The impact of professional learning on the teaching identities of higher education lecturers

Higher Education is currently undergoing some of the most profound changes in its history. Against a backdrop of increasing marketization, rising levels of student debt and far greater fully online offerings, the higher education lecturer is grappling with new ways of working and high expectations of teaching quality. This 3 year qualitative study based in The Open University UK investigates the ways in which HE distance learning lecturers are approaching professional development and learning, identifying what type of learning may be most effective in creating and sustaining an online teaching identity. The study also examines ways in which resistance discourse is shaping these identities and practices revealing emerging re- conceptualisations of what it means to be an effective and well-motivated distance learning lecturer. The investigation uses a framework for identity analysis which analyses professional identity via the expression of hegemonies, phenomenological, narrative articulations of identity, and a post-modern, constructivist view of identity which is shaped by social interactions and communities of practice. It highlights the importance of personal agency in identity formation. The results revealed a number of insights into the ways in which a combination of resistance discourse, professional learning and reflections from student interactions are shaping new understandings of professional knowledge in this context

Roles and student identities in online large course forums: implications for practice.

The use of large online discussion forums within online and distance learning continues to grow. Recent innovations in online learning the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and concomitant growth in the use of online media for the delivery of courses in traditional campus based universities provides both opportunity and challenge for online tutors and learners alike. The recognition of the role that online tutor and student identity plays in the field of retention and progression of distance learners is also well documented in the field of distance learning. Focusing on a course forum linked to a single level 2 undergraduate module and open to over a thousand students, this ideographic case study, set in a large distance learning university, uses qualitative methodology to examine the extent to which participation in a large forum can be considered within community of practice frameworks (COP) and contributes to feelings of efficacy, student identity and motivation. The paper draws on current theory pertaining to online communities and examines this in relation to the extent to which the forum adds to feelings of academic and social integration. The study concludes that although the large forum environment facilitates a certain degree of academic integration and identity there is evidence that it also presents a number of barriers producing negative effects on student motivation and online identity

Book review: The life project: the extraordinary story of our ordinary lives by Helen Pearson

Authored by Helen Pearson, The Life Project: The Extraordinary Story of our Ordinary Lives concerns British birth cohort studies: a unique set of longitudinal studies that commenced in 1946, tracking generations of babies from birth to death. As the studies yield fascinating and vital insight into issues of health, education, childhood and the impact of deprivation, Jacqueline Baxter finds this absorbing book essential reading, with Pearson underscoring the significance of the birth cohort studies in a clear and accessible manner

Public sector professional identities: a review of the literature

Increasing marketization; policies which enhance and embrace the idea of multi-agency collaborative working, and an economic climate in which the biggest spending cuts since the Second World War, are being felt across the public sector; imply testing times for the public services and professionals working within them .(Ball 1993; Allen and Ainley 2010; Ainley and Allen 2011). Research across the sector reveals professionals to be facing multifarious challenge: not purely in terms of how they execute their role, but fundamentally, causing them to question their values, sense of salience and professional identities: what it means to be an effective public sector professional in the 21st century. This review, commissioned by the Professional Identities Cluster Group, comprising academics from the Faculty of Education and language studies and The Faculty of Health and Social Care, explores the multifaceted ways in which professional identities are evolving, and investigates key elements which appear, across the sector, to be most influential in shaping these identities. The study begins by contextualising professional identities against the political, economic and social background within which they operate, discussing the ways in which the very term ‘professionalism’ has been contested over the last 50 years. Looking across the fields of: nursing, teaching, higher education, further education, social work and youth work, it explores communalities and divergence within the context of four key themes: multiagency working, the role of professional learning, the effects of resistance discourse and the ways in which policy shapes and is inculcated within professional identity, and concludes by suggesting areas for further research

Making sense of school governing in England: Sources of information and challenges

Changes to the English education system which have led to greater financial and curricular autonomies for schools along with increasing numbers of academy chains and federation trusts have combined to create a very complex environment for school governance. Drawing on previous studies into working identities in the public sector, this study investigates the ways in which school governors are making sense of their environment, and therefore are professionalizing their role. Using qualitative data from interviews with 30 governors, combined with quantitative data drawn from an ongoing project into governor identities, this paper looks at the myriad sources of information governors are using in order to make sense of their role. The study then appraises the challenges that they are facing, in a context of school reforms that place profound emphasis on education as a market; in the longer term, this may affect recruitment and retention of governors.Créées sous Tony Blair en 2000, les academies schools sont des écoles indépendantes, financées sur fonds publics, gratuites pour les parents mais gérées par le privé et relevant du Ministère plutôt que du gouvernement local. En 2010, l’arrivée au pouvoir de la coalition conservatrice alliée aux Libéraux (gouvernement Cameron) accélère « l’académisation » scolaire en supprimant le droit de véto des autorités locales à la création de nouvelles free schools, en particulier dans les zones défavorisées. L’academies act voté en juillet 2010 par le Parlement britannique permet à toutes les écoles financées sur fonds publics de devenir des académies avec un degré d’autonomie différencié par exemple pour moduler le salaire des enseignants ou proposer un curriculum distinct du programme national. L’idée est reprise des charter schools nord-américaines ou encore des « lycées libres » suédois, lancés en 1992, établissements secondaires privés proposés au libre choix parental, subventionnés par des chèques éducation et bénéficiant d’une large liberté pédagogique. L’objectif consiste non pas tant à afficher une efficacité scolaire localement exemplaire, mais à améliorer le niveau scolaire moyen grâce à un marché scolaire plus diversifié et plus concurrentiel. Plus de 10 % des écoles secondaires publiques ont, à ce jour, obtenu le nouveau statut de free school. Quel que soit leur statut, les écoles sont gérées par des governors, qui nomment les enseignants et le principal, en déterminent l’allocation budgétaire et les grandes orientations pédagogiques. Dans le cas d’écoles sous contrôle d’une Local Education Authority (LEA), le conseil des governors est piloté par l’autorité locale mais inclut également des représentants des parents, des enseignants et des intérêts locaux. Depuis 2010, les LEAs peuvent continuer à nommer des governors aux conseils d’Académies, mais n’ont plus de voix déterminante. Responsables de budgets dépassant souvent le million de livres, les governors doivent répondre par ailleurs à un système réglementaire de plus en plus exigeant, dont le respect des normes est évalué par l’Office for Standard in Education(OFSTED). Alors que l’activité de school governor est originellement conçue comme relevant du bénévolat, ces pressions croissantes de l’environnement éducatif ont entraîné un processus de « professionnalisation », au sens où les governors sont aujourd’hui recrutés sur la base de qualifications professionnelles de l’ordre de la gestion, de la finance ou des ressources humaines ; ils évaluent l’action des principaux en charge des établissements ; enfin ils doivent collecter nombre de données susceptibles d’éclairer leur évaluation lors des visites d’établissement régulières qu’ils entreprennent. En prenant appui sur les résultats de travaux précédents concernant la fabrication des identités professionnelles dans le secteur public et sur une enquête combinant entretiens semi-directifs auprès de trente gouverneurs et recueil de données quantitatives sur les trajectoires et les carrières, cet article examine les différentes sources d’information mobilisées par les governors, leur permettant à la fois de décoder les profils et les orientations des établissements et d’être partie prenante d’un travail plus large de réflexivité qui participe au processus de professionnalisation en cours.L’article vise donc à illustrer comment les governors réceptionnent et interprètent des informations d’origines variées à travers leurs pratiques quotidiennes, et les utilisent à la fois pour comprendre le contexte scolaire des établissements et pour améliorer leurs propres compétences managériales. Bien que ne bénéficiant d’aucune reconnaissance statutaire, cette forme de « professionnalisation profane » correspond pourtant aux attentes des tutelles – LEA, Ministère, OFSTED

Learning strategy in Multi Academy Trusts: knowledge as narrative

Contribution Multi-Academy trusts (MATs) are groups of schools in England led by an executive head teacher (EHT) and a board of trustees. They are complex organizations consisting of from two to over a hundred schools (Baxter, forthcoming , 2020). In 2017 were over 20,100 state funded schools in England on 01 November 2017. Of these 6,100 were academies of which 1,668 were standalone academies and 4,432 were MATs. These schools may be proximate to one another or widely geographically dispersed (Baxter & Cornforth, 2018). In England’s quasi-marketplace of education, one of the key decisions for EHTs and trustees is whether to expand the organization, and if so, what type of schools to take on (Baxer, 2020) ,and over what geographical spread. High profile failures of these organizations raise questions over MAT rate of growth, and the way in which they are managed and governed (DfE, 2018; HMSO, 2017). Studies in the public , private and non-profit sector have identified top management’s absence of strategic thinking as a major detractor from performance, (Casey & Goldman, 2010), and long term sustainability (Mintzberg et al, 2005). However, creating strategy for a single organization is very different to creating it for a large multi-site organization (Elmes & Barry, 2017). According to Casey and Goldman, there are four categories of knowledge required to think strategically: Factual knowledge-on the whole organizations as well as its parts, (Mintzberg (1987:4); procedural and conceptual knowledge: Procedural knowledge informs the strategic thinker on how to develop ideas, concepts and frameworks, and different ways of seeing issues, how to identify opportunities, whilst conceptual knowledge includes ideas resulting from taking different perspectives and frameworks for integrating system inputs and the environment for directing the organization. Finally, strategic thinkers must have knowledge of their own thinking, seeing their own strategic thinking strengths and weaknesses as well as those of others. This is the lens through which learning experiences will be interpreted: This article builds on the work of Casey and Goldman, and on other papers written as part of the same funded research project (Baxter, 2018; Baxter, forthcoming ,2020; Baxter & Cornforth, 2018) to evaluate the ways in which trustees and CEOs approach strategy as a learning activity in MATs. Asking the research questions, a) Do trustees and CEOs think of strategy in learning terms b) If so how? c) What are the implications of this for Trustee and CEO development in this area? d) what theoretical contribution does this study make to what is known about strategy learning in multi-level organisations. In order to do so the study uses 40 interviews with trustees and EHTs to evaluate the four areas of knowledge needed in order to think strategically: factual, procedural, conceptual and metacognitive- awareness of their own capabilities in this area. The research concludes that leadership boards in MATs appear to place more emphasis on factual knowledge, at the expense of the other areas of knowledge. It also concludes that whilst trustees and CEOs are aware of the ways in which their strategic thinking is developing, the area of conceptual knowledge is limited by MAT failure to collaborate with other MATs. The study contributes to the international literature on strategic thinking in education whilst also contributing to knowledge on strategic thinking in multi-level organizations across the public sector. It will also be of interest to those in the field of the development of strategic thinking in educational leadership more broadly. Method The research is based on 40 semi structured interviews with Trustees and CEOs working in 12 MATs. The CEO is the operational lead of the MAT and is sometimes referred to as Executive Head. Trustees were chosen due to previous research identifying that trusts are strategically driven by strategic planning at trust level, this is particularly true in terms of expansion strategies. (Baxter, 2016). The MATS are situated in the North (6) and South of England (6). The interviews were carried out within the period December 2017 to June 2018. They lasted between 45 minutes to one hour each. They were carried out via skype, in person and by phone. The research gained approval from the ethics committees of the two universities involved. Informed consent protocols were drawn up and approved by respondents before interviews commenced. Due to the sensitive nature of this research, this included anonymity of trusts as well as individuals. The interviews were coded using NVivo software and analysed using the framework outlined in the abstract. Having successfully adopted the narrative approach in other research which investigates strategic discourse in Mats, and sense making on governing boards ( Baxter, 2016), it has proved useful in drawing together ‘the apparently independent and disconnected elements of existence into related parts of a whole’ (Polkinghorne, 1988, p:36). In so doing we also drew on Linde’s coherence system of narrative, as ‘a discursive practice that represents a system of beliefs and relations between beliefs,’ (Linde, 1993, p.163).. Contrary to some views of narrative, in which stories of phenomena have a beginning, middle and end, Roe 1994), this paper assumes the unfinished nature of narrative as an ongoing process which forms and shapes policy and practice (Cooren, et al, 2013,p.368. This involved all researchers reading and coding each transcript individually, then discussing, merging and reflecting on these codes to form larger categories and emerging conceptual themes, and then further analysing these themes by comparing them across the data sets and to the study’s conceptual framework. This permitted insights into the research questions that not only illuminated the aims of the respondents, but also the values and ideals behind their strategic goal. Studying the narratives of the participants in this way also allowed examination of elements that, ‘recurrently, routinely and persistently animate the actors.’ As part of the narrative approach, this method makes use of anecdotes and metaphors to explore the values and ideals behind strategic learning. Expected Outcomes The research set out to respond to four key questions a) Do trustees and CEOs think of strategy in learning terms b) If so how? c) What are the implications of this for Trustee and CEO development in this area? d) What theoretical contribution does this study make to what is known about strategy learning in multi-level organisations. It revealed that while trustees and CEOs think of strategy in learning terms, they are not always aware of their own progress in this area. There is also an assumption, particularly by trustees, that they should already be proficient in this area. (a and b). The research also revealed that collaboration between MATs is relatively rare, so the learning opportunities for CEOs and trustees are limited in this respect. The implications for this, in terms of CEO and Trustee development are as follows: Lack of engagement and sharing of good practice with other trusts, is a drawback in terms of learning and development in this area. Therefore, there needs to be some provision made for individuals to share good practice and compare experiences. However, the likelihood of this happening may be low, due to the quasi -marketplace of education in England. If this is the case, then opportunities for individuals to extend their critical and strategic thinking should be sought; ideally through mentorship between schools. The study uncovered some challenges for strategic thinking development in the leadership of multi-level organizations, and as such has made the following contribution to theory, in proposing an extension of the Casey and Goldman framework for strategic thinking, to encompass development. This addition represented the element of: creation/engagement in of communities of learning practice and will be central to future research in the area of learning for strategic thinking. References Baxter, J. (2020). School Boards and their Role in the Governance of Education Oxford Encylopedia of Educational Administration Oxford Oxford University Press Baxter, J., & Floyd, A. (forthcoming ). Strategic narrative in Multi Academy trusts: Principal drivers for expansion. Under review. Baxter, J. (2016). School governing : politics, policy and practices. Bristol: Policy Press. Baxter, J. (2018). New modes of collaborative governance: Governing collaborations in a new school landscape, power, control and communication. In J. Allan, V. Harwood, & C. Jorgensen (Eds.), School Governance: Closing the Gap in Education’ :World Yearbook of Education (Vol. 2020). London: Routledge Baxter, J. (forthcoming , 2020). New modes of collaborative governance: Governing collaborations in a new school landscape, power, control and communication. In J. Allan, V. Harwood, & C. R. Jorgensen (Eds.), world yearbook of education (Vol. 4.School Governance |: Closing the Gap in Education ). London Sage Baxter, J., & Cornforth, C. (2018). Governing Collaborations: How Boards engage with their communities in multi- academy trusts in England Under review. Casey, A. J., & Goldman, E. F. (2010). Enhancing the ability to think strategically: A learning model. Management learning, 41(2), 167-185. Cooren, F., Taylor, J. R., & Van Every, E. J. (2013). Communication as organizing: Empirical and theoretical explorations in the dynamic of text and conversation: Routledge. DfE. (2018). Official Statistics: Multi-academy trust performance measures: England, 2016 to 2017. Retrieved from London: Elmes, M., & Barry, D. (2017). Strategy retold: Toward a narrative view of strategic discourse The Aesthetic Turn in Management (pp. 39-62): Routledge. HMSO. (2017). Multi-Academy Trusts: Seventh Report of Sesssion 2016-17. Retrieved from London: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmeduc/204/204.pdf Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B., & Lampel, J. (2005). Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through The Wilds of Strategic Mangament: Simon and Schuster

A narrative approach to knowledge and communication in multi-level governance structures in the public services: the case of education

The form and shape of public education in England has undergone seismic changes particularly since 2010. Many schools have converted to become academies, with the concomitant curricular and financial freedoms this status confers, and more still have joined or been taken over by Multi- Academy Trusts. These large organizational collaborations involve multi-level governance structures and present complex challenges for boards and senior leadership teams. One particular area of challenge is the ability of the MAT to remain in touch with the numerous and diverse school communities that fall within its remit. This paper employs a narrative approach to strategic decision making to investigate a specific area of strategic decision making in multi-level governance structures in the public services : community knowledge. It investigates not only the sources of this knowledge but also the relative legitimacy and credibility placed on these differing sources. In so doing it also evaluates the narrative approach, and examines what particular contributions it makes to research in this area. It concludes that the narrative approach has yielded insights into the role of trust and the ostensibly de valuing of the role of parent knowledge. It also concludes that in order to explore this area more fully, the follow on project will need to include analysis on trust within the organizations and how this impacts on information flow through each tier of the hierarchy within MATs. As such it contributes to knowledge in the role of narrative in strategy research whilst also emphasising its ability to link into powerful identity work of individuals who take on board roles in such organisations

An investigation into the role of professional learning on the online teaching identities of higher education lecturers

The economic, political and social climate in the UK has, in recent years, provoked some of the most profound changes to higher education since its inception in the Middle Ages. In addition, the pace of internet technologies and computer access has given rise to a far greater number of fully online courses offered by campus-based universities as well those, such as The Open University, which have traditionally offered a blend of online and face-to-face learning. But research reveals that adapting face-to-face and blended methods is challenging for higher education lecturers, particularly when teaching part-time or entirely remotely from their institutions. This three-year qualitative study investigates what type of professional learning contributes positively to the online teaching identities of part-time lecturers. Using a phenomenological, narrative approach it reveals what type of professional learning better equips lecturers for full online engagement and to what extent these needs are being met. It concludes with a series of recommendations for future development and professional learning which have relevance to all those who work in a fully online teaching environment

Governing public services in England and Wales: a move from the stakeholder model could further the democratic deficit

A great deal of attention is given to roles of both Chief Executives and members of the Senior Management Team in many organisations, yet the work of the governing board is frequently neglected. Comparing England and Wales, Jacqueline Baxter and Catherine Farrell argue that we’re witnessing a shift away from the predominantly stakeholder model of board membership, which could potentially further the ‘democratic deficit’ in the governance of public services

Corruption and trust in South African Education: Perceptions of teachers and school boards

South Africa’s history of oppression and apartheid has led to great inequalities, and educational outcomes are generally poor. Corruption has been identified as one of the reasons for systemic failure to improve. This paper supports the idea of corruption as a cultural construct, ‘its whole drama revealed in light of the existential insecurity which people feel towards it’ (Taussig, 1992: ,p.4).Using documentary analysis of a key report on corruption in education, along with focus group data, the paper examines normative perceptions of corruption and how they undermine trust in educational processes & practices, asking: a) Which factors colour normative perceptions of corruption in education b) To what extent do these perceptions undermine trust in the education system. The paper concludes that educator corruption perceptions are powerful in undermining educators’ sense of agency and self-efficacy and that distrust affects the way in which the education system operates