Leading Learning for School Improvement
Research Interests and Projects
- Performance in challenging schools
- Student voice and pupil participation
- Dynamics of school improvement
- Distributed leadership
- School self-evaluation
- Critical friendship
- School inspection
- Professional development of teaching
- Reflective teaching
- Teacher leadership
- Assessment for learning
- Leadership for learning
- Learning how to learn
- Transitions and transfers
- School structures and organisation
- Specialist and charter schools
- Educational reform
- Policy evaluation
The group engages in a wide range of research collaborations with practitioners and policy-makers as well as researchers, both in the UK and abroad. Research projects are largely externally-funded and have included work for the ESRC, the DfES and other national agencies and charitable foundations.
The LLSI group maintains active partnerships with schools, local education authorities and national organisations such as the National Union of Teachers and the National College for School Leadership. David Frost, Mandy Maddock, Dave Pedder and Anne Sinkinson are all engaged in significant capacity-building activities with a range of practitioners. The group has also created a range of international networks including, for example, the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It also has a major presence in ICSEI, (the International Congress on School Effectiveness and Improvement), a world-wide organisation with some 5,000 members; John MacBeath is currently serving as its President.
An important dimension of the group's work is the LfL network (Leadership for Learning: the Cambridge Network) directed by John MacBeath and Sue Swaffield. LfL brings together practitioners, academics and policy-makers to build knowledge in the field and undertake a wide range of research, development and consultancy projects.