Dancing robots and caterpillars with wings…but no butterflies!

Three leading professors of education laid down a serious challenge to those involved in the Building Schools for the Future programme at a conference in London held on the 17/18th March.

Keri Facer, Professor of Education at Manchester Metropolitan University opened the second day of the event, which had a workforce transformation focus, with some dancing robots and a challenge to the thinking of educational professionals “What do we need schools for?”

She backed this question up with some thought provoking insights into the future, which were illuminated by her “Beyond Current Horizons” work with Futurelab and the “Teachers as Innovators” project.

“We need schools to act as a centre of innovation in the (re) design of schools” she said.

“We need champions of innovation, optimism and teachers as researchers and a completely different approach to cpd,” added Keri.

John West-Burnham encouraged the delegates to stop thinking about “bricks and rectangles” and start to think about “curvy lines and butterflies”!

“If we continue doing the same old things in the same old ways we will continue to produce caterpillars with more legs and perhaps even wings when what we really want is education to allow the caterpillar to emerge as a butterfly”

He did however inject a note of realism when he reminded the 200+teachers,L A officers and others involved in BSF that ;

“Schools can only make a certain amount of difference to children’s success when there are other factors such as family, class and community which have much greater impact.” My estimate is that schools can only affect about 20% of the outcomes,” said John.

On day one, with a focus on the transformational potential of ICT, Jim Knight, Minister of state and Tim Byles from P4S hinted at a different approach to BSF in waves 7-15 and perhaps a more strategic approach to capital projects across education and other services by highlighting the £200m co-location fund. This is intended to incentivise LA’s to bring some coherent thinking to the provision of schools, health, social services and leisure.

Jim Knight also reminded delegates of the current DCSF consultation on 21st Century Schools and promised a White Paper later in the year.

An announcement about the funding model for waves 7-15 is expected after the Easter break.

Professor Angela McFarlane, Bristol University stimulated the delegates by urging people to stop talking about ICT as Information and Communication Technologies and Steve Moss from P4S suggested later that this should now be Innovation, Change and Transformation.

Professor McFarlane also went on to draw on her extensive research experience to suggest that whilst “media and tools have shifted the pedagogy and content have not” and that we need to “get a clearer view about what innovation looks and feels like” and if we “carry on doing what we have always done we will get what we have always got”

She concluded by urging delegates involved in BSF to reflect on the appropriateness of a subject based curriculum in a time of uncertainty, ambiguity, the need for creativity, teamwork and problem solving and what spaces and curriculum themes would be more appropriate.

Russell Andrews from P4S brought an International dimension to the proceedings when he interviewed Steve Bolingbroke, managing director of the UK arm of the Kunskapsskolan School movement in Sweden.

Kunskapsakolan are hoping to replicate their more “innovative and free schooling “ model in the Academies and BSF programmes which is predicated on personalised learning 1-1 tutorials not “cells and bells” but “curves and collaborative spaces”, with technology at the heart of the vision and the whole curriculum available online!

One of the biggest catalysts for workforce transformation emerged form Hannah Jones, special projects director at the National College for School Leadership who along with 3 Head teachers involved in the BSF Leadership programme underlined the need for leadership in transformation and gave examples from the very successful BSF leadership programme which has been of enormous value to schools and local authorities currently preparing for the BSF programme.

The two days demonstrated the scale and complexity of the BSF process and the vital importance of learning the lessons for the early waves of BSF and the mistakes identified in the House of Commons select committee report, the PWC ongoing evaluation of the early waves and the National Audit Office overwhelmingly positive report on BSF.

The hunger for change was tangible, and the willingness to share encouraging, the atmosphere incredibly positive and enthusiastic and the momentum increasing.

Credit to P4S and the Guardian for bringing it all together and perhaps next year we could model some of the behaviours and learning styles which are being advocated and make sure some of the critical partners in this project (TDA, QCA, OFSTED) come and listen and hopefully have something to say on BSF.

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