Conference Agenda

This contribution focuses on the views of teachers who participated in three professional development courses on school self-evaluation, conducted as part of the ValueE for School (VfS) action research (European Found Project 2014-2020).

We investigated participants' views on the training received and on its impact on the work of school data teams and the evaluation culture of schools, comparing the differences in relation to the sample context variables and the courses characteristics.

The literature highlights some aspects of the self-evaluation process that are decisive for school improvement: a) supporting schools during this process by adopting a decentralised perspective; b) building evaluative capacity in school staff; c) developing an evaluative culture in the places where learning takes place (OECD, 2013; Schildkamp, Poortman, Handelzalts, 2016). Therefore, it is important to adopt training models based on the needs of schools, offering collaborative activities and building shared knowledge within the school community (Brown & Poortman, 2018). Teacher training plays a decisive role, especially if it takes place within communities of practice engaged in a collaborative professional learning (Duncombe & Armour, 2004).

The three VfS courses aimed to strengthening the teachers evaluation capacity of the teachers and offer insights to policy makers on networking, training and support models for school self-evaluation. The project targeted 400 teachers from 42 schools. As part of the evaluation design, 13 online focus group were carried out. A merit sample of 101 teachers participated and debated the strengths and limitations of the training course.

The analysis was set from a phenomenological-interpretative perspective (Merriam, 1998), using a qualitative approach to the content analysis (Mayring, 2014). A computer-aided text coding methodology was developed (Fereday, Muir-Cochrane, 2006), which combines an inductive/bottom-up approach (first-level descriptive codes, emerging from the corpus) with a deductive/top-down one (second-level interpretative categories, grouping codes thematically related). Case distributions in the codes were analysed by means of contingency tables and covariation/correlation indexes with respect to the participants background, with the aim to offer insights into which training features fit to specific targets.

Results show that peer learning supports the evaluative culture of schools (2=2.885, p<0.09) and improves data literacy and collaboration among schools, fostering decentralization of viewpoints.

Training activities have fostered involvement and dialogue within schools. Differentiated results are noted in relation to the roles played by participants in the school, with greater attention by data teams to the methodological aspects of evaluation and by school staffs to school governance (climate, collaboration, organization, participation). Career seniority also appears to be relevant. We observe that teachers with less and more experience are more oriented to an evaluative school culture (2=9,852, p<0,05) than teachers with average experience: this group is more interested to technical and methodological issues (2=6,975, p<0,08).

Promoting teachers’ evaluation capacity building is important to strengthen their understanding of the role of evaluation for improvement and the use that can be made of its results.

It is well known from school development research that school change and organizational learning can be supported by, among other things, stimulating and absorbing innovation from outside (Easley Ii & Tulowitzki, 2016; Fullan, 2016; Pietsch & Tulowitzki, 2017). Nevertheless, there is an ongoing debate about how organized transfer and how to achieve sustainability. In our paper, we refer to a large-scale training program for selected students (peers/scouts) in secondary schools, that was designed, introduced and implemented by an external, independent government agency in a German state with the help of external trainers. The aim was to train students as peers to support media literacy and to provide internal services to other students on current challenges of digitalization (cyberbullying, cyber grooming, fraud, privacy, etc.). Our research question was related to the evaluation of the program, touching also on aspects of the program's impact on schools. Our formative and summative evaluation of the program with 183 participating schools (references not disclosed for blind review) found that the program itself, the school-specific implementation, and the roles and responsibilities of the peers had a impact on school development processes. In particular, awareness of the challenges of developing media literacy in schools, the development of a participatory school culture and the use of digital content for teaching have been influenced.

In this paper, we will present the results of the “moulding forces” of external triggers on school development. We build our empirical study on the concept of "absorptive capacity" (Zahra & George, 2002) from organizational research. It describes the ability of organizations (schools) to absorb external impulses and make them usable for internal change processes.

Various survey instruments (quantitative and qualitative) have already been developed, applied, and evaluated for this purpose. Transfer to the school context has occurred in initial studies - primarily in the U.S. (Da’as & Qadach, 2020; Farrell et al., 2019; Lenart-Gansiniec et al., 2022) - and has been applied to quantitative school leadership research in Germany (Pietsch et al., 2022; Röhl et al., 2022). In contrast to the mainly quantitative approaches, we followed a mixed-methods design with surveys of 166 teachers in school who are the responsible coordinators of the program, 42 school leaders as well as 8 interviews with teachers in school.

Our main findings show that the programme has an impact on school development in three directions: a) the student peers and the coordinating teachers provide impulses in terms of content for the design of media education in schools; b) the format of (inter-school) collaboration and peer-to-peer learning serves as an example of good practice in schools and promotes exchange and sustainable networking within schools; c) different learning arrangements (online, face-to-face, hybrid) provide innovative ideas for the development and design of lessons. This is consistent with current research on media literacy (Groeben & Hurrelmann, 2002; Hugger, 2021; Jeong et al., 2012; Ossenschmidt et al., 2015).

School systems internationally are considering curriculum change in response to a fast-changing world, recognising the need to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to address 21 Century global economies and societies (OECD, 2018, 2020, World Economic Forum, 2020, UNESCO 2021). The British School of Brussels is a not-for-profit international school with a strong ethos; its aim is to be a force for good. Internal and external reviews informally and formally identified areas in which we could improve the learning experience for students in line with our Guiding Statements. Undertaking a curriculum review challenged the school to ask: does our current curriculum and our teaching and learning methods enable this to happen?

The paper seeks to provide examples for how the school as a professional learning community has supported the process of the review and faced the challenges of sense making and pace. Based on theoretical insights from Sinnema and Stoll (2020), the OECD (2020) and UNESCO (2015,) amongst other international curriculum thinkers, the author will showcase how enacting a curriculum review in line with quality professional education, can enable enhanced school effectiveness and improvement.

Though a culture of inquiry, exploration, and innovation, whether it be through commissioned projects, autonomous professional learning initiatives, department led goals or school wide priorities, much has been achieved which helped the school community learn from each other, establish commitments and enact school wide change. Through a process of researching, exploring, provoking, modelling, trialling, experimenting, recommending, and encouraging, the community considered the purpose of the curriculum to make recommendations and commit to future developments.

Empirical evidence was gathered from the school community (staff surveys, 1:1 interviews, observations / evidence collected from professional learning days). The author has referenced and aligned their thinking alongside a review of literature that supports the paper objectives.

The paper exemplifies the ICSEI theme of how high-quality teaching and learning can be supported by a professional learning community, collaborative school improvement planning, and evidence informed policy that respects and promotes teacher professionalism.

Curriculum implementation can be a complex process; however, we have seen how stakeholders are the main drivers of curriculum change (OECD, 2021) and collective capacity can be built from effective collaboration. The review enacted a system wide approach to enable teams of teachers across the school to pursue projects and enact change. The direction of travel for BSB was created by staff which has helped to make meaning of the curriculum changes.

The author hopes that by sharing their learning and inviting like-minded colleagues to contribute to discussion, it will enable others in similar situations to take back new knowledge and ideas to implement. In addition, the author hopes that by engaging in critical dialogue, they can continue to develop ways to support the realisation of the curriculum aspirations for them to be sustainable. The author is keen for points raised in the paper to be used as tool to create partnerships targeted at leading improvement collaboratively and sustainably.

This paper proposes a research study that applies the theoretical framework of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to a school project with participants from across the school. While PLCs have been extensively studied within individual schools (Stoll et al., 2006), there is a need to explore their potential application to cross-school projects that involve participants from different grade levels, subject areas, and roles. This study aims to investigate how PLCs can be effectively utilised in such projects to promote collaboration, shared learning, and project success. The British School of Brussels roots its PLC in the overarching concept of ‘One-schoolness’ - an approach to involving all members of the learning community in all school initiatives. The research will examine the key components of PLCs, adapt them to this specific cross-school context, analyse their impact on participant collaboration and project outcomes, and identify the factors influencing their successful implementation. The findings of this research will provide insights for educators and school leaders seeking to leverage PLCs for cross-school collaborative projects, ultimately enhancing project outcomes and fostering a culture of collaborative professional development.

The proposed paper will review the specific project of the Wild Garden at the British School of Brussels through interviews and reflections with the participants. Project participants are students, teachers, leaders and operational staff from across the school. The data collected will enable a comprehensive exploration of the impact of cross-school PLCs on collaboration and project outcomes and facilitate the identification of meaningful conclusions and recommendations.

This research seeks to fill the gap in the existing literature by examining the application of PLCs to cross-school collaborative projects. The findings will provide insights into adapting and implementing PLCs in the unique context of such projects, enhancing collaboration among participants and improving project outcomes. The study will be of value to educators, school leaders, and policymakers looking to utilise research and data of specific projects for inquiry, insight, innovation and professional learning through a cross-school collaborative professional development approach that creates supportive environments for shared learning and continuous improvement.

The author is an operational staff member of the British School of Brussels and member of the school’s Professional Learning Community. After 20+ years working in education in other-than-teaching roles, the author has returned to university to study in the Master of Education Studies programme at the KULeuven in Leuven, Belgium.