Research School Network: Effective implementation: The people at the heart of subject leadership Hydeh Fayaz, at St Matthew’s Research School, discusses using effective implementation principles to enhance subject areas.

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Effective implementation: The people at the heart of subject leadership

Hydeh Fayaz, at St Matthew’s Research School, discusses using effective implementation principles to enhance subject areas.

Hydeh

Hydeh Fayaz

Deputy Head and Assistant Director of St Matthew’s Research School

Hydeh is Assistant Director of the Research School and Deputy Head at St Matthew’s CE Teaching School, where she is also Geography and Oracy Lead. She is a Teach First Debate Mate Ambassador, a member of the Education Endowment Foundation Expert Voices Group and a Programme Lead for RSN Primary Literacy training.

Her key areas of interest are Oracy, Literacy, Metacognition and Learning Behaviours.

Read more aboutHydeh Fayaz

Subject leadership can be a challenge. Perhaps you’re a one form entry primary with one teacher leading 3 subjects. Perhaps your subject leaders aren’t particularly enthused by the subjects they lead. Perhaps cover is pulled at the last minute. These are problems we all may encounter. However… the updated implementation guide provides Curriculum Leaders with an opportunity to reflect and ponder:

How does the new implementation plan help Curriculum Leaders (CL) lead our Subject Leaders (SL) so that all subjects can flourish together?

The updated Schools Guidance to Implementation’ recommendation 2 states, that as schools, we should ensure people who can enable change can support, lead and positively influence implementation.’

This is paramount for driving change in our subjects.

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Under this recommendation it states:
The factors that influence whether an individual or group can support implementation include the degree to which:
1. They have the knowledge, skills and expertise to help implement the intervention (e.g. subject development)
2. They feel empowered to act and can empower others; and
3. They have agency – choice over actions – within their remit

The above applies to the development of our curriculum. In this blog, I will breakdown how we intentionally plan for these influential factors.

1. Do SL’s have the knowledge, skills and expertise to help implement the intervention?

As Curriculum Leader it is important to bring subject leaders together. At
St Matthew’s our Curriculum Thinking’ sessions have allowed for subjects to thrive. These half termly meetings have had the following foci:

  • Understanding the meta-language around subject development. Developing a shared language is helpful for subject leadership. It provides clarity around the subject allowing SL’s to tune into the key gaps and areas for improvement. We built a collective understanding of the vocabulary. For example: concepts, key concepts, domains of knowledge, the difference between disciplinary skill and disciplinary knowledge.[1]
  • Understanding what the end points are within our subjects.
    Allowing SL time to reflect on what really matters to us at St Matthew’s was key. SL could align their end points to the schools visions and values to help create a holistic curriculum. One built on powerful knowledge of course, but with reading for pleasure, storytelling, oracy, language development and authentic opportunities at the heart.
  • Closing the chasm between intent and implementation[2]. Once end points were defined, we could then spend a series of meetings knowledge mapping across our subjects : How does the teaching in each year group play a part in developing this end point?

Let’s look at an example from History and Science:

Presenting an authentic voice is key across many of our subjects. We have a moral imperative to present the past and present in an equitable way. This led us to have the following end point for history:

History end point: To consider the past from different perspectives


How does Reception play a part in this end point, which aims to decolonise the curriculum? When we are learning about the Indus Valley civilisation, how does the Y3 teacher interrupt potential ideas that Howard Carter is the only archaeologist worth knowing about?

Sequential knowledge that builds is vital, so that our pupils can access the new learning without the working memory being overloaded. This understanding of Cognitive Load Theory (see Rachel Cattrall’s blog ) helped us devise knowledge maps that would break down a National Curriculum objective into its component parts so we could support teaching and learning.

Here is an example of a Science’ end point within the domain of knowledge: plants. To use their scientific knowledge to ask questions and make observations about the world around them.

Blog picture 2

Knowledge mapping empowers our SL to know their subjects better and enables teachers to teach their subjects with confidence.

2. How do we ensure our SL’s feel empowered to act and can empower others?


By intentionally discussing the beauty of subjects.

Feeling empowered to lead a subject requires confidence and enthusiasm. To feel this way, we enable our SL to love and champion the subjects they lead.

Mary Myatt talks about how the subjects that we lead and the resources we should expose the children to should be beautiful. 4Discovering this beauty is part of our Curriculum Thinking’ sessions.

In Geography, we use Lyfta to amplify the authentic voices. Lyfta is a platform with storyworld’s ranging from Ethiopia, to the depths of the Amazonian rainforest. This interactive platform allows children to immerse themselves in the beauty and fascination of a place and its people. The links across subjects and year groups are strong and vast.

Picture2
Figure 1 Jordanian farmer Hassan, battling the decline of the Dead Sea and the looming threat of sinkholes all around his farmlands

In Science, we spend time thinking about the awe and wonder that will support our aims to work scientifically and learn about a domain of knowledge – see the Primary Science Guidance Report for suggestions of how to do this.

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Discovering the beauty and wonder of your subject certainly helps you to appreciate it more.

3. Finally, how do we ensure that SL have agency – choice over actions – within their remit?


Agency within subject leadership comes from a deep understanding of what your aims are. In order to be strategic, each subject has an implementation plan. These are reviewed twice in each academic year so that they can develop their own trajectory with their subjects.

Agency with subject leadership comes from a motivation to act. Acting takes time – time for thinking, time out of class to have impact. Time is precious in schools but if we value it, we must attach time to it.

Picture4
Figure 2 We know from the Effective Professional Guidance Report that motivating teachers requires certain mechanisms

Agency with subject leadership comes from knowledge. The Curriculum Thinking sessions are iterative and new learning is embedded over time.

Strategic curriculum development, like implementation, is a process – not an event and it centres around the people at the heart of the curriculum’s delivery, our teacher’s and SL’s. Invest time in providing clarity for them and the process of implementation (e.g. monitoring, evaluating) becomes easier.

This blog will form part of a series. Look out for PSQM: the journey’ in Spring and PE Power’ in Summer.

1Books that are helpful in their definitions: Primary Huh 1 and 2: Primary Curriculum Leadership Conversations by John Tomsett.
2
Lekha Sharma talks about the Chasm in her book: Curriculum to Classroom: A Handbook to Prompt Thinking Around Primary Curriculum Design and Delivery
3
https://educationendowmentfoun…

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