: Improving School Leadership by Reflecting John Rodgers discusses how reflection underpins implementation
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Improving School Leadership by Reflecting
John Rodgers discusses how reflection underpins implementation
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by Cornwall Research School
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John Rodgers
Mounts Bay Academy
John has been a teacher for 24 years, the last 19 in Cornwall. He currently works as an Assistant Principal at Mounts Bay Academy, Penzance. He is also the Content Lead for Secondary Literacy for RS Network. Click here to read more.
As the new EEF guidance report “A School’s Guide to Implementation” shows, one of the most effective ways school leaders can improve implementation initiatives and the implementation climate, is to ensure the behaviours that drive effective implementation are embedded throughout all stages of the change process.
The behaviours listed are:
Engage people so they can shape what happens while also providing overall direction.
Unitepeople around what is being implemented, how it will be implemented, and why it matters.
Reflect, monitor, and adapt to improve implementation.1
The following vignette shows
giving priority to refection can give staff an opportunity to be better equipped in the implementation process
The guidance report has this to say:
“Reflection underpins evidence-informed decision-making within implementation. It enables schools to assess pupil needs, select the right interventions, identify barriers to change, and monitor implementation in a way that drives improvement. Reflecting requires schools to use structured processes that enable them to learn and adapt. At the same time, individual members of staff should adopt a reflective outlook in which they review and refine their own practice.”2
The research suggests that implementation improves when schools reflect on the following things:
Pupil needs and current practices
Fit and feasibility of an approach
Implementation progress
Implementation barriers and enablers
School leaders should ensure that space, time, and opportunity is given to reflection. This should occur at every stage of the implementation process; whichever implementation strategy is being enacted. Reflection should aim at improving implementation outcomes (page 32 of the guidance report).
Reflection underpins implementation both in relation to thinking about a new approach and the use of tools such as plans, data collection, and ongoing coaching effectively to learn from and improve implementation.3 (my emphasis)
