We have created a cohesive school improvement cycle that captures the learning, wisdom and energy of the team.
Many school improvement cycles don’t achieve their purpose because they make too many assumptions about what exactly is the outcome being pursued, how it is to be attained, or what is actually being done to attain it!
As we know, assumptions in time-poor environments are the tyranny of improvement processes. They tempt leaders into shallow thinking about what are the desired end-goal(s) without carefully considering their context or rich notions of learning. Leaders rely on the same old narrow strategies for change, without drawing upon the wisdom of their teams or ensuring a high level of ownership for actions. At the same time, leaders assume that all team members are confident and capable in carrying out collective actions, and are progressing at the same pace.
All of these assumptions (and more) can serve to ensure that the energy of the team is misdirected or fractured in ways that lead to not much more than frustration! Ultimately they do not bring together the collective effort of staff or extend the learning of the students they seek to serve.
That is why, when the team at Excellent Schools created the LDE Cycle with its many associated tools, they did so with a careful eye in the power of dialogic – the wisdom of collective dialogue tuned to joint action. In this sense then:
Learning becomes the shared process of thinking carefully about what is to be achieved in terms of complex learning and how to confirm its achievement, within the context of the school community and their expressed aspirations. Learning is also about understanding what has been achieved previously and how that can inform current aspirations and directions.
Designing becomes the collective process of investigating what whole-school approaches have been effective elsewhere and building a consensus on how it can work in the local context in ways that everyone understands. Designing is also about embracing a cohesive change management process that galvanises energy and embeds refined approaches.
Enacting becomes the collaborative process of monitoring the progress of agreed strategic actions and being agile enough to refine them where necessary. It is also about using collaborative tools to build the confidence and capability of all key staff in key areas for greatest impact on learner outcomes.
Using a range of practical tools and tested approaches, the Excellent Schools team can support you to ensure that your strategic approach to learning improvement is owned by all and stands the test of time.
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