Catalyst E-Book

Louise Stoll

• Herausgeber: Crown House Publishing
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Co-authored by Louise Stoll, Carol Taylor, Karen Spence-Thomas and Chris Brown, Catalyst: An evidence-informed, collaborative professional learning resource for teacher leaders and other leaders working within and across schools is a collection of specially designed cards created to support and promote the professional learning and development of groups of teacher leaders. Catalyst is a professional learning tool intended to bring to life the findings of a collaborative research and development project carried out between researchers at the UCL Institute of Education and Challenge Partners, an informal national network of schools. The project investigated four questions: 1. What is it about effective middle leadership within and across schools that changes teachers' practice? 2. What are the most powerful ways of sharing knowledge about excellent middle leadership practice within and across schools? 3. What are the most important factors when designing evidence-based tools to track changes in teachers' practice as a result of middle leaders' interventions? 4. What leadership conditions in schools help develop and embed cultures of shared outstanding practice? The collection consists of two sets of resource cards and a clear and detailed facilitator guide - along with a bibliography and photocopiable resources for download - and has been designed for use by staff in schools in all contexts and across the entire student age range. Ultimately, the aim of the Catalyst process is to: - help develop better understanding of and skills in teacher/middle leadership - stimulate evidence-informed conversations about teacher/middle leadership which lead to deep and meaningful learning - support skilled facilitation of these conversations - encourage inquiry, improveproblem-solving and enrich decision-making through collaboration - enhance leadership within schools and across networks and school partnerships. Suitable for school leaders and educators looking to both expand and refine their conversations around change management, professional development and school improvement.

Leseprobe

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Contents

Title PageWhat is Catalyst?What are Catalyst’s aims?Who is Catalyst for?What’s in the Catalyst cards?How do you facilitate Catalyst?Annex 1: What was the project?Annex 2: What principles and evidence underpin Catalyst’s development?Annex 3: How does Catalyst fit in with other initiatives?About the authorsAcknowledgementsNotesCopyright

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What is Catalyst?

Catalyst is designed to support and promote the change, professional learning and development of groups of teacher leaders, including middle and team leaders – and the senior leaders who support them – both within and across schools.

This ebook edition of Catalyst contains the Professional Learning cards, Research Findings cards, bibliography and photocopiable resources – which can all be downloaded from https://www.crownhouse.co.uk/featured-catalyst-ebook.

Research Findings cards

These cards are informed by a collaborative research and development project, Middle Leaders as Catalysts for Improving Teacher Practice,1 carried out between researchers at the UCL Institute of Education (IOE) and Challenge Partners,2 an informal network of 475+ schools (see Annex 1). Here are the four project questions.

What do we know about effective middle leadership within and across schools that changes teachers’ practice?What are powerful ways to share knowledge about excellent middle leadership practice within and across schools?What is important to consider in designing evidence-based tools to track changes in teachers’ practice as a result of middle leaders’ interventions?What leadership conditions in schools help to develop and embed cultures of shared outstanding practice?

Professional Learning cards

These cards are informed both by our own and others’ research and by our experience of facilitating professional learning (see Annex 2). Catalyst is a professional learning tool intended to animate or ‘bring to life’ the project findings.3 In line with the project questions that focus on powerful ways of sharing knowledge, we want to share our findings to help colleagues to learn from them, rather than just ‘disseminating’ outcomes.

What are Catalyst’s aims?

To help develop better understanding of and skills in teacher/middle leadership.To stimulate evidence-informed conversations about teacher/middle leadership which lead to deep and meaningful learning.To support skilled facilitation of these conversations.To encourage inquiry, improve problem-solving and enrich decision-making through collaboration.To enhance leadership within schools and across networks and school partnerships.

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