Getting to the Heart of System Reform – A micro strategy for large scale educational change

There is a paradox at the heart of contemporary system change in education. On the one hand there is the unequivocal conclusion from the accumulation of PISA evidence for example, that both excellence and equity are possible at a system level; yet on the other hand there are concerns from most educa...

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Main Authors: David Hopkins, John Baumber
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The International Education Studies Association 2019-12-01
Series:Educational Futures
Subjects:
Online Access:https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=11392
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author David Hopkins
John Baumber
author_facet David Hopkins
John Baumber
author_sort David Hopkins
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description There is a paradox at the heart of contemporary system change in education. On the one hand there is the unequivocal conclusion from the accumulation of PISA evidence for example, that both excellence and equity are possible at a system level; yet on the other hand there are concerns from most educational jurisdictions over the stubbornness of low standards. Why is it that despite the phenomenal increase in our recent knowledge about what works in schooling, that standards still lag behind expectations and school level performance is far too variable. The paper addresses this paradox and concludes that unless we focus unrelentingly on the quality of teaching in both our small and large-scale reform efforts, then current practice will never meet society’s expectations. A ‘micro-strategy’ for sustained systemic educational change, generally known as ‘Instructional Rounds’, is described. This strategy for pedagogic improvement has the potential for generating an increasingly specific language for teaching and learning that significantly aids consistency and precision in the quest for both excellence and equity. The argument concludes by proposing a school improvement strategy for moving Instructional Rounds, the generation of Theories of Action and Peer Coaching to scale. This has particular relevance for school networks and Multi Academy Trust and has the potential of having has the potential of having large-scale system reform impact.
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spelling doaj-art-d5f3a58e796349208744fa541d2debf12025-08-20T03:31:20ZengThe International Education Studies AssociationEducational Futures1758-21992019-12-01102327Getting to the Heart of System Reform – A micro strategy for large scale educational changeDavid Hopkins0John Baumber1The International Centre for Educational Leadership and School Improvement, University of BoltonThe International Centre for Educational Leadership and School Improvement, University of BoltonThere is a paradox at the heart of contemporary system change in education. On the one hand there is the unequivocal conclusion from the accumulation of PISA evidence for example, that both excellence and equity are possible at a system level; yet on the other hand there are concerns from most educational jurisdictions over the stubbornness of low standards. Why is it that despite the phenomenal increase in our recent knowledge about what works in schooling, that standards still lag behind expectations and school level performance is far too variable. The paper addresses this paradox and concludes that unless we focus unrelentingly on the quality of teaching in both our small and large-scale reform efforts, then current practice will never meet society’s expectations. A ‘micro-strategy’ for sustained systemic educational change, generally known as ‘Instructional Rounds’, is described. This strategy for pedagogic improvement has the potential for generating an increasingly specific language for teaching and learning that significantly aids consistency and precision in the quest for both excellence and equity. The argument concludes by proposing a school improvement strategy for moving Instructional Rounds, the generation of Theories of Action and Peer Coaching to scale. This has particular relevance for school networks and Multi Academy Trust and has the potential of having has the potential of having large-scale system reform impact.https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=11392nstructional roundspeer coachingschool improvementsystem reformteaching and learningtheories of action
spellingShingle David Hopkins
John Baumber
Getting to the Heart of System Reform – A micro strategy for large scale educational change
Educational Futures
nstructional rounds
peer coaching
school improvement
system reform
teaching and learning
theories of action
title Getting to the Heart of System Reform – A micro strategy for large scale educational change
title_full Getting to the Heart of System Reform – A micro strategy for large scale educational change
title_fullStr Getting to the Heart of System Reform – A micro strategy for large scale educational change
title_full_unstemmed Getting to the Heart of System Reform – A micro strategy for large scale educational change
title_short Getting to the Heart of System Reform – A micro strategy for large scale educational change
title_sort getting to the heart of system reform a micro strategy for large scale educational change
topic nstructional rounds
peer coaching
school improvement
system reform
teaching and learning
theories of action
url https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=11392
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