The Power of Partnership: Schools, Universities and Teacher Education

1. Presentation to UCET 8 November 2012 The Power of Partnership: Schools, Universities and Teacher Education www.le.ac.uk Professor Sir Robert Burgess Vice-Chancellor, University of Leicester Chair, UUK/GuildHE Teacher Education Advisory Group

2. What is Partnership? • Oxford English Dictionary Definition • noun • 1 [mass noun] the state of being a partner or partners: we should go on working together in partnership • 2an association of two or more people as partners: an increase in partnerships with housing associations • a business or firm owned and run by two or more partners: the partnership now owns 22 department stores • a position as one of the partners in a business or firm: she will be eligible for a partnership after a few years

3. ITT Partnership • Key Principles but no prescriptive formula • Partners coming together and drawing upon research evidence and ‘best practice’ to determine what works in their specific context • Partnership between Schools and Universities not new • Personally know this from 1960s

4. Sections Planned for this Presentation • White Paper of 2010 • Responses from Secretary of State and the Government

5. Friday 2 November • Arrival of Student Number Allocations • Challenge to the Rhetoric?

6. A Key Question: • Should we be concerned about the allocations? • Is this an obvious reaction by HEIs?

7. What Criteria are used? • Outstanding OFSTED Inspection • High Quality Recruitment • School Direct

8. But do these Criteria Distort? • Allocations to Core lead to ask are numbers viable? • Can School Direct be Supported by HEIs? • What is High Quality? • What are the Roles and Responsibilities?

9. Will some Providers • give back numbers • come out of ITT • Not be available • when demographic trends move into secondary schools

10. A Key Question • For those who remain: • What form can Partnership take?

11. Partnership - key issues • Requirements • Common Principles • No Prescriptive Formula • Top-Down Models not helpful • Genuine Partnership • Working together • Drawing upon research evidence and best practice • Determine what works best in context

12. Some Developments • Local alliances develop according to needs and capacity of partners • Different alliances work separately on teacher development activities and come together to form meta-alliances • Principles for relationship • Shared interests and values • Collegial collaboration • Dynamic model • Rejects false dichotomy between theory and practice

13. Many successful collaborative ITE partnerships between universities and schools • Regional ITE provider networks • Masters in Teaching and Learning • Teach First collaborations • Successful but expensive • Hybrid model • Sees teaching as an elite career

14. The Past Decade and Partnerships • Greater will/capacity to contribute to ITE • Greater recognition from HEIs of distinctive contribution schools/teachers can make to ITE • More attention to CPD • More emphasis on reflective practice • Development of joint research activities • Greater levels of employability

15. Explanations for Trends in Partnership Development • Growing confidence of schools to make a greater contribution • Government policy focusing on CPD • Growth of professional Masters/ Doctorates • Emergence of Masters PGCE • Role of UCET in building relationships between ITE and the then TDA

16. Coalition Government Policy • ITT Implementation Strategy • Emphasis on schools leading provision • Teaching Schools • School Direct

17. A Productive Engagement • Emergence from natural development of existing partnerships • Largely driven by collegiality and shared vision • New relationships can be more difficult • Most successful with professional dialogue • Market-driven interests are a challenge

18. A Shift in Emphasis to School-led ITE: some problems • Maintaining Capacity in HE Sector • Uncertainty in allocation model • Loss of capacity with diversion to schools • Schools could reduce ITE if too much pressure • Existing partnership models could be difficult to sustain

19. Developing Professionally Relevant R&D through Partnerships • Practical and professionally relevant to schools/teachers • Jointly carried out • Enables focus on challenges/questions around teaching and leadership • Opportunity for improvement

20. Some Key Questions • How do I help my students learn how to divide fractions? • How do I build in thinking skills into my classroom teaching? • How can I take into account the backgrounds, knowledge and experience of the Bangladeshi girls in my class? • How can participation in student voice initiatives be increased?

21. Benefits of using R&D • Schools develop their own bespoke solutions • Developed by teachers and leaders through R&D • Form the basis for a powerful and practically useful knowledge base

22. Expanding Research and Development Links • Teaching School Alliance Partners • Supported successful funding bidsfrom NCSL • Develop Lesson Study approaches for specific learning problems

23. Examples of Good R&D Practice • Enhancing student engagement in Year 10 through collaborative learning practices • Improving students’ inference and analytic skills in Humanities • Developing expertise of non-specialist science teachers • Raising aspirations for white British boys • Promoting independent learning

24. Further Partnership - the MA in Education: Leadership and Learning • Support for school leadership and CPD • Collaboration with Teaching School Partners • Leadership and learning at the centre of individual and organisational change and improvement • Identify and enhance potential

25. Focus on individual learning and school improvement priorities • Enquiry-oriented leadership capacity • Developing ideas and practices • Enhancing learning and promoting spread and uptake

26. A Future for Partnership • New Models • Established Values • Better Teaching • BUT allocation of students needed to keep HEI providers if we are to have a professional training for a new group of future teachers