Bill Boyle

A longitudinal study of teacher change: what makes professional development effective?

This preliminary analysis is part of the baseline phase of a longitudinal study designed to investigate the professional development of primary and secondary teachers across England. The study addresses four key research areas. The prevailing models of professional development for teachers in England are identified in this baseline phase and the scene is set for the remaining areas of investigation to be addressed (annual data collection sweeps will continue).

Leadership for School Improvement: The Role of the Head of Department in UK Secondary Schools

The study examines the role of the Head of Department in UK secondary schools in terms of its potential for school improvement. Thirty-two heads of department in secondary schools in Birmingham and Manchester were shadowed and interviewed in order to identify: (1) their leadership and management styles; (2) the sense of empowerment felt by each; (3) initiatives for improving teaching, learning and achievement in their departments; and (4) obstacles to improving teaching, learning and achievement. Four deputy head teachers in the sample schools were also interviewed with the purpose of eliciting their views on the role of the head of department in facilitating school improvement. The findings support the prediction that distributed leadership (or shared power) among senior and middle managers in UK schools still remains rhetoric rather than practice and that there is a growing need for current middle management development and training provision to change radically if middle managers are to be supported as curriculum leaders and managers

A curriculum without foundation

Peter Tymms has written recently (BERJ, August 2004) on the subject of measuring whether standards are rising in English and mathematics in primary schools based on pupil outcomes from national end of key stage tests. This article takes the position that the performance data debate is an interesting one but peripheral to a far bigger issue. Whether measurable (by standardised testing at ages 7 and 11) national standards in English and mathematics have risen or not, does not justify the drastic reduction of the intended ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum which has taken place to try to achieve the national percentage targets. The curriculum data on which the authors base their findings are supplied by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authoritys own longitudinal monitoring of the school curriculum which has been carried out by the authors from 1996 to 2004.

Commonalities Between Perception and Practice in Models of School Decision-making in Secondary Schools

Collegial models of education management are becoming part of the dominant discourse in the literature relating to the theory of the management of educational institutions. There are, however, factors of pragmatism and ideology which question whether such collegiality is indeed attainable. This article examines issues of participation of heads of departments in whole-school decision-making processes and looks at whether such participation represents true empowerment. Through a series of structured interviews with heads of department and headteachers, evidence of three models of decision-making in secondary schools was established, together with commonalities and differences between perceptions of middle and senior managers as to the possibilities for empowerment inherent in each model. The evidence from the research suggests that while collegiality may offer many persuasive benefits, it is, in reality, difficult to attain to its fullest.

Professional development and management training needs for heads of department in UK secondary schools

Reviews current thinking about the professional development and management training needs of heads of department in secondary schools and argues for the inadequacy of some of the “front‐end” models of professional development and training currently in use. The results of a survey of 21 schools in the UK showed that, although the assumption is often held that heads of department are appointed because they already possess the knowledge and skills to undertake the role effectively, this is not always the case. The plethora of training needs identified conveys a sense of frustration of most of the interviewees with their lack of opportunity to contribute effectively to whole‐school decision‐making and development planning. Argues for the possibility of developing more appropriate forms of professional development and training which would incorporate the notions of school‐based research and collegial reflective practice within learning organisations.

The influence of schooling on the aspirations of young people with special educational needs

The authors investigate the effect of schooling on the aspirations of young people designated as having mild learning difficulties (MLD) or emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) in the first large-scale study of its kind in England. Data were collected from parents and their 15/16 year-old children in the final year of their compulsory schooling in schools. The results indicate on average a positive effect of mainstream schooling on the aspirations of these pupils with the caveat that these benefits are more likely to accrue to pupils whose parents are in higher status occupations. In their conclusions the authors discuss the implications of these results for education policy in the context of local management of schools.

The Shared Management Role of the Head of Department in English Secondary Schools

ally regarded as the middle management tier in a tripartite structure. This structure is traditionally hierarchical, with, at its top level, the head teacher or head teacher and senior managers, e.g. the deputy head teachers, a secondary level of middle managers and a tertiary or grass-roots level of classroom practitioners, i.e. the teachers. Critical national attention is now being focused on the role of these middle managers. Chris Woodhead, the Chief Inspector of Schools, in his 1997 report based on inspections of schools carried out by his Office for Standards in Education (OfStEd) inspection teams during 1995–97, stated that:

Making primary connections: the cross-curriculum story

Using longitudinal curriculum data which they have collected over a ten year period from a nationally representative sample of primary schools (funded by grants from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority), the authors report on evidence of changing models of subject provision within the primary curriculum. The period 1997–2007 has evidenced a range of government interventions with implications for subject teaching and data enable the analysis and discussion of the impact of these interventions on the ways in which sample schools have organised and planned their curriculum.

Education in a Multicultural Environment: Equity Issues in Teaching and Learning in the School System in England.

The paper focuses on the auditing and accountancy paradigm that has dominated educational measurement of pupil performance for the last 20 years in England. The advocates of this minimum competency paradigm do not take account of the results of its dominance. These results include ignoring the heterogeneous complexity of groups within societies that exist now internationally and the reduction in pedagogy and curriculum experience to a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model of teaching concentrated on the tested subjects. This is complemented by the ‘recitation script’ style of pedagogy in schools based on coverage, delivery, completion and measurement rather than interpretation and analysis to support the complexity and diversity of individual learning needs.

Using socio-dramatic play to support a beginning writer: ‘Daniel, the doctor and the bleeding ball’

This article reports on a case study of a young child (aged five) at a very early stage of his journey as a writer, evidencing ‘pre-alphabetic tendencies’, who has not yet internalised the construction of his name. Analysis of a ‘baseline’ piece of Daniels writing demonstrates his awareness that the production of random letters conveys a simple message. However, Daniel does not recognise yet the relationship between spoken language and the corresponding grapheme–phonemes. At present he is not making the connections between his aural, oral and visual concepts of how words as text are constructed. In addressing the development of early years writing, the practitioner should be aware of the learning needs of the child as the child develops as an emerging writer in a highly complex problem-solving activity. The complexity of the structural and developmental processes needed to become a writer requires that the child is taught not within a predominantly whole-class structure with its demands for completion within fast-paced time limits. The emerging writer requires sustained recursive opportunities to engage with the experiences, which take the child from the steps of ‘mark making’ to the abstractions of written composition. The decision was made to use the strategy of socio-dramatic play as the framework for the intervention with Daniel. The use of a play/literacy connection (socio-dramatic play) serves to unlock and support the childs writing/spelling development. The child is being supported in his development by the teacher strategically easing the cognitive load, i.e. in this case, through scribing for the child.