Martin Hughes (slides produced by Andrew Pollard)

1. More than the sum of its parts? Coordinating the ESRC Innovation and Change in Education Programme Martin Hughes (slides produced by Andrew Pollard)

2. Origins of the programme • Conceived 1988, funded 1990 to 1996 • Teaching and learning processes and outcomes in the context of 1988 Education Reform Act • Commissioning: 250 outline applications, 25 shortlisted, 10 projects funded • Coordinator …. as ‘an afterthought’?

3. Role of the coordinator Three main overlapping areas • Networking • Creating coherence • Dissemination • Shifting ESRC priorities (1993 Realising Our Potential) • Changing external circumstances • ‘Bewildering variety of tasks’

4. Working with projects • Good relationships - no substitute for face to face meetings • ‘One of the most difficult problems … is that of negotiating … a mutually acceptable understanding of what it means to be part of a programme.’ • Programme priorities vs. project priorities

5. Working with ESRC • Six different programme officers • Steering Committee • Research Programmes Board • Other directors & coordinators

6. Creating coherence • ‘With the agreement of the Steering Committee, the five overarching questions were put to one side, and a more flexible and mutually acceptable statement of the aims and objectives of the Programme was generated’. • Discussions, seminars, consultation and presentations internally and externally

7. Five main themes • Progression in learning • Coherence in the curriculum • The nature of effective teaching and learning • Understanding innovation and change • Differentiation and equal opportunities

8. Dissemination Three part strategy • Identification of target audiences • Development of dissemination products • Delivery of products to targets ‘We did all we could …. But it is hard to gauge impact..’

9. Experiences with the media • Positive coverage, and work with Maureen O’Connor • Distortion/parody by Daily Telegraph • ‘Re-interpretation’ of project findings on grammar for 14 year olds by politicians

10. Conclusions • ‘A flexible, responsive model is a better description of the way most programmes operate in practice.’ • Clarity about programme-project expectations and an appropriate ‘management style’ is vital. • User engagement should ‘take place in a context where the intentions and assumptions of both users and researchers can be explored’. • ‘Added value’ is possible, through the focus, visibility, synergy, and open and collaborative processes which a programme provides.

12. TLRP background • ‘reform’ throughout the UK education system • concern for economic competitiveness and social inclusion • aspirations for evidence-informed policy • new researcher/practitioner/user alliances Teaching and Learning Research Programme

13. Key features • Large (almost £30m, 50+ investments, 400+ researchers, • sophisticated projects, often with large teams) • All sectors of education (pre-school to retirement) • UK-wide (England, Wales, Scotland, N. Ireland) • 2000 to 2008/9 • Directors’ Team of six (Andrew Pollard, Mary James, • Steve Baron, Alan Brown, Miriam David, John Siraj-Blatchford – 3.5 fte) • Capacity building (with associations & other initiatives) Teaching and Learning Research Programme

14. AIMS: • Learning • Outcomes • Lifecourse • Enrichment • Expertise • Improvement Teaching and Learning Research Programme

15. Teaching and Learning Research Programme Many independent, but interlocking and cumulative, research activities

16. ORGANISATION: • Projects, funded in seven phases • Sectors, of educational provision and research • Themes, analysing across the programme Teaching and Learning Research Programme

17. THEMES 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008/9 User engagement Capacity building Phase I Neuroscience Learning outcomes Lifecourse Phase II Impact ICT and learning International Scottish extensions Contexts & communities Learning transitions Changing teacher roles Education research quality User collaboration Welsh extensions • Curriculum • Pedagogy • Assessment Phase III Northern Irish extensions • Diversity and learning • Political contexts • Programme development Associated projects

18. PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT: • Early user engagement • Knowledgegeneration by project teams • Knowledge synthesis by thematic groups • Knowledge transformationwith users & task groups • Outputs for impact Teaching and Learning Research Programme

19. Programme outputs: • Newsletters* • [*to all those registered on the TLRP database at: www.tlrp.org] Teaching and Learning Research Programme

20. Programme outputs: • Websites (www.tlrp.org) Teaching and Learning Research Programme News, projects and themes Research capacity International links

21. Programme outputs: • Databases Teaching and Learning Research Programme BEI PERINE Regard CERUK D-Space

22. Project outputs: • Research briefings from each project* • [*to those with special interests registered on the TLRP database at: www.tlrp.org] Teaching and Learning Research Programme

23. Seminar/workshops: Science Education: Royal Society Modern Apprenticeships: DfES Pupil Consultation: QCA and NCSL Inclusive Education: London and Manchester Policy Task Groups: Personalised Learning 14-19 Education • Project outputs: • Seminar/workshops for policy-makers and key users • Policy Task Groups • Press-releases, articles in professional journals, user collaboration, etc Teaching and Learning Research Programme

24. Embedded video footage Key Findings Supporting analysis Hyperlinks for follow-ups • Project outputs: • ‘Video-Assets’ Teaching and Learning Research Programme

25. Project outputs: • Gateway, overview books • Improving Learning series • Practitioner books and materials • Academic publications • RoutledgeFalmer publishing partnership Teaching and Learning Research Programme

26. Project outputs: • TLRP Commentaries • Personalised learning • 14-19 education • e-strategy and electronic knowledge management in education Teaching and Learning Research Programme

27. Add value through: • analysing key issues and themes • across the whole Programme; • contributing to innovation in communicating new substantive knowledge Teaching and Learning Research Programme

28. At the end of each session you attend, there should be an opportunity for you to record the key concepts which seem important to you. Please record your thoughts on this sheet and leave it when you depart. The whole set will be analysed with great care to enable an appropriate conceptual vocabulary to be constructed for electronic tagging purpose. Thank you. KEYWORDS FROM PRESENTATIONS AND ROUNDTABLES Hanbury Suite NAME: ……………………… Chair: Mary James__________________ Presenters: Keywords:

29. KEYWORDS FROM PRESENTATIONS AND ROUNDTABLES Bardd Suite NAME: … Miriam David…… Chair: Bob Burgess Presenters: Frank Coffield, Martin Hughes (papers only) Keywords: Frank Coffield: Learning society, employment, work, vocationalism, training and education, learning trajectories, participation and democracy, social capital, economic inequalities. Programme, projects, themes, collaboration, informal learning, publications. Martin Hughes: Innovation, change, curriculum, progression, effective teaching & learning, differentiation and equal opportunities. Programme, added value, projects, coordination and management, themes, negotiation, users, engagement, dissemination, media relationships.

30. Teaching and Learning Research Programme

31. www.tlrp.org