David Godfrey
Ucl
Dr David Godfrey is a lecturer in Education, Leadership and Management, co-director of the Centre for Educational Evaluation and Accountability.
Leadership of ‘research-engaged schools’ is distinguished by how research-evidence (and theory) helps inform decisions, policies and practice at every level (Godfrey, 2016). Research engaged schools promote enquiry stances... [ view full abstract ]
Leadership of ‘research-engaged schools’ is distinguished by how research-evidence (and theory) helps inform decisions, policies and practice at every level (Godfrey, 2016). Research engaged schools promote enquiry stances by teachers, the use of published research (and other school evidence), they are outward looking and connect to the research community. For such schools to exist and flourish, we need alignment between multiple aspects of the ecosystem, and this provides a challenge to academics who need to engage with various fields of scholarship and educational enquiry. This includes the fields of developmental psychology, social-ecological systems, skills ecosystems and ecological leadership. We are concerned with the interconnections that affect the lives of pupils and young learners from the micro to the macro level of the school ecosystem.
In this roundtable we wish to stimulate discussion and reflection about the elements and interconnections required to produce a highly effective research informed ecosystem. The discussion will be initiated by innovative thinkers and researchers in each of their fields, whose work will appear in chapters of a forthcoming edited book (Godfrey, D & Brown, C) “An ecosystem for research-engaged schools: Reforming education through research” Routledge. The work also contributes to the growing emphasis in policy for schools to engage in and with research evidence as the basis for teacher professional development, school improvement and to increase equity in academic attainment (Godfrey, 2017).
We propose a multi-dimensional and dynamic model that involves attention to: the concept of research-informed learning organisations and of an ‘ecosystem’ (and its basic elements); research and ecological agency; research-based initial teacher education; the role of research in continuing professional development; models of enquiry-focused school collaboration; data use in schools; the role of teacher professional bodies; the role of the middle tier in evidence transformation; research on the link between trust and research-based school improvement and accountability systems that support learning through enquiry.
These issues will be explored theoretically, empirically and practically towards a vision for a school ecosystem that is more apt to confront the many global challenges faced by future generations, such as Brexit, knowledge economies, technology, globalisation and the post-truth era. We will share the syntheses of our own learning from the above chapters and invite further debate and contributions to the conception of a research engaged school ecosystem.
