Centre for Lifelong Learning

Department-Based IT (DBIT or Departmental IT) in functional (administrative) areas in higher education institutions is a common phenomenon. It has emerged, as has many other cases of distributed IT support in the private sector, as a way of providing departments ready access to IT solutions to accomplish their distinct missions. The practice has the potential to create as many problems as it is supposed to solve. Where Departmental IT fits into the overall IT support mission of higher education institutions is not clearly defined. The potential exists to create friction amongst IT units and/or functional areas as well as to create inefficiencies in IT support institution-wide. The potential also exists for the various IT support units to collaborate and create a coordinated whole that is more than the sum of its parts. A fundamental question to be answered is whether there is a real business case for the existence of Departmental IT. This dissertation aims to address the issues by proposing a framework for a coordinated activity between Central and Departmental IT. It also aims to more clearly define what Departmental IT and its role is and is not. This paper’s literature review draws lessons from earlier research, and thereafter, the study’s research method is presented as an original cross-sectional survey of higher education leadership on the state of Departmental IT practice. An IT Artifact, the publicly accessible “Admin-DBIT” Wiki, presents a boilerplate relationship framework and a discussion of relationship issues and a definition of roles and responsibilities. The findings of the research and IT Artifact evaluation combine to make a strong business case for the use of Departmental IT operating under a defined relationship framework with the institutional Central IT office.

This article draws upon the work of two researchers who facilitated practitioner research with school professionals in Liverpool. The researchers themselves had not been involved in practitioner research before. In this account, the researchers reflect critically upon their own experience. The discussion presents the learning curve that the researchers underwent as well as what they discovered about the relationship between practitioners and researchers when engaged in school‐based research. Crucially the issue of practitioners’ understandings of what constituted ‘good’ research emerged as a significant issue. In particular, positivist notions of research that drew from popular scientific understandings, as well as the culture of numerical targeting in the schools system, seemed to shape these practitioners’ sense of what was expected of them as practitioner‐researchers. The article finishes by reflecting upon the possible lessons that this work presents for education managers considering practitioner research approaches for continuing professional development (CPD).

This paper argues that school professionals’ attitudes to continuing professional development (CPD) fall into identifiable types, which influence their involvement with CPD. In order to consider appropriate support for staff to take up relevant CPD, this paper aims to identify what these attitudes are. To this end, a model developed as an outcome of a Wellcome Trust funded project is applied to the experiences of school professionals in a networked CPD context. The Wellcome Trust model presents four categories—believers, seekers, agnostics and sceptics—according to their attitudes to CPD. This study extends it with a further, fifth, category; that of ‘providers’. Whilst the original model suggests that professionals’ uptake of CPD is primarily dependent on their individual attitude, this paper argues that attitude is a more complex product of professional attitude and other factors, such as access to, relevance and variety of CPD. Through the additional lens provided by other CPD models used in the literature, this paper offers insights into possible ways forward in providing appropriate support for effective CPD in a networked context.

This paper draws on the findings of a research project funded by the Liverpool City of Learning consortium in the UK. The aim is to explore the process of introduction of ten authority wide learning networks, the impact these have on school professionals practice, the opportunities they offer for CPD and the extent to which they may impact on pupil learning. The research presented here draws on findings from a questionnaire distributed to school professionals and key issues emerging from their analysis point to the influence of national government agendas on school professionals’ interpretation of the purpose of the networks. They also point to the views of staff regarding the impact of the attainment agenda as well as the extent to which an increased emphasis on social inclusion and wider understandings of learning and achievement (which are less well represented by results-based performance monitoring) are having on their hopes for what Learning Networks might deliver. The expectations of staff of the opportunities offered by learning networks for long term professional development provide some interesting insights, and perhaps, some useful pointers as to how networks of this kind might develop in the future. COMMENT LES PERCEPTIONS DES RÉSEAUX D’ÉTUDE SE FORMENT-ELLES PARMI LES PROFESSIONNELS ET LES DIRECTEURS D’ÉCOLE À UN PREMIER STADE DE LEUR INTRODUCTION ? – Cet article repose sur les rÉsultats d’un projet de recherche financÉ par le Consortium d’Étude de la ville de Liverpool au R-U. Son but est d’explorer le processus d’introduction de dix rÉseaux d’Étude disposant d’une large autoritÉ, l’impact que ceux-ci ont sur la pratique professionnelle scolaire, les opportunitÉs qu’ils offrent pour le DPC et jusqu’À quel point ils influent sur l’apprentissage des Élèves. La recherche prÉsentÉe ici repose sur les rÉsultats d’un questionnaire distribuÉ À des professionnels de l’École, et les questions clÉs Émergeant de leur analyse soulignent l’influence des agendas des gouvernements nationaux sur l’interprÉtation que les professionnels des Écoles font du but de ces rÉseaux. Ellels soulignent Également les vues du personnel concernant l’impact de l’agenda d’accomplissement et dans quelle mesure une insistance accrue sur l’inclusion sociale et une comprÉhension plus large de l’apprentissage et de l’accomplissement (moins bien reprÉsentÉs par une surveillance des performances basÉe sur les resultats) jouent sur leurs espoirs concernant ce que les RÉseaux d’Étude peuvent fournir. Les espÉrances du personnel quant aux opportunitÉs offertes par les rÉseaux d’apprentissage pour le dÉveloppement professionnel À long terme fournissent quelques aperçus intÉressants et peut-être quelques indications utiles sur la façon dont les rÉseaux de cette sorte se dÉvelopperont À l’avenir. ZUR WAHRNEHMUNG NEU EINGEFÜHRTER UNTERRICHTSNETZWERKE DURCH PROFESSIONELLES SCHULPERSONAL UND DIREKTOREN – Dieser Beitrag beruht auf den Ergebnissen eines Forschungsprojekts, das vom Liverpool City of Learning Consortium, UK, gefördert wurde. Das Projekt erforscht den Prozess der EinfÜhrung zehn autoritätsbezogener Unterrichtsnetzwerke unter den Fragestellungen: Welchen Einfluss haben diese Netzwerke auf die Praxis des professionellen Schulpersonals? Welche Möglichkeiten bieten sie fÜr CPD? Bis zu welchem Grad wirken sie sich auf die Lernleistung der SchÜler aus? Das hier vorgestellte Projekt beruht auf den Ergebnissen einer Fragebogenuntersuchung unter professionellem Schulpersonal. Aus der Analyse abgeleitete SchlÜsselthemen zeigen auf, welchen Einfluss die Regierungsprogramme auf die Einschätzung professioneller Schulmitarbeiter Über den Zweck der Netzwerke haben. DarÜberhinaus geben sie die Meinung der Mitarbeiter Über die Auswirkungen des Leistungsprogramms wieder und weisen auf das Ausmaß hin, das die verstärkte Betonung sozialer Einbindung und das erweiterte Verständnis von Lernen und Leistung (welches in Ergebnis-basierten Leistungsvergleichen wesentlich weniger gut dargestellt wird) auf die Hoffnungen der Mitarbeiter hinsichlich der Netzwerke haben. Die Erwartungen der Mitarbeiter an die durch die Lernnetzwerke eröffneten Möglichkeiten einer langfristigen professionellen Entwicklung liefern interessante Erkenntnisse und geben nÜtzliche Hinweise auf die potentielle Weiterentwicklung solcher Netzwerke in der Zukunft. ¿QUÉ IDEA SE FORMAN LOS PROFESIONALES Y TUTORES DE CURSO SOBRE LAS REDES DE APRENDIZAJE EN UNA FASE TEMPRANA DE SU IMPLANTACIÓN? – Este trabajo expone los resultados de un proyecto de investigaciÓn financiado por el grupo Liverpool City of Learning en el Reino Unido. El objetivo es el de explorar el proceso de introducciÓn de diez redes de aprendizaje que abarcan diferentes instituciones, su impacto sobre el desempeño de los profesionales, las oportunidades que ofrecen al desarrollo profesional continuo (CPD) y el alcance de su posible impacto sobre el aprendizaje de los alumnos. La investigaciÓn presentada en este trabajo esboza los conocimientos que se obtuvieron a travÉs de un cuestionario distribuido entre los profesionales de las escuelas, y los resultados centrales que surgen de su análisis indican la influencia que las agendas del gobierno nacional ejercen sobre la interpretaciÓn de los profesionales en cuanto a la finalidad de las redes de aprendizaje. Además, estos resultados centrales señalan los puntos de vista del equipo docente en cuanto al impacto de este programa de logros y en cuanto a la medida en la que un mayor Énfasis en inclusiÓn social y conceptos más amplios de aprendizaje y rendimiento (que no se ven tan bien representados con un monitoreo del rendimiento basado en resultados) podría alimentar sus esperanzas en cuanto al aporte de las redes de aprendizaje. Las expectativas del cuerpo docente en cuanto a las oportunidades que ofrecen las redes de aprendizaje para el desarrollo profesional a largo plazo proporcionan algunos conocimientos interesantes y, quizás, algunas indicaciones útiles sobre cÓmo se podrían desarrollar en el futuro las redes de aprendizaje de esta índole.

This article seeks to explore the ‘fit’ of ‘the network’ as an organizational form being implemented in schools in England. It considers current trends within education policy, pedagogy and educational technology in the context of these new service delivery models and relates these to the current interest in learning networks. The article draws upon the experience of school networks as it has been discussed in evaluation research and literature surveys, to highlight the issues around their implementation. The purpose, typology and potential tensions of educational networks are reviewed, with a particular focus on the Networked Learning Communities (NLCs) pioneered by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). Although, on the face of things, the position of the ‘school network’ as a structural model seems logical, there are significant tensions which suggest that the implementation and development of meaningful and high quality networks is far more challenging than the government may appreciate.

Previous literature has demonstrated that networks can be valuable sources of professional learning. In 2005 all Liverpool schools formed into ten Learning Networks with the aim of improving the quality, and entitlement of, continuing professional development (CPD) for staff as part of a whole-scale local authority initiative. The Liverpool Learning Networks Research explored professionals’ CPD experiences following this organizational change and whether it has enhanced their practice. Triangulated data, a large-scale survey and qualitative interviews conducted in 2007, seem to suggest that where professionals benefited from professional learning in a networked context, the quality of the networked CPD as well as a positive school culture and intra-school collaboration were all important contributors to the success of networked-CPD. This finding can usefully apply Turbill’s (Teacher learning for educational change. Open University Press, Buckingham, 94–114, 2002) model of professional learning to the intersection between school-based and networked-CPD, which suggests that it is at this intersection between internal and external domains that teacher learning can take place. Two scenarios, where this interplay between school-based and networked CPD is positive (enhancement) or negative (tension), are reported through five case studies of professionals underpinned by the survey data, where relevant.

This article draws upon the work of two researchers who facilitated practitioner research with school professionals in Liverpool. The researchers themselves had not been involved in practitioner research before. In this account, the researchers reflect critically upon their own experience. The discussion presents the learning curve that the researchers underwent as well as what they discovered about the relationship between practitioners and researchers when engaged in school‐based research. Crucially the issue of practitioners’ understandings of what constituted ‘good’ research emerged as a significant issue. In particular, positivist notions of research that drew from popular scientific understandings, as well as the culture of numerical targeting in the schools system, seemed to shape these practitioners’ sense of what was expected of them as practitioner‐researchers. The article finishes by reflecting upon the possible lessons that this work presents for education managers considering practitioner research approaches for continuing professional development (CPD).

This paper argues that school professionals’ attitudes to continuing professional development (CPD) fall into identifiable types, which influence their involvement with CPD. In order to consider appropriate support for staff to take up relevant CPD, this paper aims to identify what these attitudes are. To this end, a model developed as an outcome of a Wellcome Trust funded project is applied to the experiences of school professionals in a networked CPD context. The Wellcome Trust model presents four categories—believers, seekers, agnostics and sceptics—according to their attitudes to CPD. This study extends it with a further, fifth, category; that of ‘providers’. Whilst the original model suggests that professionals’ uptake of CPD is primarily dependent on their individual attitude, this paper argues that attitude is a more complex product of professional attitude and other factors, such as access to, relevance and variety of CPD. Through the additional lens provided by other CPD models used in the literature, this paper offers insights into possible ways forward in providing appropriate support for effective CPD in a networked context.

This paper draws on the findings of a research project funded by the Liverpool City of Learning consortium in the UK. The aim is to explore the process of introduction of ten authority wide learning networks, the impact these have on school professionals practice, the opportunities they offer for CPD and the extent to which they may impact on pupil learning. The research presented here draws on findings from a questionnaire distributed to school professionals and key issues emerging from their analysis point to the influence of national government agendas on school professionals’ interpretation of the purpose of the networks. They also point to the views of staff regarding the impact of the attainment agenda as well as the extent to which an increased emphasis on social inclusion and wider understandings of learning and achievement (which are less well represented by results-based performance monitoring) are having on their hopes for what Learning Networks might deliver. The expectations of staff of the opportunities offered by learning networks for long term professional development provide some interesting insights, and perhaps, some useful pointers as to how networks of this kind might develop in the future. COMMENT LES PERCEPTIONS DES RÉSEAUX D’ÉTUDE SE FORMENT-ELLES PARMI LES PROFESSIONNELS ET LES DIRECTEURS D’ÉCOLE À UN PREMIER STADE DE LEUR INTRODUCTION ? – Cet article repose sur les rÉsultats d’un projet de recherche financÉ par le Consortium d’Étude de la ville de Liverpool au R-U. Son but est d’explorer le processus d’introduction de dix rÉseaux d’Étude disposant d’une large autoritÉ, l’impact que ceux-ci ont sur la pratique professionnelle scolaire, les opportunitÉs qu’ils offrent pour le DPC et jusqu’À quel point ils influent sur l’apprentissage des Élèves. La recherche prÉsentÉe ici repose sur les rÉsultats d’un questionnaire distribuÉ À des professionnels de l’École, et les questions clÉs Émergeant de leur analyse soulignent l’influence des agendas des gouvernements nationaux sur l’interprÉtation que les professionnels des Écoles font du but de ces rÉseaux. Ellels soulignent Également les vues du personnel concernant l’impact de l’agenda d’accomplissement et dans quelle mesure une insistance accrue sur l’inclusion sociale et une comprÉhension plus large de l’apprentissage et de l’accomplissement (moins bien reprÉsentÉs par une surveillance des performances basÉe sur les resultats) jouent sur leurs espoirs concernant ce que les RÉseaux d’Étude peuvent fournir. Les espÉrances du personnel quant aux opportunitÉs offertes par les rÉseaux d’apprentissage pour le dÉveloppement professionnel À long terme fournissent quelques aperçus intÉressants et peut-être quelques indications utiles sur la façon dont les rÉseaux de cette sorte se dÉvelopperont À l’avenir. ZUR WAHRNEHMUNG NEU EINGEFÜHRTER UNTERRICHTSNETZWERKE DURCH PROFESSIONELLES SCHULPERSONAL UND DIREKTOREN – Dieser Beitrag beruht auf den Ergebnissen eines Forschungsprojekts, das vom Liverpool City of Learning Consortium, UK, gefördert wurde. Das Projekt erforscht den Prozess der EinfÜhrung zehn autoritätsbezogener Unterrichtsnetzwerke unter den Fragestellungen: Welchen Einfluss haben diese Netzwerke auf die Praxis des professionellen Schulpersonals? Welche Möglichkeiten bieten sie fÜr CPD? Bis zu welchem Grad wirken sie sich auf die Lernleistung der SchÜler aus? Das hier vorgestellte Projekt beruht auf den Ergebnissen einer Fragebogenuntersuchung unter professionellem Schulpersonal. Aus der Analyse abgeleitete SchlÜsselthemen zeigen auf, welchen Einfluss die Regierungsprogramme auf die Einschätzung professioneller Schulmitarbeiter Über den Zweck der Netzwerke haben. DarÜberhinaus geben sie die Meinung der Mitarbeiter Über die Auswirkungen des Leistungsprogramms wieder und weisen auf das Ausmaß hin, das die verstärkte Betonung sozialer Einbindung und das erweiterte Verständnis von Lernen und Leistung (welches in Ergebnis-basierten Leistungsvergleichen wesentlich weniger gut dargestellt wird) auf die Hoffnungen der Mitarbeiter hinsichlich der Netzwerke haben. Die Erwartungen der Mitarbeiter an die durch die Lernnetzwerke eröffneten Möglichkeiten einer langfristigen professionellen Entwicklung liefern interessante Erkenntnisse und geben nÜtzliche Hinweise auf die potentielle Weiterentwicklung solcher Netzwerke in der Zukunft. ¿QUÉ IDEA SE FORMAN LOS PROFESIONALES Y TUTORES DE CURSO SOBRE LAS REDES DE APRENDIZAJE EN UNA FASE TEMPRANA DE SU IMPLANTACIÓN? – Este trabajo expone los resultados de un proyecto de investigaciÓn financiado por el grupo Liverpool City of Learning en el Reino Unido. El objetivo es el de explorar el proceso de introducciÓn de diez redes de aprendizaje que abarcan diferentes instituciones, su impacto sobre el desempeño de los profesionales, las oportunidades que ofrecen al desarrollo profesional continuo (CPD) y el alcance de su posible impacto sobre el aprendizaje de los alumnos. La investigaciÓn presentada en este trabajo esboza los conocimientos que se obtuvieron a travÉs de un cuestionario distribuido entre los profesionales de las escuelas, y los resultados centrales que surgen de su análisis indican la influencia que las agendas del gobierno nacional ejercen sobre la interpretaciÓn de los profesionales en cuanto a la finalidad de las redes de aprendizaje. Además, estos resultados centrales señalan los puntos de vista del equipo docente en cuanto al impacto de este programa de logros y en cuanto a la medida en la que un mayor Énfasis en inclusiÓn social y conceptos más amplios de aprendizaje y rendimiento (que no se ven tan bien representados con un monitoreo del rendimiento basado en resultados) podría alimentar sus esperanzas en cuanto al aporte de las redes de aprendizaje. Las expectativas del cuerpo docente en cuanto a las oportunidades que ofrecen las redes de aprendizaje para el desarrollo profesional a largo plazo proporcionan algunos conocimientos interesantes y, quizás, algunas indicaciones útiles sobre cÓmo se podrían desarrollar en el futuro las redes de aprendizaje de esta índole.

This article seeks to explore the ‘fit’ of ‘the network’ as an organizational form being implemented in schools in England. It considers current trends within education policy, pedagogy and educational technology in the context of these new service delivery models and relates these to the current interest in learning networks. The article draws upon the experience of school networks as it has been discussed in evaluation research and literature surveys, to highlight the issues around their implementation. The purpose, typology and potential tensions of educational networks are reviewed, with a particular focus on the Networked Learning Communities (NLCs) pioneered by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). Although, on the face of things, the position of the ‘school network’ as a structural model seems logical, there are significant tensions which suggest that the implementation and development of meaningful and high quality networks is far more challenging than the government may appreciate.

Previous literature has demonstrated that networks can be valuable sources of professional learning. In 2005 all Liverpool schools formed into ten Learning Networks with the aim of improving the quality, and entitlement of, continuing professional development (CPD) for staff as part of a whole-scale local authority initiative. The Liverpool Learning Networks Research explored professionals’ CPD experiences following this organizational change and whether it has enhanced their practice. Triangulated data, a large-scale survey and qualitative interviews conducted in 2007, seem to suggest that where professionals benefited from professional learning in a networked context, the quality of the networked CPD as well as a positive school culture and intra-school collaboration were all important contributors to the success of networked-CPD. This finding can usefully apply Turbill’s (Teacher learning for educational change. Open University Press, Buckingham, 94–114, 2002) model of professional learning to the intersection between school-based and networked-CPD, which suggests that it is at this intersection between internal and external domains that teacher learning can take place. Two scenarios, where this interplay between school-based and networked CPD is positive (enhancement) or negative (tension), are reported through five case studies of professionals underpinned by the survey data, where relevant.

This article reports on a study of the influence of different approaches to teaching units from the Jordanian science curriculum to over 600 students from grades 6, 9 and 10 in elementary schools. A small sample of male and female teachers was trained in the use of co-operative learning approaches and in lecture-demonstration approaches to teaching particular units adapted for this purpose from the prescribed curriculum. The aim was to determine how far achievement and attitudes towards science are influenced by the different approaches. A qualitative and quantitative methodology was adopted including tests of achievement and interviews with the participants. The findings of the study are not straightforward, with different methodologies suiting different groups and teachers. However, the implications for teacher training and the advantages of providing teachers with the opportunity to adopt a mixed methodology to suit their students are clear.

... At KS3, the process science most frequently in evidence was in class practicals for purposes ... characterized as a top-down affair, the best guess of well-informed science educators, with ... To date, the summative assessment in the National Curriculum has tended to be something ...