Transcript More than the sum of its parts? Coordinating the ESRC Innovation and Change in Education Programme Martin Hughes (slides produced by Andrew Pollard)

More than the sum of its parts?
Coordinating the ESRC
Innovation and Change in Education Programme
Martin Hughes
(slides produced by Andrew Pollard)
Origins of the programme
• Conceived 1988, funded 1990 to 1996
• Teaching and learning processes and
outcomes in the context of 1988 Education
Reform Act
• Commissioning: 250 outline applications,
25 shortlisted, 10 projects funded
• Coordinator …. as ‘an afterthought’?
Role of the coordinator
Three main overlapping areas
• Networking
• Creating coherence
• Dissemination
• Shifting ESRC priorities (1993 Realising Our
Potential)
• Changing external circumstances
• ‘Bewildering variety of tasks’
Working with projects
• Good relationships - no substitute for face
to face meetings
• ‘One of the most difficult problems … is
that of negotiating … a mutually
acceptable understanding of what it
means to be part of a programme.’
• Programme priorities vs. project priorities
Working with ESRC
•
•
•
•
Six different programme officers
Steering Committee
Research Programmes Board
Other directors & coordinators
Creating coherence
• ‘With the agreement of the Steering
Committee, the five overarching questions
were put to one side, and a more flexible
and mutually acceptable statement of the
aims and objectives of the Programme
was generated’.
• Discussions, seminars, consultation and
presentations internally and externally
Five main themes
• Progression in learning
• Coherence in the curriculum
• The nature of effective teaching and
learning
• Understanding innovation and change
• Differentiation and equal opportunities
Dissemination
Three part strategy
• Identification of target audiences
• Development of dissemination products
• Delivery of products to targets
‘We did all we could …. But it is hard to
gauge impact..’
Experiences with the media
• Positive coverage, and work with Maureen
O’Connor
• Distortion/parody by Daily Telegraph
• ‘Re-interpretation’ of project findings on
grammar for 14 year olds by politicians
Conclusions
• ‘A flexible, responsive model is a better
description of the way most programmes
operate in practice.’
• Clarity about programme-project expectations
and an appropriate ‘management style’ is vital.
• User engagement should ‘take place in a
context where the intentions and assumptions of
both users and researchers can be explored’.
• ‘Added value’ is possible, through the focus,
visibility, synergy, and open and collaborative
processes which a programme provides.
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
TLRP background
• ‘reform’ throughout the UK education system
• concern for economic competitiveness and social
inclusion
• aspirations for evidence-informed policy
• new researcher/practitioner/user alliances
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Key features
• Large (almost £30m, 50+ investments, 400+ researchers,
sophisticated projects, often with large teams)
• All sectors of education (pre-school to retirement)
• UK-wide (England, Wales, Scotland, N. Ireland)
• 2000 to 2008/9
• Directors’ Team of six (Andrew Pollard, Mary James,
Steve Baron, Alan Brown, Miriam David, John Siraj-Blatchford – 3.5 fte)
• Capacity building (with associations & other initiatives)
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
AIMS:
• Learning
• Outcomes
• Lifecourse
• Enrichment
• Expertise
• Improvement
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Many
independent,
but interlocking
and cumulative,
research
activities
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
ORGANISATION:
• Projects, funded in seven phases
• Sectors, of educational provision and research
• Themes, analysing across the programme
THEMES
2000
2001
2002
Phase I
Phase II
Scottish
extensions
Welsh
extensions
Phase III
Northern Irish
extensions
Associated projects
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008/9
User engagement
Capacity building
Neuroscience
Learning outcomes
Lifecourse
Impact
ICT and learning
International
Contexts & communities
Learning transitions
Changing teacher roles
Education research quality
User collaboration
Curriculum
Pedagogy
Assessment
Diversity and learning
Political contexts
Programme development
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT:
1. Early user engagement
2. Knowledge generation by project teams
3. Knowledge synthesis by thematic groups
4. Knowledge transformation with users & task groups
5. Outputs for impact
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Programme
outputs:
• Newsletters*
[*to all those registered on the
TLRP database at: www.tlrp.org]
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Programme outputs:
• Websites (www.tlrp.org)
News, projects and themes
Research capacity
International links
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Programme outputs:
• Databases
BEI
PERINE
Regard CERUK
D-Space
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Project outputs:
• Research briefings from
each project*
[*to those with special interests
registered on the TLRP
database at: www.tlrp.org]
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Seminar/workshops:
Project outputs:
• Seminar/workshops for
policy-makers and key
users
• Policy Task Groups
• Press-releases, articles
in professional journals,
user collaboration, etc
Science Education:
Royal Society
Modern Apprenticeships:
DfES
Pupil Consultation:
QCA and NCSL
Inclusive Education:
London and Manchester
Policy Task Groups:
Personalised Learning
14-19 Education
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Project outputs:
• ‘Video-Assets’
Embedded video footage
Key Findings
Supporting analysis
Hyperlinks for follow-ups
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Project outputs:
• Gateway, overview books
Improving Learning series
• Practitioner books and
materials
• Academic publications
• RoutledgeFalmer
publishing partnership
Teaching and Learning Research Programme
Project outputs:
TLRP Commentaries
• Personalised learning
•14-19 education
• e-strategy and electronic
knowledge management in
education
Teaching and Learning Research
Programme
Add value through:
• analysing key issues and themes
across the whole Programme;
• contributing to innovation in
communicating new substantive knowledge
KEYWORDS FROM PRESENTATIONS AND
ROUNDTABLES
At the end of each session you attend, there should be an
opportunity for you to record the key concepts which seem
important to you. Please record your thoughts on this sheet and
leave it when you depart. The whole set will be analysed with great
care to enable an appropriate conceptual vocabulary to be
constructed for electronic tagging purpose. Thank you.
Hanbury Suite
Chair: Mary James__________________
Presenters:
Keywords:
NAME: ………………………
KEYWORDS FROM PRESENTATIONS AND
ROUNDTABLES
Bardd Suite
NAME: … Miriam David……
Chair: Bob Burgess
Presenters: Frank Coffield, Martin Hughes (papers only)
Keywords:
Frank Coffield: Learning society, employment, work, vocationalism,
training and education, learning trajectories, participation and
democracy, social capital, economic inequalities. Programme,
projects, themes, collaboration, informal learning, publications.
Martin Hughes: Innovation, change, curriculum, progression,
effective teaching & learning, differentiation and equal
opportunities. Programme, added value, projects, coordination
and management, themes, negotiation, users, engagement,
dissemination, media relationships.
Teaching and Learning Research Programme
Political, economic and cultural contexts
Informal and formal learning contexts
Learners and learning
through the lifecourse
Neuroscience and
learning
Curriculum and
domain knowledge
Teachers, teaching
and training
Interaction and pedagogy
Information technology
Assessment and learning
Research
approaches
User engagement
Knowledge
transformation,
impact
Learning outcomes
Educational issues
International comparisons
Research capacity
Programme
development
www.tlrp.org