Out of the Box’ Empowering School Leaders through Action Research: Two Case Studies

Thekla Afantiti LamprianouYiasemina KaragiorgiVasiliki Alexandrou

Marianna KaramanouLoizos Symeou

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Presentation outline Introduction Conceptual Framework

◦ Action Research and School Improvement The context Action Research Model Methodology Case Study 1

◦ Year 1 cycle◦ Year 2 cycle

Case Study 2◦ Year 1 cycle◦ Year 2 cycle

Discussion and Conclusion

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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Introduction This project:involved action research implemented in five Greek-

Cypriot primary schools, during 2013-2015aimed at empowering school leaders to consider ways

of improving school performanceinvolved Action Research as a tool to help leaders

reflect and explore how to make a difference to the school through collaborative school based enquiry, impacting upon teachers, students/pupils and themselves.

enhanced reflection as an inward-looking dimension towards improvement of leadership practices

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Conceptual frameworkDefinition of action research as ‘applied research,

carried out by practitioners who have themselves identified a need for change or improvement’ (Bell (2005))

Data gathering mechanisms can allow the ensuing feedback to be translated into development and/or modifications of possible action

Use of cycle of data gathering, data feedback and data use, so that action strategies for school improvement can be inspired by actual data

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Conceptual frameworkAction research emphasises the

uniqueness of the context Focus is not placed on measurement of

educational results Limitation: any ‘stories of

implementation’ could only be illustrated to highlight ‘lessons learned’ without any claims on generalisability

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The contextTwo public schools / head teachers with 3-5

years of working experienceHighly centralized Cyprus educational systemThe only evaluation scheme currently

implemented is teachers’ external supervision by the inspectorate

An emerging educational reform plan◦ introduction of school-self evaluation indicators for school quality are practically non-existent no information towards raising standards SSE instruments / tools are absent

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Action research model

The Teacher Learning Academy Delivered with Cambridge Education

The Teacher Learning Academy

Six Core Dimensions

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Methodology – DataThe primary data sources included ◦school leaders’ diaries with fieldnotes and

systematic reflections◦Interviews

Focus placed on the particular leaders’ experiences

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Case Study 1 - Year 1 cycle

School profile◦Small at the centre of Nicosia◦Years 1 – 3◦With a large percentage of the student

population that their mother tongue is not Greek (30% had both parents and 30% had one parent –mostly the mother- non-Greek speakers)

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Case Study 1 - Year 1 cycle

personnel meetingimprovement of the oral language skills of the

students questionnaire action plancommittee to prepare a set of activitiesevaluate the outcomes – limitation – checklistSelection of a number of students in each class

to monitor their progress (15 in total)Use of the particular checklist periodically

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Case Study 1 - Year 1 cycle◦End of the first school year assessment of

the progress of the project by discussing the results of the checklists General impression was that the project was

helping students improve their language skills both during break time and class time

Obstacle: the presence in each class of a quite important number of non-native Greek speakers

Decision: from the beginning of the new school year to create a new class for teaching Greek as a foreign language

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Case Study 1 - Year 2 cycle◦Goal connected to the development of book reading,

which has been a specific goal of the school for the last few years

◦New class for the first and second graders who were non-native Greek speakers

◦Alteration of the checklist used to evaluate students’ oral language skills

◦April 2015 : implementation of a self-evaluation process among all students to describe their own abilities for oral communication

◦End of year discussion to describe the results of the implementation of the two-year action plan

Case Study 1 - Year 2 cycleReflection

methods for the collection of the evaluation data were basically qualitative

staff members concluded that this project helped all the students improve their oral language skills

staff members participated actively to recognize, design, implement and evaluate the actions required for the success of the project

the teachers worked cooperatively to implement and shared experiences during the completion of the action plan

the teachers developed professional skills toward this specific goal and improved their teaching practices

the project gave all the staff members the opportunity to create a culture of problem solving, of research and of “change”

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Case Study 1 - Year 2 cycleReflection on head teacher’ s role◦a role model for the teachers as a “research

leader” and as a “life-long learner”◦ the leader for a “change” toward better academic

results for the students;◦used autonomy to design an action plan to meet

the students’ specific needs; ◦was able to research “within” the school

community (students and teachers) on the specific needs and to improve solving a problem through the implementation of an educational plan;

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Case Study 1 - Year 2 cycleReflection on head teacher’ s role◦ I used a tool that empowered me to recognize the

unique characteristics of my school’s students; ◦ I was a pedagogical leader as well, since I was the

coordinator of this project;◦ I worked as a facilitator for a change in the school

culture, since I shared good practices among school subjects and grade levels and discussed and evaluated the progress of the project;

◦ I was given the opportunity to share and collaborate between schools, since I worked collaboratively with another head teacher who was also focusing on the same specific goal.

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Case Study 2 - Year 1 cycle

School profile ◦New area outskirts of Nicosia◦292 students◦16 classes◦1 Special Education Class◦24 teachers, a speech therapist, three teacher

aides, 3 deputy head teachers, head teacher

Case Study 2 - Year 1 cycleSeptember 2013: Use of an instrument -a ‘brainstorming’

guide on action research commencementOctober 2013: evaluate the most important inquiry area

by the staff - Decision to focus on ‘the development of students’ oral communication skills.’

Set up a four-member-committee (including the head teacher)

All staff members identified two weaknesses of students’ oral communication skills, and two expected outcomes of the intervention (based on their initial class observations)

Contact the school’s advisor for Greek, and the CERE critical friend for support

Developed the school’s own instrument -a 16-item-rubric

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Case Study 2 - Year 1 cycle

December 2013 : development of action planFebruary 2014 : first reflection - discussion on the

project◦Changes: specific activities were allocated to specific

expected outcomes, and the expected outcomes were organized in three

categories: (i) vocabulary (ii) sentence formulation and (iii) oral text production.

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Case Study 2 - Year 1 cycleMay 2014: reflection - discussion on the project◦ Satisfaction from the fact that this project gave the staff

the opportunity (1) to reflect on a subject that they consider extremely important and (2) to exchange ideas, concerns, and good practices with their colleagues,

◦ Frustration with the complexity of the task, as far as not having a reliable assessment of the results of their effort, as well as the lack of attainment and achievement targets in order to know where to focus and which steps to take for each expected outcome,

◦ Common observation: when the teachers focused their instruction systematically and for a length of time on specific, concrete goals, essentially success criteria, the students displayed better results and seemed to improve their oral communication skills

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Case Study 2 - Year 2 cycle September 2014: Sub-committees for each class in order◦ to choose from and reduce the number of expected outcomes

to the ones which are more relevant to their students’ age and level, and

◦ to break down these expected outcomes to specific achievement targets that would describe what success looks like when the learning goal is reached, and would be concrete and measurable.

November 2014: ◦ the original plan was enriched with achievement targets per

class,◦ students’ self-evaluation checklists based on these targets

were developed.

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Case Study 2 - Year 2 cycleMay 2015: Reflection◦ Students’ achievement: all the teachers observed that once they

focused systematically on a few, specific and concrete achievement targets, they saw an improvement of their students’ performance.

◦Other methods for oral communication skills’ assessment such as video recording or tape recording: found to be extremely time consuming, even though the students enjoyed being engaged in them.

◦ Teachers’ own professional development: learned a lot about oral communication skills characteristics and how to

incorporate it in their daily instruction and planning, benefited from learning about how to conduct action research, engaging in action research made them more self-conscious about their

teaching and their efforts to improve themselves, enjoyed exchanging ideas, discussing about pedagogical matters other

than school daily routine issues, designing co-teaching lessons, asking for advice from colleagues with expertise on relevant specific subjects (such as drama education) etc.

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Case Study 2 - Year 2 cycleMay 2015: Reflection◦Difficulties: time constraints and the absence of material,

standardized tests and attainment targets on oral communication skills,

◦Changed teachers’ view of instruction from a process by which the students learn to a process by which the school staff can learn and develop as well, by observing more focused and carefully,

◦Gave the head teacher the opportunity to reflect on ways to motivate teachers, organize time, and optimize human and material resources, for the school to develop a culture that promotes professional development, cooperation and improvement of students’ results.

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Discussion and ConclusionFindings:

1. Leaders’ attitudes towards action research projects appeared positive.

2. Throughout the life cycle of the project teachers and leaders engaged in construction of shared meaning, discovering the importance of self-improvement.

3. In order to instill a culture of SSE with an emphasis on school improvement where all teachers can communicate openly and honestly about their own experiences, opinions and expectations to generate success (Vanhoof & Van Petegem, 2012), the leaders’ role is important.

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Discussion and ConclusionFindings:4. Problems related to the lack of structures in support of

school improvement efforts, such as time resources and appropriate assessment tools.

5. The absence of evaluation frameworks (attainment targets) to measure students’ attainment caused certain difficulties in proceeding with the school improvement process.

➢ promote an active role for head teachers and teachers in educational research and curriculum development (Stenhouse, 1975).

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Thank you!