Teachers as researchers, is a recent phenomenon.

Research into education pedagogy and practice, as often been undertaken by others, and as Hattie as recently as 2015 in the TES suggested that Teachers should avoid becoming researchers in their classrooms and leave the job to academics (TES April 2015)

Research is not a mystery, but maybe the myths around it, make it easy to see why. It might not be common practice in schools, however with a rise in ‘research schools’, research events and an Ofsted focus it is becoming more of an expectation.

However we  have some work to do. We cannot become Teachers as Researchers, without preparation and planning, which could be done through professional development models, integral to the school.

Firstly though developing a Teachers as Researchers Model for Professional Development should start with some myth busting for example,

1. The level of research does not have to be to the extent, that it produces a paper for publication for a peer reviewed journal. That is for academics, and people undertaking masters and PhDs
2. Teacher research does not have to be action research, there are other strategies such as interviewing, observation and questionnaires which can be used, and can  enhance practice
3. Teacher research does not have to test things, i.e. interventions to see if they work. There are plenty of interventions, with their own research history such as ARROW to show that they work and many are mentioned in publications such as ‘What works for children and young people with literacy difficulties – the effectiveness of intervention schemes’, Greg Brooks (2013)
4. Research can be short and can take a few hours, for example using the hashtag #asktwitter and prosing a question to the twitterai  , could lead to some positive outcomes and increase understanding of a subject within a few days
5. Research can be simple and can use principles of lesson study for example, where teachers collaboratively plan, observe lessons and evaluate together
6. What works in another piece of research, may not work in another setting with different pupils and teachers

Once myth busting has taken place, to start to embed school based research projects into the fabric of the school, it might be a good idea to work with all staff on developing their own research projects.

We worked with James Mannion from Praxis, to set up a day for all staff to start the research process. We considered and worked on  the following,

1. Before attending a whole setting research day, ask all staff to consider their views on research, how much do they read, has it changed what they do in their daily practice? Have they undertaken any research?
2. Ask staff to think about the subjects/concepts they would like to research and reflect on their current professional development and how research may support and enhance this practice
3. Set up a whole setting research day and introduce everyone in the school/setting to the notion of research, what is it? What do we already know? Who has undertaken research before? Go through the types of research that can be undertaken and how research evidence can be collated in a school, i.e. what systems are already in place that would support this
4. Give teachers time in the session to undertake some internet research, either on topics that interest them or predefined ones to demonstrate that some peer reviewed articles can be found through internet searching. There may be paywalls, but often an abstract is available, which gives an indication if the full article would be useful
5. Ask teachers who are members of professional associations, to bring in their associations’ publications, as many have their own peer reviewed journals, ie nasen and The British Psychology Society  It could be that there  is more access to academic journals than anyone realised!
6. Ask teachers to define what they would like to find out, and what do they know already and ask teachers to identify how they could do this
7. Work in small groups to identify a research question, how the research question will be explored, encouraging teachers to think beyond intervention, and then what actions they will take to find out more.
8. Remind staff that the collection of baseline information is optional, and some of the research projects undertaken may be about understanding their own practice, so measurable data does not need to be collected
9. Set follow up sessions, so that the research is supported and continued. This could be short sessions whereby teachers present their findings, or a small group discussion about what was learnt from the research
10. All research work can be collated, some schools produce their own research magazines, blogs or vlogs

Some small scale  examples undertaken by our team.

1. Attention please – A skilled practitioner was interviewed about the strategies she used when delivering whole group activity to groups of three to four year olds
2. #AskTwitter – A question was posed on twitter asking what SEND should be taught to trainees on a PCGE course.
3. Singing Instructions – Staff sung several instructions to pre school children and noted the reaction

NB: The Ethics around each  piece of research should be discussed, and will be the subject of a future blog

 

An Edited version of this blog, will appear in a future issue of nasen Connect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It must be the numbers.

I like counting down and now that Christmas and New year are over, I’m counting down to #ResearchSEND.

This morning there are twenty days to go.

We all know as teachers, that we go to a training session and we make notes on what we have heard and what we discussed and then we go home. This week I had the pleasure of listening to a session delivered by David Weston on Teacher Professional Development, he recognised that we all take notes (he has done it himself) and when we go home we put them into a box.

The box of shame.

The box we know we should do something about, but never do.

My box of shame, is more like my office of shame. I have more than boxes, I have piles and folders and shelves full of professional development materials, and I if I open one box, and then another, and another I will find it full of  course notes, my notes from the courses, pages printed from the internet, and sometimes, but not often, to do lists.

Do I remember the learning? Did I embed it into my practice? I’m going to say its unlikely, as I can barely remember the content.

There is no doubt that undertaking effective continuous professional development (CPD) as a teacher can be a challenge. Days are often set aside for professional development activities, through whole school INSET days, or attendance at conferences and courses to support classroom teaching roles, where instruction is given on the teaching strategies across the school, or a new data management system, or to update on statutory functions. All have to be done and all are completely valuable, but once these have been delivered it leaves little time for sustained professional development programmes.

The recent publication of the Standards for Teachers Professional Development (DFE 2016), is about to change that and will be instrumental in the CPD culture change with its expectations about professional development; namely, that teachers should:

• keep their knowledge and skills as teachers up-to-date and be self-critical;

• take responsibility for improving teaching through appropriate professional development, responding to advice and feedback from colleagues;

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how pupils learn and how this has an impact on teaching;

• have a secure knowledge of the relevant subject(s) and curriculum areas;

• reflect systematically on the effectiveness of lessons and approaches to teaching; and 

• know and understand how to assess the relevant subject and curriculum areas.

Our first #ResearchSEND  event  at the University of Wolverhampton on the 11th February is our reaction to the CPD standards for teachers. We recognise and acknowledge that the standards promote research as a way of providing effective professional development of teachers, creates a culture of scholarship and provides a structure for teachers to support one another, which all leads to effective teaching and positive outcomes for pupils.

 There are a growing number of research events across the county, but there is little input on research around the SEND agenda, for example at ResearchED in September 2016, there was one workshop which focused specifically on SEND research.

There is value in taking notice of research in SEND, because if we get it right for SEND pupils, we usually get it right for all the other pupils too.  (Anita Kerwin Nye talks about this in detail in her recent SchoolsWeek Interview)  

At our #ResearchSEND event we are focusing on the link between research and practise, and will be launching the hashtag #ChangeMonday and we would like this movement to start a range of SEND research programmes which will sustain and embed practice, through individual and collaborative activity.

To launch #ResearchSEND and #ChangeMonday will be joined by leaders in SEND and SEND Research, who will all be leading a workshop session.

• Rob Webster – UCL
• Bart Shaw – LMKCo
• John Reid – Oxford Brookes University
• Helen Curran – Bath Spa University
• Christopher Rossiter – Driver Youth Trust
• Paul Elliott – Special School Head Teacher & Registered Ofsted Inspector
• Jennifer Donovan & Roseanne Esposito – UCL
• Laine Pitcher Smith – Secondary Literacy Specialist
• Nancy Gedge – TES Columnist and Driver Youth Trust
• Marc Rowland – National Education Trust
• Margaret Mulholland – Swiss Cottage School
• Dr Joanna Vivash – UCL
• Professor Philip Garner – Nasen

Some sessions are running in parallel so we are looking at ways to record them.

I will be hosting a panel, which will feature,

• Professor Michelle Lowe
• Kerry Jordan Daus
• Dame Alison Peacock
• Sir Toby Salt.

All of the panel members have undertaken extensive research on education pedagogy and by using the #ResearchSEND  hashtag during the day, we will collect questions to ask them around a range of research topics including, integrating ongoing  research findings  into classroom practice, the challenges of being a teacher researcher and future thinking and development.

If you want to join us at our first event, and be part of a movement, that truly believes that we should undertake CPD which enables us to #ChangeMonday and promotes the best practice for SEND.

Please lease reserve you place through – education-central.org.uk/events

I look forward to meeting you.

 

 

 

A much needed debate around the role of the SENCO/SENDCo was started by Nancy Gedge in the TES (09.12.2016), this debate interests me as I have been working in the area of SEND for almost of all of my professional life, including undertaking the role of SENCO, supporting the professional development of SENCOs and working with a Local Authority on the Statutory functions around SEND.

Every school has to have a SENCO, and  job descriptions vary, but generally a SENCO should be contributing to the strategic development of SEN policy and procedures across a School, coordinating provision, leading, developing and supporting colleagues and working in partnership with pupils, families and other professionals. The SEND Code of Practice (2014) for example,  envisages that a SENCO will provide professional guidance to colleagues with the aim of securing high quality teaching of pupils with SEND  and that a SENCO will therefore lead teaching and learning for SEND pupils within School.

A few years ago, there was a dedicated TV channel available for the teaching profession called ‘Teachers TV’ and one programme produced for this channel, followed a High School SENCO for the day. Although focused on a High School, the tasks she was undertaking could be considered generic and easily relatable to a SENCO in a Primary School. During the day, the SENCO, was accompanied by a man with a clip board who asked her about the tasks she was completing, and then given advice on better ways to manage these tasks.

She had filed her paperwork and was given tips on how she might do this better using a RAFT approach (Refer, Action, File, Tash). She had answered a telephone call around meeting a pupil’s needs, and was advised to record the conversation on a pro forma. She had also managed to hold a meeting with a group of teaching assistants as well as undertaking some class teaching. As a support for her, in managing these operational aspects of her role another specialist was drafted in, who provided a session on provision mapping. She was then shown the principles of provision mapping and introduced to a booklet produced by the National Strategies, which introduced waves of provision within year specific groups. Throughout the day there was no mention of the role being strategic, or how it would fit into the school management structure. In essence, the role was seen as operational with little emphasis on SEND leadership, as many SENCOs at time were not required to be part of the Senior Leadership Team.

Fast forward to 2016, and there is a different picture emerging of the SENCO role, with a number of different hybrid positions developing. For example, there are a growing number of Deputy Head teachers merging the role with their other duties or taking on the responsibility for overseeing the role. There are some head teachers, especially in small rural schools who were once SENCOs, adding it to their management roles whereas in larger groups of schools such as a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) a SEND Director is appointed to lead on SEND across several schools within the group.

These different versions of the role may have been prompted by the introduction of a revised SEND Code of Practice for SEND in 2014, which stated that ‘The SENCO has an important role to play with the Headteacher and Governing Body, in determining the strategic development of the SEN policy and provision in the school. They will be most effective in that role if they are part of the school leadership team’ (6.87) Furthermore, by mentioning the accountability of the role, within the School leadership structure ‘as part of any inspection, Ofsted will expect to see evidence of pupil progress.’ (6.72) As the role of SENCO is evolving within a new educational landscape, from an operational one to a Strategic leadership one, a title of SEND leader could define the role better.

SEN Leadership across a school now takes on a variety of forms, from assessment & identification, monitoring, tracking & evaluation, improving teaching & learning, efficient use of resources, developing expertise, working with pupils & parents to improving pupil outcomes. A SEND leader on the School Senior Leadership team would be able to monitor these themes as they are in a position to recognise the effectiveness of staff who work with pupils with SEND, they would be able to monitor the provision for pupils with SEND more effectively and they would be able to contribute more widely to leadership and management across their school.

However as SENCO roles have tended to sit within middle leadership, a change of focus is required in preparation for the role. The National Award for SENCOs, is usually completed after the role has been acquired, and this gives an overview of SEND, covering not only leadership and management, but also knowledge and sign posting around meeting children’s needs within the four defined areas of SEND within the code of practice. This is good grounding for the role, but the SEND leader does not necessary need such extensive knowledge when every teacher is defined as being a ‘Teacher of SEND’ however someone in the school should have experience of identification, assessment and intervention, and the statutory requirements around SEND and where better than the Senior Leadership for this person to sit.

 

An edited extract of this blog will appear in the 2nd Edition of TeachSENCO published March 2017

 

 

After my Skiing holiday over the Christmas break, I have been pondering mastery (and also Learning Styles – but that may be another blog – just don’t tell @tombennett71 !)

Mastery techniques were first introduced and proposed by Bloom (1968), an American Educational Psychologist (who is also well known for his taxonomy) which focus on a learning model where students achieve a set learning objective or goal before they are taught the next skill.

The suggestion is that a teacher would set a threshold around the level of achievement which is usually measured by a test, with an eighty percent or above pass rate. If a student does not achieve this expected level, then they go back to revise and revisit the skills to tackle the test again and achieve the threshold before they can move to the next step.

This is a technique favoured by the French Ski School. Above beginner ski level, when selecting a lesson, there are several options to choose, Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3 and Stage 4 (Expert). Each stage has to be achieved before moving to the next class. There is a test at the beginning of the lesson sequence, to establish that skiers are placed in the correct set. Thus, mastery in the French Ski school is set as,

Stage 1 – I can control my speed using basic turns with skidding on gentle slopes

Stage 2 – I finish my turn with parallel skis and I control my speed by skidding my skis

Stage 3 – I can link small and large radius parallel turns controlling my speed

Stage 4 (Expert) – I link small and large radius turns on all snow conditions and all terrain

The EEF Toolkit view on mastery is not dissimilar, focusing on clearly defined objectives, which have to be achieved before moving to the next stage.  The suggestion is that for mastery techniques to be successful, clear objectives are set and there is feedback available form a variety of sources.

The French Ski objectives, because they are one sentence long,  may appear easy to achieve, however going from basic turns to linking turns on all snow conditions and all terrain, would I consider to be on par with an Olympic standard. Therefore possibly unachievable to the majority of people who ski for one week a year on holiday.

We have adopted mastery into common educational usage, and taken on board advice from the EEF toolkit, especially around programmes such as the Mathematics Mastery Programme, but is it a technique? a teaching style? a strategy? or simply good teaching? and if relying on testing a strategy can it only work for a subject which can be taught in a linear way? In maths, our teaching cannot move on, for example to number bonds if our students cannot count and have not developed one to one correspondence. However in literacy our students will be able to read a level of narrative, such as a Great Expectations, but not reproduce this standard themselves, yet achieve good levels of writing competence, to enable them to reach national standards.

Comparatively for a physical activity, which requires a set of skills to be totally competent to safely get down a very steep mountain and which can depend on other variables, is a mastery programme which keeps a student at the same level for a number of years, the best approach?

To a non-skier, I could look like an expert as I can put on boots, clip into skis, use a lift (an art form in itself, and can depend on the lift – there are different types) and get down mountains without falling over, but my competence will depend on the snow conditions; fresh powder, and I’m the clichéd ‘King of the Mountain, but on icy, compacted snow, I adopt another cliché and could be described as ‘Bambi on ice’. On a blue run I could be an expert, but on a black run (the most difficult and complex runs) I could be at beginner or novice level.

I have lots of ski experience, yes,  and technically I’m not bad on some slopes, but experience a loss of skills when faced with something more challenging. The speed and what I feel is the lack of control, frightens me. No matter how many times I’m told to bend my knees and lean forward and all the other things I know I should do, when under pressure, they do not happen. I look down a slope, decide I can’t turn, and stop. I’m quite good at sliding, as this is my default position when I cannot make turns due to fear.

When I join ski school, how much does a ski instructor know about my skill levels and what I can do?  On a test run down a green run, I look Ok, and on a blue run I manage, I may make shorter turns but I can keep up with a group, stand up straight and look technically fine, but does anyone ask me about my confidence levels, which if asked is what I consider the barrier to my greater skiing achievement. No, is the answer, my achievement is judged by a visible observation.

Last year I wrote a blog, about my ski instructor – #SkiwithMatt and how he understood where my skiing mastery was and how he improved my confidence. The key to Matt’s success as a teacher was that he established what we wanted as a group, so that we could achieve, and key was that the group collectively wanted to enjoy themselves and not experience too much challenge.

Challenge can be good in some context, but sometimes as an adult I know how much challenge I would like. Matt liked to sing and encouraged us to do this when we found we were challenged, or frightened or scared (as a strategy, it worked for me) and as he had decided on the end goal, the tasks to get there reinforced this. It was always consistent (we sang everyday)!

This year, I have experienced first-hand how a teacher can get it wrong, working within the same mastery parameters. Firstly, I think, by not knowing his people and his group.  He started with giving everyone an easy test (ski skills tested on a very gentle slope – see above to why this is unrealistic) and then moving too quickly to a red run without explaining how and what. At no point did he ask his group what they wanted from the lessons.

If I’m going to tackle a red run, I like to prepare myself mentally, and think it through, also I like a choice about whether I want to do it or not. A surprise challenge for me does not work. Making assumptions based on a test and my mind set also doesn’t work – what do I want from ski school – a pleasant week skiing at my level. Overall this technique failed for me and made me doubt my ability, to such an extent I asked to move to another ski lesson with another instructor.

If I feel like this about something I have a choice about what I do, I don’t have to have ski lessons and I don’t have to go on another ski holiday if I don’t want to, but the learners in our classrooms, don’t have that same choice. When we work within what we consider mastery approaches are we thinking about our learners and what barriers and anxieties they may be bringing to the learning environment? Are we prepared for the learners who are going to take longer than their classmates to reach mastery? Do we have strategies to help learners who may never achieve the mastery level we have set for a class? What do we do about moving on, when not all of our class have not achieved mastery? How do we manage the learners who can achieve the level set, very easily? How do we keep these students motivated? Isn’t this good teaching?

I’m still pondering mastery, but to me I think it might be just a word to describe good teaching, as the test is an assessment technique to establish where learners are, and all good teachers, have ways of judging correctly where learners are and adjust their teaching accordingly.

I think mastery may restrict a teacher’s ability to adjust teaching to suit a group, as the parameters, like the French ski school, can be set that some will never achieve a mastery level. 

I am prepared to disagree and change my mind, if I am presented with a reasonable argument.

Can you persuade me to see if differently?

 

 

 

What should my #Nurture1617 blog be about?

Last year I had been blogging about a month, when I discovered this new year tradition amongst Educationalists on Twitter. #Nurture 1617 seems to follow a rule of blogging about five achievements from the current year, which then leads to a contemplation of five things that are planned, possible intentions or achievable actions over the coming year.

In essence a blog which is an educational and work/life balance new year resolution

For #Nurture1516 I gave it a go. I did not publish it.

It was very simplistic. I wrote about maybe not eating so many orange matchmakers, undertaking some small scale SEND research within my leadership and Management capacity as SEN & Inclusion Manager, and writing a few more blogs.

I did revisit it a few times over the year to see if I was meeting my targets, and keeping my resolutions! Which mostly I was. Although perhaps don’t mention the matchmakers, as discovered they can be brought in certain discount shops for a pound!

So, I failed on the matchmaker eating, but I did undertake some SEND small scale research projects, which lead to being able to continue one piece of research around interventions, with a research grant acquired by The University of Wolverhampton.

I have written a few more blogs (12 this year, although not all of them have been published yet) and a piece for a #LearningwithoutLabels for Marc Rowland and several magazine articles on SEND Leadership and Management.

This year will my nurture blog look the same?

 It could to some extent.

I will still be eating matchmakers.

I am launching #ReserachSEND on February the 11^th with the University of Wolverhampton.

 I’m aiming to write more blogs, using #weeklyblogchallenge17, to motivate me.

But #Nurture1617, is not going to be all about me, I am going to use it in a different capacity to consider the idea of #Learningwithoutlevels which Marc Rowland first proposed to me. I am going to think about the children who need us as Educationalists to put our differences, career progression and political opinions aside and concentrate on what the Educational Landscape looks like for them in 2017 and beyond.

We collectively need to look long and hard on what we do for the children who don’t have a voice through their parents or the school they currently attend, the children who face adversity every day and the ones who need us to advocate for them, because there may be no one else, for example,

·       The children who are missing from education,

·       The children who are looked after,

·       The children who are managing a bereavement,

·       The children who are school refusers,

·       The children who did not celebrate Christmas because their family could not afford it,

·       The children who have been permanently excluded from school, and an alternative placement cannot be found.

·       The children with SEND, who are not in the correct placement, or are undiagnosed, or have unmet needs because there is a lack of understanding of their needs

What will we be doing in 2017 to support these pupils and make things better for them?

I know as a starting point, we have newly formed Whole School SEND Consortium, which has brought groups together to improve outcomes for children with various needs, and we need this group and others like them to continue.  We need Head Teachers, who write about the challenges faced by children in their daily lives, such as Jarlath O’Brien, and other Educationalists like him and and we need parental advocates, who speak out on behalf of all parents such as Starlight McKenzie, Nancy Gedge and Tania Tirraoro.

I wish in 2017, that we do not see any more blogs, like the one I read earlier in the year, about why a child had to be excluded, when the excluder knew there was nowhere else for the child to go. We should be looking for solutions on behalf of these children, we know its not always easy, but we chose this job, the children we teach did not have a choice about whether we were their main educators.

My nurture 16/17 ends with a plea for us all to work together to change outcomes for children, for example,  

·       Let’s reduce the numbers of children who are excluded,

·       Let’s reduce the number of children who enter the youth offending system,

·       Let’s increase the amount of white working class students who enter University and stay there

·       Let’s provide an effective and collective voice for children with SEND,

And ultimately,

·       Let’s be responsible for the children we teach, and work with on a daily basis, to make sure that they receive the best education we can give them

·       Let’s not spend another year discussing what this looks like when children need us to focus on them.

·       Let’s as a profession, share what we know and work together to make sure that every child matters.

Are you joining me?