UCL Centre for Educational Leadership (CEL) Newsletter

Message from Professor Qing Gu, Director, UCL Centre for Educational Leadership

proud of the positive differences that we have made to many schools and their leaders and teachers in London, the UK, and internationally. This is achieved through our cutting-edge research and outstanding teaching and through working in partnership with like-minded schools and universities to provide the professional development pathways that enable teachers and school leaders to fulfil their passion, purpose and commitment as lifelong educators.

Wish you all a wonderful Christmas, a festive break and a very happy and healthy 2022!

Best wishes,
Qing 

Funded research projects

Abstract: Inequalities in education and health are deeply rooted in social and economic disadvantage. By developing and evaluating a systems-oriented, multi-layered complex intervention, this three-year research investigates how schools work effectively with families and communities in rural areas to create the optimal practices, cultures and conditions to strengthen their organisational and professional capacities and become enabling spaces for young children's improvement in learning and health.

The project is led by Professor Qing Gu with an interdisciplinary team of Co-Investigators from UCL Institute of Education (Professors Martin Mills and Lynn Ang; Dr Rupert Higham), UCL Institute for Global Health (Professor Jolene Skordis-Worrall), School of Applied Sciences at London South Bank University (Professor Patrick Callaghan), and Faculty of Education and Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

2) “Evaluation of Education Development Trust: School Partnerships Programme”. This is funded by the EEF and involves David Godfrey, Ruth McGinity and Louise Stoll in CEL.

Funder: Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)

Funded period: 2018 - 2021

Funded value: £721,533 

The Schools Partnership Programme (SPP), funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), is one of the UK’s largest school improvement networks with over 1300 schools having participated since beginning in 2014. Schools work in small self-formed clusters and school leaders attend regional training where they learn to self-evaluate, peer review and provide school-to-school support for improvement. We are going into the second year of the Schools Partnership Programme Trial and will report on this in Spring 2021. This £721,533 award is one of the largest evaluations conducted to date by the EEF and involves 374 primary schools in the treatment group. The PI is Jake Anders and the Head of the Implementation and Process Evaluation is Dr David Godfrey. Also on the research team: Professor Louise Stoll, Toby Greany, Dr Ruth McGinity and Dr Bernadita Munoz Chereau. 

3) “The competitive effects of free schools on student outcomes in neighbouring schools”. This is funded by Nuffield Foundation and involves Rob Higham and Ruth McGinity in CEL.

Funder: Nuffield Foundation

Funded period: February 2020 - April 2023 

Funded value: £296,943

Dr Rob Higham (PI) and a team of researchers at UCL (Professor Francis Green, Dr Golo Henseke, Dr Jake Anders and Dr Ruth McGinity) have won £296,943.00 from the Nuffield Foundation to undertake a mixed-methods study into the competitive effect of Free Schools. This project will develop a comprehensive analysis of the impacts of free schools on student outcomes in neighbouring schools. Importantly, it will analyse the mechanisms through which potential free school effects are manifested, by examining whether free schools compete well in terms of quality, whether parental preferences for local schools change with a free school opening and whether existing schools respond by changing practices.

Teaching

Applied Educational Leadership MA

The Applied Educational Leadership MA is a world-class, fully online programme for middle or senior leaders in schools, colleges, universities, charities, edu-businesses and government. It is a powerful boost to personal development, employability and promotion. Students bring change to their professional contexts through personal study and research, enabled by high-quality dialogue with their tutors and global network of peers. Read more.

Enterprise

The social and intellectual assets in our ECF partnerships offer new teachers a powerful promise of change as we challenge and support them to grow to become capable professionals who know how to make informed decisions about what they teach, how they teach it, and importantly, why they teach in this way in their own classrooms.

Successful launch of the Reformed National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) Programme

November saw the launch of the latest iteration of the Department for Education’s National Professional Qualifications for school leaders. UCL Institute of Education is one of nine lead providers rolling out the programmes nationally in partnership with a network of delivery partners including newly designated Teaching School Hubs and Local Authorities. As part of the government’s recovery strategy more than 1500 participants joined us virtually for the start of their programmes which will last for either 12 or 18 months. UCL Centre for Educational Leadership is proud to lead the delivery of the reformed NPQs. We look forward to working with delivery partners and colleagues across the country and internationally supporting those in leadership positions and enabling them to flourish in their role.

NPQ facilitator training

There have been 7 facilitator training sessions for the new specialist and reformed NPQ Senior Leadership (NPQSL) and Headship (NPQH) over the past few weeks. All the attendees feel very ready to facilitate the programmes through the information giving part of the session along with the more practical elements about what makes good facilitation and the principles of adult learning. The facilitators fed back very favourable comments about their experience on the day:

• Thanks so much- really engaging and thought provoking. Enjoyed the opportunity to have peer discussion
• Great to chat with everyone, very inspiring
• Www- wow how you let us do lots of the work!

National Professional Qualifications (NPQ) Specialist inductions
The launch of the Specialist NPQs with the inductions was a very exciting event working with about 400+ participants and facilitators on each of the two days. The event went very well due to help of Patrick Robinson and his team in UCL Media and of course the NPQ team. Despite the numbers there was a real energy and passion from the participants for the start of the programme.

International School Monaco - DML, November 2021

Annette Beard and Greg Ross have been working with 30+ Middle Leaders in the International School in Monaco. The first session was face-to-face in February 2020 just before lockdown. In November 2021 the third session took place virtually and they were really pleased to see how these middle leaders had moved on in their thinking about leadership and working with their teams. They are looking forward to seeing their presentations in the summer 2022.

Developing leadership for learning in Spain

CEL is supporting the development of a new educational leadership centre in Spain, LID Barcelona, and Greg Ross was pleased to have the opportunity to participate as a panellist alongside Anna Jolonch (University of Barcelona) and Anna Pons (OECD) in the centre’s inaugural webinar, focused on the leadership of educational change.

We have co-designed and are now co-delivering the new centre’s first professional development programme, focused on teacher leadership. The programme is open to teachers and school leaders across Spain.

Our involvement with this centre grew out of our long-term collaboration with La Caixa Foundation in Spain, and their joint annual programme, ‘Liderazgo para el Aprendizaje’ (Leadership for Learning) for school leaders in Spain. More information about the new centre and a link to the webinar can be found here.

Information about our national leadership programme with La Caixa Foundation in Spain can be found here.

Supporting teacher professional development and leadership development in Saudi Arabia

Earlier in 2021, we were pleased to successfully complete a year-long review of teacher professional development and school leadership development in the Saudi Arabia school system. This complex project was funded by the UK government as part of the Saudi-UK Education Partnership and continues CEL’s long term engagement with the Saudi Arabia school system. The review extended our ongoing collaboration with the National Centre for Educational Professional Development in Saudi Arabia, who were our main partner in the process, alongside the British Council.

During the review, we had opportunities to engage in depth with senior policy makers, university and school leaders, school inspectors, professional development specialists, and teachers working in a range of settings. The CEL ‘knowledge exchange’ philosophy underpinned our approach, and the review included a series of workshops and seminars for participants. Our recommendations are now being considered at ministerial level in Saudi Arabia. 

A new partnership in China

Some good news about a new partnership in with Beijing Normal University (BNU) in China: together with colleagues at BNU this month we will launch a new school improvement programme for state primary schools in Beijing. The intention is that this will be the first of many collaborations between BNU and CEL, as they continue to strengthen and expand their professional learning offer to teachers and school leaders in China.

This sits alongside our existing partnership with Tsinghua University in Beijing, with whom we co-deliver our International Professional Certificate in School Leadership (IPCSL) programme to leaders of Chinese international schools. The IPCSL programme now runs annually at Tsinghua University.

Publications

Gu, Q., Seymour, K., Rea, S., Knight, R., Ahn, M., Sammons, P., Kumar, K., & Hodge, J. (2021). The Research Schools Programme in Opportunity Areas: Investigating the Impact of Research Schools in Promoting Better Outcomes in Schools. London: Education Endowment Foundation.

This report presents the results of an EEF-funded, independent evaluation designed to investigate the extent to which, and in what ways, Research Schools (RSs) in Opportunity Areas (OAs)1 had supported schools to enact evidence based practices in their classrooms. The evidence centred upon the lived experiences of ten OA RSs during the first three years of their designation (2018 to 2020).

Day, C., Gu, Q., & Townsend, A. (2021). School-University Partnerships in Action: The Promise of Change. London: Routledge.

This book provides new knowledge, insights and experience about school-university partnerships. Drawing upon evidence from international research of the world’s most improved systems, and learning from a UK research council funded ‘knowledge exchange’ project, it reveals that when the profound differences between the practice worlds of schools and the theoretical worlds of university academics are embraced and cherished, rather than eschewed, school-university partnerships become exciting avenues of learning which connect, challenge and transform the thinking and practice of all those involved.

Gu, Q., Rea, S., Seymour, K., Smethem, L., Bryant, B., Armstrong, P., Ahn, M., Hodgen, J., & Knight, R. (2020). The Research Schools Network: Supporting Schools to Develop Evidence-Informed Practice. Evaluation Report. London: Education Endowment Foundation. 

The Research Schools Network (RSN) initiative represents the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) endeavour to broaden and deepen evidence-informed practices and cultures in schools and through this, scale up their best available evidence for impact on practice. Launched in September 2016, a national network of Research Schools (RSs) have been funded to share what they know about putting research into practice, and lead and support schools in their regions (and beyond) to make better use of evidence to improve teaching practices. The report can be found here or it can be read here,

Special Issue on School Peer Review (November 2021) - Issue 22.3 of Professional Development Today.

This edition of Professional Development Today has nine pieces on school peer review including original articles, a book review and a blog. These are developed from chapters in the recently published book: School Peer Review for Educational Improvement and Accountability: Theory, Practice and Policy edited by David Godfrey. The special issue covers the rising phenomena that is school-led improvement through peer review. Articles include understanding peer review and its growth and emergence, and how to conduct peer review effectively.

Anne Cameron and Maggie Farrar talk about how the Schools Partnership Programme adapted by using virtual reviews during the pandemic and Mark Hadfield and Mel Ainscow describe how peer enquiry has become a new layer of school improvement and accountability in Wales. Kerry Ikin describes an empowerment evaluation approach in the context of schools in Australia and Yonka Parvanova and Rossitsa Simeonova outline how peer review worked in a funded project of polycentric inspections in Bulgaria. Susan Cousin also provides two pieces, one about area-based education partnerships and another reviewing the above mentioned Springer edited book. Graham Handscomb, the editor of PDT describes peer review as an important new form of positive accountability where “the most important quality of peer review is that it is built upon collaborative foundations and forges an inclusive ethos.”

The moral life of econometric equations: Factoring class inequality into school quality valuations in Chile. (European Journal of Sociology, 62(1), 141-182. doi:10.1017/S0003975621000059)

Recent sociological scholarship on market design is ill-equipped to understand the normative and political aspects of experts’ practices in connection to political conflicts over the commodification of social rights. Gabriel Chouhy, PhD, developed an original approach to the politicized use of market devices to address collective concerns in a noneconomic policy field: education. Read more.

Stoll, L. (2021) Unleashing the Power of Transformative Educational Leadership. Independent evaluation of UBC's Transformative Educational Leadership Programme 
A report and summary of Professor Louise Stoll's evaluation of the University of British Columbia's Transformative Educational Leadership Program can be downloaded from here. More information about the programme can be found here.

Stoll, L., Taylor, C., Spence-Thomas, K. and Brown, C. (2021) Catalyst - An evidence-informed collaborative professional learning resource

The resource by was designed for schools in all contexts and across all student age groups. It is for use by middle leaders and other teacher leaders, as well as senior leaders who support them. 

Middle leaders have a formal role, with responsibilities for a subject, cross-curricular aspect of teaching and learning, social development of students, or for a stage or phase of schooling. 

Lucas, B., Spencer, E. and Stoll, L. (2021) Creative Leadership to Develop Creativity and Creative Thinking in English schools: A review of the evidence. London: Mercers’ Company. 

This review forms the initial foundation for a piece of work commissioned by the Mercers’ Company designed to help school leaders in secondary schools in England make creativity central to their students’ lives. Across the world the importance of creativity is increasingly acknowledged in education systems. But though leadership in schools is well-researched in general terms, leadership for creativity is not. In this review, we chart the establishment of a robust definition of creative leadership in schools, summarise the case for its importance today, and illustrate what it looks like in secondary schools. The full report can be read here.

Edge, K. (2021). A tale of two leaders: Reflecting on senior co-leadership in higher education in Future Alternatives for Educational Leadership: Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Democracy (1st ed.). London, UK: Routledge. 

This book offers provocations for what’s now and what’s next in educational leadership, simultaneously bringing the field both back to its basics—of equity, democracy, humanity, and education for all—and forward to productive, innovative, and necessary possibilities. Written during the pandemic reality of 2020, this collection shares the global voices and expertise including Dr Karen Edge of prominent and emerging leaders, scholars, and practitioners in education from the UK, the United States, South America, Canada, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. Karen’s chapter focuses on her experience as one of the most senior executive university leadership job shares globally and implications for future leadership roles and configurations. 

Keynote presentations

Keynote talks by Professor Qing Gu

The following events are where Professor Qing Gu spoke at this year: 

• (2021, April). “Why leadership matters.” Skolriksdagen April 2021, Sweden. April 2021.

• (2021, September). Why Developing Teachers Matters, and How” The 4th Global Teacher Education Summit, Beijing Normal University, China.
• (2021, September). Be(coming) Professional Teachers: Why Resilience and Quality Matter”, Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) Annual Conference, Warsaw, Poland.
• (2021, September). Qing Gu and ESRC Research Team, Invited two-part symposium “Enabling schools for better learning and health outcomes in rural communities in South Africa”, World Education Research Conference.

Keynote talks by Dr Karen Edge

The following events are where Dr Karen Edge spoke at this autumn: 

• (2021, December). COVID recovery: Prioritising care, safety and wellbeing for leaders and teams. Keynote presented virtually at the CLD Standards Annual National Conference. Glasgow, Scotland.
• (2021, November). Generations, talent spotting & role models: Influencing more inclusive post-COVID leadership. Keynote presented at the Challenge Partners Getting Ahead London Kick Off Event. London, UK.
• (2021, October). Teacher training and professional development: Building from best practice. Keynote presented virtually for the UNESCO Teacher Education Centre Annual Conference. Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
• (2021, October). Leading community development: Trust, wellbeing & leadership. Keynote presented virtually for the Annual National Conference for the Community Development Alliance. Edinburgh, Scotland.
• (2021, September). Reframing leadership: The importance of pandemic reality, generations and gender. Keynote presented at the Challenge Partners Getting Ahead London Celebration Event, London, UK.

Knowledge exchange activities and resources

Coming Back Stronger – CEL’s Thinkpiece by Christine Gilbert, Visiting Professor at CEL and IOE, and Public Leadership Forum

In this forum, Professor Christine Gilbert CBE argues that the pandemic forces leaders to find time for reflection and prioritise thinking about the future. The forum will give schools the opportunity to come back stronger by building learning about schools’ creativity in managing the disruption and complexities of the crisis into collaborative thinking, planning and action. This event follows the Coming back stronger: leadership matters thinkpiece from the UCL Centre for Educational Leadership (CEL). The Thinkpiece identifies five leadership opportunities for building a stronger future. Speakers Christine Gilbert CBE, former Head of Ofsted (HMCI), Visiting Professor at CEL and Honorary Fellow of the UCL Institute of Education. Qing Gu, Director of CEL, UCL Institute of Education. Kevan Collins, Education Recovery Commissioner and Visiting Professor at CEL. Chair: Professor Peter Earley, UCL Institute of Education.

Leading Learning with Teacher Wellbeing in Mind” EduCaixaTalks, Spain.

Professor Qing Gu led and spoke on how to build learning environments that favour well-being in schools, a key aspect to promote learning for all. 

Trinity College Dublin in Conversation with Professor Qing Gu – Educational Policy and Leadership 

Dr Gavin Murphy is in conversation with Prof Qing Gu from University College London - Educational Policy & Leadership. Prof Qing Gu (UCL) talks about her research on educational leadership and policy.

Special 50th Anniversary Series by the BELMAS LPD RIG 
This video is the first in a series of interviews with people who have made a significant contribution to the educational leadership landscape, specifically in leadership preparation and development. In this video, BELMAS Vice-Chair Deb Outhwaite interviews Professor Qing Gu.

Virtual event: School leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic

Professor Qing Gu and Roger Pope, Visiting Professor at CEL and IOE share their expertise and knowledge on this virtual event on how school leaders can best navigate these crises conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Qing Gu's additional exchange knowledge events

Professor Qing Gu also shared her experience and knowledge at the following events: 

• Shaping Futures of Education: Why Leadership Comes First” Keynote at the International Confederation of Principals (ICP) Council Meeting (2021)
• Research Insight: Putting the new Headteacher Standards into Action” Keynote at Enhancing Headteacher Standards and School Leadership Online Conference, InsideGovernment (2021).

The neurobiological case for progressive education

James also recently conducted a seminal interview with Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, entitled ‘The neurobiological case for progressive education’. Mary Helen is a Professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Southern California and the Director of Candle: the Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education.

Connect the Docs series on doctoral educational journeys, Sydney, Australia

Dr Karen Edge was invited as a guest as part of the Connect the Docs series on doctoral educational journeys. ConnectTheDocs was created so those on their doctoral journey can learn from the knowledge and experience of others. Andrea was inspired to support others after writing 'The Doctoral Journey'. You can view her conversation with Andrea Stringer here.

Coaching International series Curious Conversations, Sydney, Australia

Dr Karen Edge was invited as a guest on the Growth Coaching International series Curious Conversations, episode title: Educator Wellbeing. Dr Karen Edge discusses how the global pandemic necessitates us to challenge underlying assumptions and to reframe wellbeing as a set of choices. You can view the conversation here.

Global Education Summit: School Leaders and Quality Teaching

The UK and Kenya governments recently came together to host the Global Education Summit. Civil Society actors from around the globe, including Dignitas, hosted a series of conversations on education as side events to the main forum. The event focused on ‘School Leadership for Quality Teaching‘ and Dr Karen Edge was the invited discussant.

An IOE Blog with Qing Gu, Mark Quinn, Hilary Adli and Sue Hellman

We presented a success story here for the mutually supportive partnerships that are possible between schools and university, with our ECF programme as the prime example.

Presentations on writing a postgraduate dissertation

Dr Trevor Male has produced a series of eight presentations on writing a dissertation. All are available on YouTube to view.

Interview with CEOs of multi-academic trusts

Dr Trevor Male has conducted a series of interviews with CEOs of multi-academy trusts who spoke about their actions as trust leaders and the values and principles that underpin their leadership. You can view their videos below:

• Jo Evans
• Sir Paul Grant
• Mark Wilson

Conversation with CEL staff member
A conversation about values-based education with Dr Rupert Higham from UCL Centre for Educational Leadership. You can watch the conversation here.

The Learning Future podcast: The Power of What We Know Now. Adelaide, Australia

Dr Karen Edge shared insight into school improvement, leadership development and innovation on "The Learning Future" podcast with Louka Parry. The episode title for this podcast was "The Power of What We Know Now". You can listen to the podcast here or view the vlogcast here.

IOE Teacher Education College

Mark Quinn was interviewed by Lucy Jolin for the IOE Teacher Education College website, on the origins and originality of our ECF programme. His thoughts are that the site intends to highlight individuals around the faculty and the passions that they bring to their work. He was delighted to speak about the Centre’s new key role in the professional lives of new teachers.

The interview was recorded and it may appear eventually in print form.

Professor Caroline Daly – Educative Mentoring

Mark Quinn was delighted that Caroline agreed to be interviewed by him for the ECF website. Her work, with Emma-Jane Milton, inspired the team to adopt educative mentoring as our vehicle for mentor support in Year 2 of our ECF programme. The collaborative, experimental stance of educative mentoring – with its focus on the outcomes for learners, and not simply the actions of teachers – is entirely appropriate to the practitioner inquiry approach in year 2.

You can watch the interview here.

Good news

Working with Mossbourne Academy on Developing Middle Leadership

We are very pleased to be working with 30 Middle Leaders at Mossbourne Academy on the Developing Middle Leaders programme. It is a blended approach. The first session online has taken place and f2f will take place after Christmas Covid permitting.

200th Online writing room session

We have just run our 200th online writing room session since March 2021. We started sessions to address loneliness and pandemic distraction. However, they continue to provide an important space for colleagues! Our ‘rooms’ are 90-120m zoom sessions where we come together, share our work goals for the session and get to work. We take short breaks, often DJ’d and then report back on our progress at the end. The sessions have been helpful for students, colleagues within UCL and beyond! We’ve even had some amazing headteachers and policy makers join to support their work on writing!

CEL Advisory work enhances our global reach

CEL will be represented at the senior levels of the new national cross-sector charity, the Foundation for Education Development (FED), as advisory board member Karen Edge is also now co-chairing the FED Research Council. CEL’s advisory work is also expanding into the tech-ed sector with Karen serving on the 01 Founders Diversity and Inclusion Board.

Karen has also joined the Advisory Board of Karanga – The Global Alliance for Social and Emotional Learning and Life Skills- and will be joining Dignitas, an award winning Kenya-based leadership and school improvement organisation as research advisor in January 2022

George Mpanga receives honourary doctorate from the University of London 

George Mpanga, award-winning spoken-word artist, podcaster and social commentator received an honourary doctorate from the University of London in November 2021. George is also pursuing his PhD at UCL jointly supervised by Dr Karen Edge of UCL CEL and Professor Mariana Mazzucato of the UCL Institute of Public Purpose. George’s academic work explores the nexus between black music, culture and innovation, education and economic value creation.

UK Alumni Award Winner from Armenia in the domain of Social Action

Mher Davtyan, a Chevening scholar from Armenia, founded NorArar Education NGO during his studies at UCL. As he finishes his dissertation, he is working as a senior expert at UNICEF Armenia and has recently won the UK Alumni Award from Armenia in the domain of Social Action. Mher is completing his MA in Educational Leadership at UCL Institute of Education. His dissertation examines the perceptions of Armenian school principals about their leadership knowledge, skills and attributes required at this point in time in Armenia. You can watch the awards ceremony and his acceptance speech here (28minutes, 8 seconds).