Educational professionals' experience of English educational policy; developingand promoting inclusive practice through collaborative action research

  • Joanne Greenwood

Student thesis: Doctor of Educational and Child Psychology

Abstract

The focus of this thesis was to explore educational professionals' everyday experienceof English educational policies; narrowing its focus to policy which promotes aninclusion agenda. The findings are presented in three sections with the first two papersprepared in accordance with the author guidelines of the journals proposed forsubmission.The first paper offers a review of literature which represents teacher relationship (seeBraun, Maguire and Ball, 2010; Fullan, 2006; Luttenberg, Imants and van Veen, 2013;Luttenberg, van Veen and Imants, 2013; Wexler, 2002) with English educationalpolicies. Teacher perspectives illustrate how the implementation and practice of policyheavily guides practice, both in terms of pedagogy and content, and detail thedifficulties teachers have in establishing professional identity whilst trying toaccommodate policy into practice. It is suggested that in order for teachers to adopt neweducational policies they need to be able to take some ownership of both the policiesthemselves and of their own professional development; but most importantly, that theyneed the space to engage in dialogue around their practice to do this.The first paperprovided a frame for the second by offering a description of the current climate teachersfind themselves in and by discussing what might be needed to bring about theprofessional development necessary to embed policy into practice.The second paper then presents a description of a collaborative action research projectwithin an English high school; a group of educational psychology, teaching, support andpastoral professionals worked collaboratively to develop person-centred practicethrough their engagement in an inquiry group. The inquiry group engaged in dialoguearound practice; exploring their own personal and professional values as well as thevalues embedded within person-centred practice. This paper offers an account of theinquiry group's journey, highlighting key themes as identified by the group: ownershipof and confidence in the learning process; developing reflective practice; and thechallenge of engaging others in the learning process. The findings suggest that an actionresearch approach can facilitate the learning and development necessary to embodycollaborative person-centred practice.The third paper then offers a critical appraisal of the role that educational psychologycan have in disseminating findings and promoting teacher development; in particularthrough the facilitation of collaborative action research within the school context.
Date of Award31 Dec 2016
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • The University of Manchester
SupervisorCatherine Kelly (Supervisor) & Cathy Atkinson (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Educational reform
  • person-centred practice
  • Education
  • Action research
  • Cooperative inquiry
  • English educational policy
  • Teacher professional development
  • Teacher voice
  • Teacher professional identity

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