Throughout history the education sector has been notoriously resistant to change – but nothing forces change and progress like a pandemic
First it was slate, then blackboards, then whiteboards, then interactive boards. From the first to the last, centuries occured in between – but, last year, a seismic shift in the learning landscape occured in a matter of days.
Once schools shut in March Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom became the new hubs for teaching; in fact, just after lockdown began, the Department for Education launched a new online school – the Oak National Academy – where two million lessons were accessed by learners across the country in its first week.
When schools returned they had to provide a safe environment for both staff and pupils, while teaching and learning was disrupted to a level never seen before. This led to whole school efforts which encouraged unprecedented levels of collaboration and innvoation.
At the end of last year the NAHT published the findings from its School Improvement Commission. The commission’s report makes clear that sustainable school improvement is an ongoing, long-term activity that all schools should engage in, and it is likely to require a multi-faceted approach involving a range of stakeholders. The report highlights a number of salient messages and actions that schools can take on board to start the process of school improvement.
Schools are only as good as the people that work in them. Teacher quality is the driving force of school improvement so, if we want every pupil in the country to be taught by an expert teacher, we need schools to have access to high-quality CPD for all teachers, as well as a ready supply of expert staff. In addition to ensuring teachers have the time and freedom to engage in professional development, we need to reduce unnecessary workload wherever possible. School leaders are increasingly doing more to reduce teachers’ working hours; in addition, there is some evidence to suggest that teachers’ working hours have reduced in recent years and that, prior to the pandemic, teachers’ perceptions of their workload may also have been improving. Recent months have also seen a surge in applications for initial teacher training – an encouraging sign for schools’ short-term supply needs – but we need to ensure these new teachers stay in the profession.
School leaders need to create the conditions in which teachers can flourish and pupils can succeed. This risks being lost as additional responsibilities are loaded onto the role, and accountability pressures drive activity that has more to do with being Ofsted-ready than improving teaching and learning. Research suggests that headteachers are more likely to focus on external challenges, such as deprivation, austerity and staff supply, rather than those elements they can control within school, such as improving the quality of teaching. Headteachers should be empowered to reassert their role as leaders of learning in the face of pressure for quick wins, or shifting goalposts, and they need support and training in order to do so.
School improvement should be a collaborative endeavour. There are real benefits to working in partnership with others but the current system, too often, places schools in competition instead. For example, there is considerable evidence that school-to-school partnership working can be effective in supporting and accelerating improvements in participating schools, particularly where schools exhibit certain characteristics, such as shared goals and ambitions for development. We need to re-examine incentives and structures within the system to redress this imbalance.
School improvement should be seen as a continuous journey, not a destination to be arrived at. Too often, schools mark their improvement through the Ofsted grading lens – indeed, fixating on Ofsted can lead to a short-term focus, and a ‘scatter-gun’ approach to improvement, with a range of initiatives launched with limited assessment of what actually works. NFER’s research in support of the commission’s work explored senior leaders’ and classroom teachers’ views on the effectiveness with which schools identify, prioritise and take action on school improvement priorities. The NAHT’s analysis found that appropriate action did not always follow the identification of school priorities as school staff were forced to respond to more immediate issues.
In a year that threw up endless challenges for schools, they managed to emerge stronger and more innovative than ever. Along with this, a renewed appreciation for the important jobs that schools do occurred as parents around the country battled with home-schooling. It is hard to imagine there will be another moment in history when the central role of education in the economic, social, and political prosperity and stability of nations is so obvious, and well-understood, by the general population.
This, coupled with the resilience shown by schools to adapt and overcome quickly, shows that post-pandemic schools are likely to emerge stronger than ever.
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