A Reflective-Collaborative Model to develop the Humanities Department

The development model I will be basing my assignment on will be of a reflective-collaborative nature. Among the humanities teachers we will look to individually develop professionally through reflection on current pratice. This reflection will lead to each individual recognising their own strengths and weaknesses. The program will then allow each person to chose a method of development, whether it be research or observation. In order to track progression the individual will also chose the method of appraisal they are comfortable with. Each of the choices will be discussed as a department within the school.

Departmental improvements will first be idenitified through an organisational analysis. SMART goals will then be stratfied to engage all of the department in moving toward the development of the department. As a group the department can decide how these improvements can be monitored and how developments will be recorded and subsequently reviewed.

Richardson (1998) through her book 'How teachers change' focussed on such a collaborative method. Through the empowerment of individuals through this method it is hoped that a community of teachers will be forged in order to develop teaching practice and motivation among colleagues. The system could be described as CDP, coaching or mentoring depending on the methods chosen by individuals and by the group as a whole.

Critical Incident within my professional practice

The critical incident in question refers to a dip in performance of several students in my History IGSE class. This followed the Christmas break and became apparent with apathy towards graded essays and preparation for mock exams.

There was the option of disciplinarily action in terms of letters home, meetings with form tutors and key stage managers. The ‘softer’ approach would be to talk as a group about the importance of IGCSE’s and the term being the ‘home leg’. My third choice as I saw it was empowerment. Empowerment in this instance would be giving the students control over their method of revision and allowing them to explore how they learn best. With this in mind they could then take an ownership of their own progression rather than the revision being dictated by the teacher.

After looking at past performance and assessing the maturity level of the students I decided to take the latter option. Through research I came upon Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Test (1983). I took one lesson at the beginning of the week to talk about how we learn and how they learn most effectively. We discussed experiences of revising and studying before exams. Moreover, the class discussion digressed to a discussion about emotions before exams and generally in approaching their final few months at high school.

As a teacher I responded with surprise and enlightenment as I had not considered the life changing process they were currently going through. For instance, we would not expect a professional preparing for a life changing move abroad or to another company to perform in exactly the same way as usual. It is likely that we would be more accommodating towards adults, who should be emotionally better equipped, than we are towards our teenage students.

The students enjoyed the lesson and were clearly very interested in the results of the test. They gauged what the learning strengths were according to the test and then we discussed as a group the best way for individuals to utilize this knowledge. When we talked about the next topic they were visibly and verbally more enthused than they had been the week before. I even had other teachers commenting and asking me for information about the test and how it works.

What is meant by the terms reflective practice and educational coaching?

Reflective Practice is perhaps a misleading title to a process by which educators review their current practice and seeks to improve it through research, discussion and personal observation. However, as Biggs (1999) 'a reflection in a mirror is an extract replica of what is in front of it. Reflection in professional practice, however, gives back not what it is but what might be, an improvement on the original'. Therfore, one must take this title and question whether it is apt for the development of teaching which it infers.

Educational Coaching does not have a universally accepted definition. Ellen Moir and Janet Gless of the University of Santa Cruz described three types of coaching apparent in the UK education system. They were Peer Coaching. Mentoring and Specialist Coaching. Peer coaching involves two professionals who share concerns and experiences in order to share and offer new skills or knowledge to develop their own practice. Mentoring is considered to be a more formal program which generally has an experienced teacher offering support and advice to more inexperienced teachers. Finally, specialist coaching is, as it says on the tin, concerned with the development of a specific educational or subject area. A further area was acknowledged, informal coaching which happens in conversation among colleagues on a daily.

Bibliography

John Biggs (1999) Teaching for Quality Learning at University, SRHE and Open University Press, Buckingham

What is empowerment and how does it fit in with the work of the Advanced Professional Practitioner?

Rapport (1984) highlighted that empowerment is easy to define amongst individuals who have a sense of being powerless However; defining empowerment in terms of an action is a complex task. Moreover, defining the concept opens up much debate. Zimmerman (1984) stated that the very attempt to define empowerment with a single definition implies systematic or formulaic approach with contradicts the concept of empowerment.

One more first understand a concept of power before being able to offer definitions of empowerment. Power is not static; it is mobile and changes as time passes. Weber (1946) delivered the notion that power exists only in terms of relationships between people and things. Therefore, empowerment is the understanding of relationships or perceived relationships between these two variables.

Contemporary research highlights that power can be felt by an individual or by a group at nobody else’s expense. Feminist activists (Miller, 1976; Starhawk, 1987), racial and ethnic groups (Nicola-McLaughlin & Chandler, 1984), and even individuals in families bring into focus another aspect of power, a collectively owned power which is shared (Kreisberg, 1992).

Page (1999) suggests that empowerment within the individual or group has three components which are; 'multi-dimensional, social, and a process'. In order to engage colleagues into an action research project one must pay attention to all three of these components.

Empowerment is multi dimensional with regard to the factors of sociological, psychological, economic, and other dimensions. As described by Weber (1946) social relationships are fundamental in senses of empowerment. Moreover, empowerment and power specifically is a process and an ever change perception which must be reflected upon regularly to ensure its continuum.

Bibliography

Page, N (1993), Empowerment: What Is It?, Journal of Extension, Connecticut, UCON
Kreisberg, S. (1992). Transforming power: Domination, empowerment, and education. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Nicola-McLaughlin, A., & Chandler, Z. (1984; 180-201). Urban politics in the higher education of black women: A case study. In Bookmen & Morgen (Eds.). Women and the politics of empowerment. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Rapport, J. (1984). Studies in empowerment: Introduction to the issue. Prevention in Human Services, 3, 1-7.
Starhawk (1987). Truth or dare. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
Weber, M. (1946). From Max Weber. H.H. Gerth & C.W. Mills (Eds.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Zimmerman, M.A. (1984). Taking aim on empowerment research: On the distinction between individual and psychological conceptions. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18(1), 169-177.

What is my personal vision for the education work I am currently involved in and how does this relate to the school’s vision?

As Head of History I will be looking to organise a department which aims for high academic achievement while teaching students skills which will be valuable for their personal growth. The academic achievement will be targeted by allowing the teachers to teach in their preferred style while encouraging them to experiment with teaching practice suggested by contemporary research. Moreover, students will be encouraged to understand their own learning styles by looking at Gardner’s ‘Multiple Intelligence Model’. Students will be encouraged to explore group work, presentations, investigations and peer assessment via the curriculum structure. Students will be made to feel safe in speaking out, confident to ask questions and present ideas through a disciplined learning environment.

This agrees with the school mission statement in that a safe, disciplined environment will be provided to make an effective learning environment. There could be issues with students taking ownership of their study skills in History lessons and this not being the case in other subjects. Therefore one could look to involve other subject leaders in promoting student ownership of their study. Furthermore, a systematic use of peer assessment also aids students learning from students. What is of pivotal importance though is that the educator remains in control to ensure that a disciplined environment is maintained to allow such academic achievement.

Using the SWOT analysis the strengths of school in creating this environment are a disciplined student population. Furthermore the students generally have a good respect for each other. The student enthusiasm to learn is certainly an opportunity for them to take control of their learning. Peer assessment and group work allow for a varied delivery of information and study. A weakness of the idea is that staff and student turn over could diminish the effect of long term goals which are set through this vision. The threat comes from the high turnover of staff and broad range of career cycles which may not be conducive to a whole school educational drive.

A brief analysis of Jeddah Prep and Grammar School’s Mission Statement and that of a variety of public and private schools.

JPGS outlines a desire to provide ‘a high quality learning environment that is disciplined, safe and nurturing’. The text goes on to state that learners should be independent, motivated and aware of a lifelong learning process ‘essential for the student of the expatriate community’. The aims centre on the environment of the learning rather than the results it produces. Moreover, the statement goes on to detail personal qualities it seeks stimulate within the students. The intentions are holistic and balanced as with many international school mission statements which I reviewed. The International School of Kenya for instance aims to ‘prepare students within a culturally diverse community to become informed, independent thinks and responsible world citizens’. While the International School of Caracas is ‘dedicated to intellectual and personal development…in caring and supportive environment’.

An interesting issue at JPGS is the arrival of several teachers from private schools in South Africa. The difference in culture and educational practice is apparent. In order to shed some light on this issue I looked at one of these private school’s mission statements. As an all boys boarding school, Kearsney College points to students coming to the school ‘to learn skills, forge lifelong friendships, acquire wisdom and are guided to become citizens who make a positive impact in our world’. While this could be the statement of any school, the latter part of the statement could provide some understanding of why there are different values among some staff. As the statement describes; ‘When a boy joins the Kearsney family as either a boarder or a day scholar, he inherits the time honoured traditions and principles that have made Kearsney the remarkable school it is today’. Such tradition and pride in a school is developed over years and based on the values of the schools founders in the early 20th century. While it could be said that such a mission at JPGS is not possible due to the transient nature of its students there are certainly elements of Kearsney’s mission that could improve JPGS. Differences and varied experience of staff should be a utilized by an APP so that all parties feel considered and working as part of a team toward the same mission goal.

One could draw parallels to the difference in the latter educational cultures and that of the public and private sector in England. Harrow School and Eton College are two of the most prestigious schools in England. Both Eton and Harrow emphasize their mission for excellence and leadership from their students. Both schools also stress their history, as Eton encourages each ‘Etonian’ to exhibit behaviour synonymous with graduates and Harrow states that it is ‘Conscious of its history, culture and charitable intentions of its Founder…’. These schools are based on history and success which is what the mission statement adheres too.

In the public section, Fred Longworth High School, Wigan looks for each student to ‘experience success and fulfill their potential within a caring and effective environment’. PEMBEC High School, Wigan seeks to ensure that ‘every young person succeeds’. While, being a Church of England School, the Deanery CofE High School, Wigan looks to its students to pursue excellence while respecting others with values that ‘characterised the life of Jesus’.

While the demographics of schools are obviously vastly different one could make several observations through these comparisons. Firstly, schools with tradition and high expectations look to what students can do for the school rather than always considering the reverse. Certainly, when one enters the workplace a company looks to what a worker can do for them before considering the reverse. Therefore, the question I would raise here is do educational mission statements encourage students to consider the ‘real world’ relationships that they will find in the work place? Alternatively, should schools act as a service industry with students as customers? Both missions are appropriate in different circumstances but a balance of the two is valid in all educational institutions. Adjudging how that balance will work is the job of an APP in the formation of a mission statement.

What is the place of organizational analysis in my career development and how can it help progression toward becoming an APP (McKinsey 7-S Framework)?

The work of Peters and Waterman (1982) highlights seven elements necessary for a harmonized organization. These seven elements are split into hard and soft elements. Hard elements are visually apparent; Strategy, structure and systems while soft elements are more theoretical; shared values, skills, style and staff.

The theorists suggest that all of the elements are interdependent and as such a break down in any area of the model can lead to a lack of effectiveness. It can be said that the elements of this model can exist in every school, faculty, staff room and even classroom.

This model provides a guide for organizational analysis in that each element can be investigated systematically. For instance, in the case of a senior management team analyzing a whole school issue it creates a focus which can identify problems and thus encourage collective solutions.

Peters and Waterman (1982) suggest that the model be used to bridge a gap between the current situation (Point A) and desired situation (Point B). By focusing on all seven elements an APP or collective management team can investigate the issue systematically and propose founded solutions. While the model possibly simplifies problem solving it does at least offer guidance for the identification and subsequent resolution of educational problems.