school. Yet “parent council” meetings are often poorly attended, for various reasons — time, lack of child care, limited <a href="https://kappanonline.org/race-power-minority-parent-participation-lee/">connection to the school community, dealing with racism and discrimination, and so on</a>. </p>
<h2>Invest in outreach</h2>
<p>Learn what days, times, and methods of communication are preferred. The pandemic opened our eyes to many possibilities and creative ways to communicate. Learn what strategies work best. Schools should be willing to change. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-school-boards-can-address-racial-injustice-181994">5 ways school boards can address racial injustice</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Ask questions and actively listen. Discuss values and develop an understanding of how experiences of racism, power and classism play out in a school setting and affect communication and interaction. </p>
<p>To get a better understanding of the school climate and the concerns of families and students, schools or boards must offer opportunities for people to share their ideas. As an example, how could <a href="https://www.waldenu.edu/online-doctoral-programs/doctor-of-education/resource/using-surveys-to-increase-parent-involvement">surveys</a>, information materials available in multiple languages and mediums and even <a href="https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/ejroc/services/culturally-responsive-curriculum-scorecards">a commitment to auditing curricula</a> interrogate what is maintained as normative culture in our schools?</p>
<p>Oftentimes, there is a lack of a shared vision on how to support students. But there is a greater impact on the family as a whole when family are seen as important partners in supporting the overall development of their child. </p>
<p><em>Arianna Lambert, a passionate elementary school teacher and educator, co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188189/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanitiã Munroe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As a researcher focussed on African, Afro-Caribbean and Black families’ schooling experiences, I appeal to school staff to understand the importance of the school-family-community partnership.Tanitiã Munroe, PhD candidate and researcher, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/464822015-09-04T04:44:35Z2015-09-04T04:44:35ZInternational partnerships can be powerful tools for Africa’s universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93449/original/image-20150831-25748-w6nsva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discusses collaboration between the US and Senegal. International partnerships, particularly between universities, can yield great rewards.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When an African university signs a memorandum of understanding, whether with a counterpart on the continent or one elsewhere in the world, there is great excitement. The university itself usually issues a statement celebrating this collaboration and glowing pieces often appear in local media.</p>
<p>Then the headlines taper off, enthusiasm wanes – and, far too frequently, these memorandums are left to gather dust in university management offices. They become reference material rather than the basis of productive relationships between institutions.</p>
<p>This is not just an African problem. The international universities that come on board as partners also battle to make the jump from signing these memos to actual activities.</p>
<p>But if these memorandums of understanding are properly planned, developed and put into action, they can contribute a great deal to any African university’s push for internationalisation.</p>
<h2>An eye on the global prize</h2>
<p>A university’s internationalisation strategy is fast <a href="http://www.britishcouncil.org/blog/why-universities-want-to-internationalise-what-stops-them">becoming a tool</a> to measure the institution’s innovation, global relevance and its potential contribution to national goals.</p>
<p>A good internationalisation strategy can help to develop an African university’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/jun/07/universities-global-ambitions-internationalising">brand</a>, both at home and abroad. It can also create new revenue generation schemes, which is extremely valuable at a time when institutions are facing a <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20150320084838589">funding crunch</a>.</p>
<p>Universities can use these memorandums of understanding and partnerships to increase their academic and research footprints on global issues. There is room for institutions to adopt global best practices when it comes to content, programmes and processes.</p>
<p>There are huge benefits for students, too. They are exposed to different ways of thinking through visiting academics, and opportunities to study elsewhere through exchange programmes. Postgraduates can collaborate on research with international peers. All of this ultimately prepares them to contribute to their own economies and to work anywhere in the world.</p>
<h2>The frontrunners</h2>
<p>Some African institutions have made great strides to take their partnerships from paper to reality. The University of Benin in Nigeria <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lec/news-and-events/news/2014/december/nigerian-collaboration/">signed</a> a binding memorandum of agreement with Lancaster University in the United Kingdom in late 2014. The institutions had started with a memorandum of understanding in 2013.</p>
<p>The universities have since developed a split-site PhD programme, whose first batch of students will start work at the end of 2015. They have also developed a forum that is designed to help bridge the gaps between academia and industry in Nigeria. Participants learn from the experiences of their colleagues at the Lancaster Environment Centre of Lancaster University. </p>
<p>Two successful meetings have already <a href="http://africaonline.cc/index.php/2015/08/27/university-researchers-should-focus-on-job-creation-uniben-vc/">been held</a> under this banner.</p>
<p>Another successful collaboration which grew from a memorandum of understanding is that between Strathmore University in Kenya and Rwanda’s <a href="http://uok.ac.rw/archives/1161">University of Kigali</a>. This focuses on regional content development. The University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria has established a postgraduate Institute of Petroleum Studies. This <a href="http://www.ipsng.org/ips/index.php/about-ips/about-ips">evolved</a> from a collaboration between the university and the IFP School, a research institution in France.</p>
<h2>Stumbling blocks</h2>
<p>Conversations I have had with university administrators around the continent reveal that many lack the knowledge to bring memorandums of understanding to life.</p>
<p>Often, universities will sign agreements even though their new partners have totally different academic programmes, priorities and processes. This disconnect is worsened by the complex structures of all universities and the frequently fraught relationship between the administrative and academic section of institutions. </p>
<p>My discussions suggest that most African universities assign a lecturer or administrator – who is great at their core job – to manage memorandums of understanding once they’ve been signed. This added responsibility requires time, resources and knowledge. Too often, it falls to someone who wasn’t even involved in signing the memorandum.</p>
<p>International partnerships can be expensive, and it is tough for resource-poor universities in Africa to find the funding they need to get things started. Travel, conferences and exchanges all cost money.</p>
<p>Finally, it is worth remembering that memorandums of understanding are not usually <a href="http://www.startupsmart.com.au/mentor/craig-yeung/a-potential-partner-wants-to-back-out-how-legally-binding-is-a-memorandum-of-understanding/201206256705.html">legally binding</a> – so it can be hard to enforce all the clauses and make sure that both parties do everything that is required of them.</p>
<h2>Lessons from the pioneers</h2>
<p>Here are some of things that institutions should consider when a memorandum of understanding is on the table:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You need to appoint a strategic champion with the relevant skills and give them the necessary resources and time to bring this relationship to life. The most relevant attributes are resourcefulness, stakeholder management, strategic partnership insights and international outlook. </p></li>
<li><p>Plan big but start small. Chose a low cost, high impact but simple activity – a seminar, workshop or meeting – to launch the relationship. This will give both institutions a chance to learn about each other’s systems, processes and stakeholders before investing more money in bigger initiatives.</p></li>
<li><p>Plan for a binding memorandum of <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-02-04/news/36743089_1_mou-document-parties">agreement</a> while setting up the memorandum of understanding. Communicate about and agree on the phased transition from one to the other. Set up timelines, deliverables and milestones.</p></li>
<li><p>Agree on clear roles and responsibilities. Be clear about what mutual benefits you would like to see. Start these conversations at the very beginning of the process so that the memorandum of understanding contains everything you envision. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>It is also important at this point to establish exactly who will be involved, how communication should happen and what decisions need to be taken in the short term. Many of these memorandums suffer because too many or too few people get involved when the ball is already rolling.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46482/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Akanimo was and is still involved in the Lancaster University/University of Benin partnership project.
</span></em></p>If memorandums of understanding with international institutions are properly developed and put into action, they can contribute a great deal to African universities’ push for internationalisation.Akanimo Odon, Honorary/Visiting Fellow, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/336932014-11-03T14:03:02Z2014-11-03T14:03:02ZSchools don’t operate in a vacuum – so why inspect them as if they do?<p>The Department of Education has been issued a clear warning by the National Audit Office (NAO) over the way it oversees schools in England. Its<a href="http://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/academies-maintained-schools-oversight-intervention/"> new report </a>recommends the government should be better aware about the effectiveness of local authorities, academy trusts and their sponsors to manage schools. </p>
<p>With 1.6m children still attending schools that are not “good” or “outstanding”, the government has also been told to take a closer look at the esimated £382m spent in 2013-14 on oversight and whether the money is being well spent.</p>
<p>The NAO suggests that Ofsted could play a key role in providing this insight. Crucially, it recommends that Ofsted should be authorised to inspect the chains of trusts and sponsors that run academies in the same way that it used to inspect local education authorities. The secretary of state for education, Nicky Morgan, has so far <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/15/education-secretary-row-mps-academy-schools-inspections">resisted calls for Ofsted</a> to inspect academy chains. </p>
<p>To be able to <a href="https://theconversation.com/pupils-at-academy-chains-being-failed-by-inspection-loophole-31584">inspect multi-academy trusts or sponsors</a>, Ofsted would need to develop new inspection frameworks. These would need to authorise its inspectors to make additional visits to academy trusts and sponsors to assess the quality of the governance and oversight, instead of just the quality of schools. </p>
<h2>Right for a ‘self-improving’ system?</h2>
<p>The question is whether this is the best way forward, given the Department for Education’s current focus on moving the education system <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-school-systems-need-to-be-more-like-the-tour-de-france-24604">towards a “self-improving system”</a>. This means more and more schools are co-operating in networks, where teachers and head teachers exchange good practice. These must remain relevant to particular local contexts – so schools are not told to impose what worked in an affluent London borough on a school in a remote coastal town. </p>
<p>The way schools and authorities operate in this “networked system” needs to become more localised, rather than dictated by a national inspection framework which treats all schools and their governing bodies in a similar manner. Instead, a group of schools and authorities should step up to take a joint responsibility for how well a school is functioning. Ofsted inspections need to reflect this by evaluating how schools and authorities take on that joint responsibility. </p>
<p>School improvement is not simply a linear process of inspection, intervention and improvement of individual schools and of individual authorities. If the Department of Education really wants to move towards a self-improving school system it needs to move away from thinking that individual schools operate in a vacuum. </p>
<h2>More guidance needed</h2>
<p>But we need more information about how this kind of inspection system might work. How can we ensure that education leaders build each school’s capacity to improve by strengthening the co-operation between teachers and building a culture of high-trust evaluation and learning? How do we know that school-led improvement does not recycle and replicate Ofsted-endorsed strategies and good practices that may be ineffective in some contexts?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the NAO report does not ask nor answer these questions but strongly builds on the idea of schools and governing bodies operating in isolation. </p>
<p>What is needed is an updated <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/accountability-system-statement-for-education-and-childrens-services">Accountability System Statement</a> – the document that government departments are required to produce annually detailing how they make sure the money they distribute to local bodies is accounted for. The Department of Education’s statement needs to reflect on where co-operation between schools and authorities is potentially ineffective. </p>
<p>It should also point out where schools and their authorities might face obstacles for making improvements, such as when competition between schools limits the amount of co-operation between them. It should also be clear about instances where co-operation actually takes up time and energy that could better be invested in improvement efforts by individual schools.</p>
<h2>Inspect a school’s partnerships</h2>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/About_Policies/Ehren_et_al_-_FINAL.pdf">recent paper</a>, Jane Perryman, Ken Spours and I reflected on an inspection model that would fit such a localised and decentralised context of school-to-school evaluation and improvement. </p>
<p>We explained a need to revise inspection to encourage local decision-making and local structures and networks for improving schools. Inspections should assess whether a school is effectively working in partnership with other schools to improve and should inspect all schools who are working in a federation, chain or school improvement partnership at the same time. </p>
<p>England’s inspection system needs to evaluate and assess the quality and functioning of chains of schools, but with a focus on supporting improvement in local situations. The Department for Education needs to think about such approaches and will hopefully do so when responding to the NAO’s report.</p>
<hr>
<p>Next read: <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-school-systems-need-to-be-more-like-the-tour-de-france-24604">Why school systems need to be more like the Tour de France</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33693/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Ehren receives funding from the Nuffield foundation, the EU/Erasmus+ program and the Department for International Development.</span></em></p>The Department of Education has been issued a clear warning by the National Audit Office (NAO) over the way it oversees schools in England. Its new report recommends the government should be better aware…Melanie Ehren, Reader in Educational Improvement, Institute of Education, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/246042014-03-20T16:11:54Z2014-03-20T16:11:54ZWhy school systems need to be more like the Tour de France<p>In <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-importance-of-teaching-the-schools-white-paper-2010">The Importance of Teaching</a> white paper in 2010, the government committed itself to developing a “self-improving system of schools”. Four years on there is a risk that a two-tier system will emerge in our schools, in which the confident schools and leaders thrive, but the remainder struggle because they do not have the capacity to improve by themselves. Instead, our schools need to be more like the Tour de France: a team effort. </p>
<p>Let me explain. In a recent <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Are-Nearly-There-Yet-self-improving/dp/1782770542/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395237427&sr=1-3">lecture</a> and <a href="http://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/the-self-improving-school-system-competing-policies-undermine-the-coalitions-admirable-aims/">blog</a>, I identified four reform approaches that the government is following simultaneously: the world-class no-excuses approach, the freedom-to-teach approach, the market-based approach and the system-leadership approach. </p>
<p>The first three approaches might enable an improving system, but not a self-improving one, because they will not foster the sharing of expertise, capacity and learning between schools or the better use of evidence. Partly in response to these flaws, the role of accountability in these models becomes over-dominant and punitive. And having four parallel approaches creates tensions for school leaders. </p>
<p>In suggesting some possible ways forward, my thinking starts with <a href="http://www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege/docinfo?id=177472&filename=a-self-improving-school-system-towards-maturity.pdf">an acceptance of Professor David Hargreaves’ core argument</a> that if England’s 21,000 schools are to be autonomous, with minimal external support, then most of them will need to work in deep partnerships that provide challenge and support and that meet the needs of every child. </p>
<p>We know that achieving such deep partnerships between schools is intensely difficult: <a href="http://search.oecd.org/officialdocuments/displaydocumentpdf/?cote=EDU/WKP%282010%2915&docLanguage=En">according to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development</a>, partnership is a vulnerable strategy – all it takes is for one school to break ranks and act competitively and its partner schools will feel intense pressure to do the same. </p>
<p>When I work across local areas I do see some genuinely exciting partnership arrangements emerging, whether as part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/academies">academy</a> trusts, teaching school alliances or other local responses to change. </p>
<p>But the wider picture I see is much more mixed. Often, a group of visionary head teachers in an area is working hard to develop school-led approaches, but they complain that other schools aren’t really engaging and contributing. </p>
<p>When you talk to those other schools they often feel oppressed by accountability, which prevents them from looking out beyond their school, and/or they feel suspicious about the motives of the visionary heads. </p>
<h2>More local solutions</h2>
<p>So what might be done? The government’s current approach is all about reducing central and local support in the hope that a self-improving system will spontaneously emerge. </p>
<p>Instead, I think we need to recognise that the system needs more time and support to develop partnerships that meet the needs of every school and every child. Some areas are more mature than others in terms of how schools are working together. We need to find “local solutions”. </p>
<p>In less mature areas, schools need help to build their capacity to take on more. Such help might include the facilitation of workshops for governing bodies and heads to shape a shared vision, as well as giving support for emerging system leaders and rigorous evaluation and feedback loops. </p>
<p>Key to success will be that the government develops a revised, coherent vision for reform that is focused on the development of a self-improving system for all schools. This will require stopping or reshaping policies under the first three narratives (for example market-based reforms such as free schools) that detract from that vision. </p>
<p>I think we also need a budget for building capacity and “local solutions”. I would do this by topslicing 0.5% of the existing schools budget, the Schools Block Allocation. This would provide around £150m per year, of which 100% should be made available to schools. </p>
<p>The government should also adopt Ofsted’s proposal in the <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/unseen-children-access-and-achievement-20-years">Unseen Children</a> report for local area challenges to improve educational outcomes in the lowest-performing areas. These would be modelled on the successful <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/184093/DFE-RR215.pdf">City Challenge</a> programme, although the approach would need to be adapted for large rural and coastal areas. </p>
<p>It should also make <a href="http://search.oecd.org/officialdocuments/displaydocumentpdf/?cote=EDU/WKP%282010%2915&docLanguage=En">Teaching Schools</a> – outstanding schools designated by the Government to build alliances of partner schools which then support initial and ongoing professional development for staff – more sustainable and more focused on impact. At the same time we need to develop evidence-informed teaching, including by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/29/teacher-training-universities-schools-direct">pausing any further expansion of School Direct</a> until an evaluation has been concluded to understand what works. </p>
<p>Finally, I would offer funding to higher-performing areas and partnerships. They would need a credible proposal for how they would pass greater responsibility for school improvement to schools over time, with the incentive that if their approach is shown to be robust and effective, then Ofsted would move to a new, lighter touch approach to inspecting the partnership, rather than single schools.</p>
<h2>Mortal Engines and Team Sky</h2>
<p>I can see two possible scenarios for the journey we are on towards a self-improving school system. </p>
<p>The first is drawn from <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mortal-Engines-Predator-Cities-Philip/dp/1407131273">Mortal Engines</a>, the amazing series of books by Philip Reeve. In a post-apocalyptic world, London is the first city to move itself onto wheels, so that it can then devour and asset strip the other cities and towns in its path, forcing their citizens to work as slaves. </p>
<p>Of course, the other towns and cities follow suit by moving themselves onto wheels, and the world quickly descends into a brutal fight for the survival of the fittest. As this happens, an entire belief system – known as municipal Darwinism – emerges to describe and justify the culture that has developed: the epitome of a two-tier system. </p>
<p>The second is the Tour de France: cyclists competing in a tough professional sport with clear and consistent rules, supported by expert coaches and the best equipment money can buy. The critical point here though is that even though cycling appears an individual sport, it’s very much a team effort: the national teams work together, for example by taking turns in the lead in order to break wind resistance. </p>
<p>If the lead cyclist gets a puncture then the whole team will wait for him to get back on the road. If they are successful they share the prize money. </p>
<p>I think we’re seeing both scenarios playing out on the ground. Collaboration will always remain vulnerable to the stronger competitive pressure, so policy must do more to help make sure it is not crushed.</p>
<p><em>This article was first published on the <a href="http://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/">Institute of Education’s blog</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24604/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Toby Greany receives funding from CfBT to undertake research on the self-improving school system. </span></em></p>In The Importance of Teaching white paper in 2010, the government committed itself to developing a “self-improving system of schools”. Four years on there is a risk that a two-tier system will emerge in…Toby Greany, Professor of Leadership and Innovation, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.