BELMAS Reflective Practice Award Winner 2018: The Development of the Student Learning Community within Passmores Academy

In 2013, we developed a bottom-up approach to professional learning at Passmores Academy that was driven by a team of four Pedagogy Leaders (classroom teachers who showed exceptional passion and effectiveness in their... [ view full abstract ]

In 2013, we developed a bottom-up approach to professional learning at Passmores Academy that was driven by a team of four Pedagogy Leaders (classroom teachers who showed exceptional passion and effectiveness in their pedagogy). This approach aimed to transform the culture surrounding professional learning and engage teacher agency through collaboration, professional dialogue and non-judgmental approaches to classroom observations and reflections. A key aspect of this approach was putting students at the centre of professional learning by creating a student learning community (SLC) that provided the metaphorical space for staff and students to engage in dialogue about learning on a regular basis, through student lesson visits, student-led lesson, student involvement in professional learning sessions, teacher/student research groups, and co-planning.

The SLC was the focus of a case study - using questionnaires and semistructured
interviews - that provided key insights, through the perceptions of both
students and teachers, concerning the value of the SLC model in encouraging
mutual learning and joint ventures in pedagogical improvement. It also showed
the need for this model to encompass marginal voices and respectfully negotiate
alternative approaches to accountability. The main conclusion to be drawn from
this research was that SLC models can contribute to effective school
improvement by enabling pedagogical spaces where students and teachers
learn together, but that this required a structured approach to training in
authentic dialogue and ensuring inclusivity in the views represented by the SLC.
In recent years, we have used these recommendations to continue to develop
the SLC and by using key frameworks for the development of a learning
organisation (Hargreaves & O'Connor, 2017; Senge et al., 2013), we have been
able to trace what has been happening and why it may have led to specific
outcomes within the framework.