Session Information
05 SES 01 A, School-Based Collaborative Approaches to Overcoming Disadvantage and Inequality in England, Scotland and Wales
Symposium
Contribution
The School Improvement Partnership Programme (SIPP) is a national programme involving a diverse range of eight partnerships involving 14 school districts and 44 schools across Scotland. These partnerships adhere to a common set of principles and are underpinned by the use of research and enquiry to promote improved outcomes for students at risk and from disadvantaged backgrounds. This long-term and challenging activity is undertaken by teachers working in and leading partnerships across schools with support from school districts (education and other services), Education Scotland (Scotland’s national agency for school improvement), and the Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change (University of Glasgow). This paper draws on the evidence presented in the first annual report of this programme of work (Chapman et al. 2014). Early findings relate to the power of the range of collaborative action research methods used within SIPP, particularly in relation to lesson study, improvement science, instructional rounds and collaborative action research. SIPP has provided an important mechanism for professional learning and for staff to take on formal and informal leadership roles. There is also evidence that building relationships across organisational and geographical boundaries can help build innovative approaches to tackling disadvantage. The first section of this paper provides a context for SIPP by reflecting on the national policy agenda and the ideas and evidence that informed the development of the initiative. The second section of the paper explores the function and forms of collaboration within SIPP. Specifically, this section will discuss the principles and practice of school, local authority, national agency and university collaboration, along with the opportunities, issues and tensions associated with using within-school, between-school and beyond school collaboration to tackle educational inequality issues. In conclusion, the paper will consider the implications for future developments in policy and practice designed to have a positive impact on outcomes for children at risk and from disadvantaged backgrounds.
References
Chapman, C. Lowden, K., Chestnutt, H., Hall, S., McKinney, S., Hulme, M. and Watters, N. (2014) The School Improvement Partnership Programme: Using Collaboration and Enquiry to Tackle Educational Inequity University of Glasgow
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