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Fellowship Coordinator

Page history last edited by Russ Law 14 years, 3 months ago

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Norman has created the Seven Pillars of Fellowship (home page). At the 2008 induction day we looked at some of the important conceptual links of (the) Fellowship, and these became a set of circles, a bit like the olympic rings (topical?). Here is the slide show...

 

  Slides for Fellowship Community Induction Day17 09 08 amended.ppt

 

 

 

 

 

Networking, Fellowship and Connections

 

 

One of the essential features of a collaborative association is its ability to make connections. These may be internal and external, and with both people and ideas. As often happens, one finds links between different aspects of one’s work and life, as in the course of some training I have been doing with Professor Louise Stoll, Visiting Professor at the London Centre for Leadership in Learning at the Institute of Education, University of London. As some readers will know, Louise is highly respected for, among other things, her work in developing professional learning communities and in networking for learning.

 

During the workshops, there have been more than fleeting echoes of the kinds of processes and approaches that feature in the Fellowship – indeed, that are essential to it. For example, similar focuses can apply to schools in the primary/secondary sectors of education and in places of higher education:

 

Learning networks focus on learning of pupils, all staff, leaders and other stakeholders, as well as building capacity for learning and sharing knowledge between schools.

Crandall and Stoll (2005)

 

Bolam and others (2005) cite the following characteristics of professional learning communities:

 

Shared values and vision… Collaboration focused on learning… Group as well as individual professional learning… Reflective professional enquiry… Openness, networking and partnerships…

 

When one considers the learning processes involved, four also have resonance for Fellows:

 

  • Learning from one another
  • Learning with one another
  • Learning on behalf of others
  • Meta-learning

Jackson and Temperley (2007)

 

Crandall and Stoll (2005) have identified some critical process elements found in more successful networks, including the following:

 

  • Common purpose and learning focus
  • Communication
  • Collaborative learning
  • Sharing network learning
  • Ensuring transfer and use of network practices

 

It has been observed that schools (ie primary and secondary schools) don’t stand still. They move in ways that are more or less positive. A typology put forward by Stoll and Fink (1996) includes ‘moving’, ‘cruising’, ‘strolling’, ‘struggling’ and ‘sinking’, as factors of an institution’s effectiveness and improvement or decline. Only the first indicates positive progress. The implication is clearly that those responsible have to ensure that there is continuing activity – in which networking is seen as a high priority.

 

It is interesting to note how closely the principles and aims of the Fellowship are consistent with the efforts of other educators.

Bibliography/References

 

Bolam et al (2005) Creating and Sustaining Professional Learning Communities

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR637.pdf

Crandall, D. and Stoll, L. (2005) Networking for Learning. London: Innovation Unit and NCSL

Eraut, M. (2000), ‘Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70

Fullan, M (2006)  www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=7565

Jackson, D., & Temperley, J. (2007). ‘From professional learning communities to networked learning communities’. In Stoll, L & Louis, K (Eds.), Professional learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas. New York: McGraw-Hill 

Stoll, L & Fink, D, 1996, Changing Our Schools: Linking School Effectiveness and School Improvement, Buckingham, Open University Press

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