Thursday, January 28, 2010
What makes a good partner ?
A review of the impact of partnerships between schools in 15 countries has been published and offers valuable insights for schools involved in or embarking on a partnership.
From this year every school and college in England and Wales is required to have a partnership with another school somewhere in the world. The first substantial piece of research evaluating the impact of school partnerships on students, teachers and school communities over a two year period, has been published by the Institute of Education. Funded by DFID, and directed by Karen Edge the research surveyed 1400 people in fifteen countries and conducted 55 case-studies in the UK, Africa and Asia. The principal aim of the research was "to develop an understanding of the current landscape, practice and influence of school partnerships."
Looking at North South global school partnerships, the report found that in both North and South partnership schools, teachers and leaders reported that the partnership had had a positive impact on both teacher collaboration and skills development and on teacher, student and community involvement in educational issues and improvements.
69% of North schools and 85% of South schools reported positive impact on teacher collaboration and skills.
72% of North schools and 89% of South schools reported positive impact on involvement in education issues and improvement.
Considering the impact on students of the school partnership, schools in both North and South sides of the partnership reported positive impact on their students.
91% of Northern partner schools reported positive impact on students,
83% of Southern partner schools reported positive impact on students.
The impact on academic and social behaviour were assessed quite differently by schools in the South and the North with just under half of Northern schools agreeing that the partnership had had a positive impact on academic and social behaviour whilst 85% of Southern schools agreed.
The report identified the six most successful partnerships and analysed what set them apart. These schools emerged as having a strong sense of momentum in their school partnership.
Having the whole school involved in the partnership was a key feature of the most successful schools. In these schools a wide range of staff and students were involved in making decisions and plans for the partnership. This meant school leaders were not only strongly in support of the partnership but were also actively involved. Part of whole school involvement was to connect the partnership to the overall aims and priorities of the school and tie it to the school improvement plan. The report describes, " high momentum partnerships are those that used partnerships to fulfil the true interests, ambitions and needs of the school."
The report found that the most successful school partnerships focused on making personal connections for as many members of their school, staff and students through the partnership. This was done through exchange visits early on in the partnership which included students as well as staff. Hosting visits was highlighted as an important priority because the research concluded that hosting a teacher had a greater influence on students than their own teacher going to the partner school.
Personal connections were also made through the sharing of curriculum initiatives between the two schools, leading to students sharing ideas and tasks with their peers in the partner school. The report concludes, "we recommend schools place an emphasis on fostering connections between students as this will lead to a greater interest in global issues."
The research found that challenges arose in all the partnerships but the partnerships which were most successful were different in the way they dealt with the challenges, described as challenges being "seen as inconveniences, not barriers to success."
In awareness of the increasing number of schools embarking on a global partnership the report lays out a series of recommendations for schools based on the findings of their research. The key recommendations for schools are:
- Engage teachers and leaders from across the school in deciding to embark on the partnership.
- Start with small meaningful units of partnership.
- Have multiple leaders and champions for the partnership.
- Organise partnership activities within and beyond the curriculum.
- Promote interactions focused on developing skills.
- Encourage visits from partner schools to develop students' understanding.
- Facilitate student to student collaborations to develop a personal connection
- Ensure widespread teacher and student involvement in the partnership.
- Embed the partnership within the structures and planning infrastructure of the school to ensure it becomes an integral part of the work.
- Create an emphasis on generating supports for sustainability as a forward planning mechanism in anticipation of the discontinuation of funding.
The report also recommends that support organisations for schools involved in partnerships should provide evidence of other schools' experiences to help to develop and manage expectations.
This report draws together the common experiences of thousands of teachers, students and school leaders involved in global partnerships and draws out the successful approaches which have impacted on students and teachers. The theme linking all their recommendations is to keep student to student personal contact at the centre of all partnership plans and activities. Schools are recommended to:
"maximise resources towards supporting exchange visits with a focus on wider student involvement.... our findings indicate that students, above all else, benefit from and enjoy direct contact with teachers and students from their partner school."
To read the executive summary or the report in full visit the IOE website.
DFID now provides starter grants of £250 to support schools planning to set up a global school partnership. For more information visit the Cambridge Education site.