Getting the Right Relationships In Education Systems

1. Getting the Right Relationships In Education Systems Ben Levin OISE ITEC, 2012, Jerusalem Homespace.oise.utoronto.ca/~levinben/ @BenLevinOISE (Twitter)

2. My Background • Academic studying education policy and research • Civil servant leading ministries of education in two provinces • Longstanding interest in politics • And in how research can affect policy and practice

5. Good Relationships Matter But they always have multiple dimensions and tensions.

6. You cannot beat or frighten people into high performance But many people think that you can – and should…

8. Good Relationships Matter • High performing education systems embody mutual respect and effort among all partners • Governments, schools, teachers, parents, students, other staff, communities • Many examples in different cultures • Singapore, Finland, Canada • New York Summits

9. Other Options and Their Limits** • Various combinations of: • Central direction • Accountability systems • School evaluation, teacher evaluation, inspection • Incentives (usually financial) • Market mechanisms • These may be useful but are not sufficient • Or may even be counterproductive

10. Dukenfield'sLaw "If a thing is worth winning, it's worth cheating for."

11. Results of Control Systems** • Surface compliance • Cheating or manipulation to get good results • Competition that diminishes mutual learning • Increased segregation • Many examples • Centralized systems in many countries • Competition in England, New Zealand • Privatization in Sweden or Chile

12. Guiding Principle "Have a simple, clear purpose which gives rise to complex, intelligent behavior rather than complex rules and regulations that give rise to simplistic thinking and stupid behavior." Dee Hock

13. What Does Work to Promote Excellence? • Commitment to shared goals that are about student outcomes • Commitment to improvement in all schools, not just a few • A system approach sustained over time • Collective effort and responsibility • Helping people get better • Constant evidence about results

14. Trust Alone Is Not Enough** • In complex large systems simply ‘trusting’ people to do the work well is not enough. • Inevitably there will be some incompetence and some malfeasance • The costs of these can be very high • Especially in public trust

15. Autonomy is the Wrong Idea • Autonomy = decentralization • Discussion is simplistic, as a binary situation • Instead, should be thinking about relationship: • Inter-dependence • In-dependence • Dependence • Are all necessary

16. Autonomy Alone Does Not Work** Higher performing countries do not have high levels of school autonomy • Finland -.4 • Korea -.5 • Shanghai -.5 • Canada -.4 PISA index of school control over resources

17. Think Eco-System

18. Eco-Systems** • All elements are linked to other elements • Not always easily or happily • But none are ‘autonomous’; all are constrained in various ways • Regulation is one way of thinking about constraints related to ecology • But not the only way

19. Human Nature**** • We deserve more trust and less regulation • Other people need more regulation before they can be trusted • And this is because there are serious disagreements among people on means and ends, plus all the issues of interpersonal conflicts

21. Principles • Education systems have several levels and many partners • There must be authentic engagement of all** • Governments, regions, schools, teachers, students, parents • Appropriate roles depend on the scope and impact of the issue • Dialogue should be supported with evidence**

22. Scope • Issues with important system consequences belong primarily at the system level • If the consequences are primarily local, greater local discretion • If more within the scope of professional practice, more influence for professionals • But no important decision should be made at any level without some process of input • Because all issues can potentially have both local and larger consequences

23. When is There Room for Local Discretion?

25. When is There Room for Local Discretion? • When it can be justified based on particular circumstances related to achieving system goals OR • When it is not important to achieving system goals • Both these conditions can be verified empirically

26. Where Does Performance Fit?** • Should better performance mean less regulation? • Wrong question; if regulation supports performance then why remove it? • If it doesn’t support performance, why have it at all? • This is also largely an empirical question

27. Examples • System goals – central direction but with extensive input; no local modification • Strategies to achieve goals – jointly shaped across the system with some local ability to modify • Teaching practices– primarily shaped by teachers collectively but with significant input from others; some school or individual room to adjust

28. More Examples • Budgets – some areas set centrally or regionally; schools have some room to adjust • Hiring – broad agreement on standards, local input on specifics, local decisions on individuals • Admissions – local discretion only if it does not compromise national goals of quality and equity

29. Importance of Regions** • A two level system (nation and school) is not workable in most cases • Too many schools to manage • Impedes effective distribution of people • Regions/districts can add an important level of support, networking • Need to guard against their being bureaucratic or authoritarian • Regions should be: • Large enough to have needed capacity • Few enough to be able to work together

30. Teacher Autonomy** • Professions should own their practices • But collectively, not individually • Individual freedom grows out of demonstrated skill • This means that teachers collectively should insist on standards of practice for all teachers, not autonomy for each teacher

31. Role of Research** • Constant search for evidence on effective practices • Better mechanisms to bring evidence into play • Constant support across the system for use of good practices • This is poorly developed in education • Do not use what we know • Do not learn what we need

32. Relationship to ‘Trust’ • Trust is to be highly valued and sought after • But is not always possible • Sometimes ‘interdependence’ is the best we can get • We can work together whether or not we like each other (Eco-system) • Trust is built slowly from many decisions and interactions • Does not imply absence of conflict

33. Mechanisms • Systems to support dialogue and feedback ** • Multilateral and bilateral • At many levels • Do not have to take endless time • Constant feedback on progress and attitudes** • Open information – outcomes, budgets, decisions** • Working on a common story

35. Summary • Every partof the system is important to good outcomes • No level or group is above any others; all are interdependent • Important to have many mechanisms to work across groups and levels to build common understandings

36. This is Possible • Exists in many high performing systems • Was built in Ontario from 2004 on

37. Thank You! Email: Ben.Levin @ utoronto.ca Twitter: @BenLevinOISE