Think Pieces

Adapting to Covid rules becomes a way of life

Richard Lockyer | Jan 29, 2021

We’ve seen how the pandemic is having a lasting impact on every aspect of life, and education is no exception. Now we turn to our correspondents around the world for their experiences. This first report covers Canada, Dubai and England. Canada Our colleagues in Quebec are in deep winter with temperatures in the urban areas…

Covid charts a grim path

Richard Lockyer | Jan 22, 2021

As the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic bites, we revisit charts first published in August 2020, to gain a sense of perspective on the spread of the virus among the countries we cover. It is now one year since the first coronavirus lockdown in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic is believed to have started….

How peer review can underpin school improvement

Richard Lockyer | Jan 15, 2021

As we navigate our way through further pandemic restrictions,DrDavid Godfrey, Editor of, School Peer Review for Educational Improvement and Accountability, distils his thoughts on the school system and explains why his book is more valid in these times than ever before. Three views have come to underpin my thinking about the school system. These were…

Something in the new year worth shouting about

Richard Lockyer | Jan 8, 2021

It’s always good to recognise the achievements of our colleagues, but this year above any other, we take great pleasure to offer our congratulations. The new year has brought with it another lockdown for those of us in the UK, a situation none of us would wish for and something guaranteed to put a dampener…

Season’s greetings and goodbye to all that

Richard Lockyer | Dec 21, 2020

We have nearly made it. Only a few, hopefully COVID-free, days to go before Christmas. To celebrate the forthcoming festivities, we asked Mike Dubeau, Richard Lockyer, Lesley Stagg and Simon Thompson to pen a few thoughts as this –  interesting – year draws to a close.   Simon Thompson – Wales The past year has…

Could talent coaching help identify, grow and retain future leaders?

Julia Ward-Hastelow | Dec 19, 2020

How do we grow and nurture a talent culture?; How can we use talent coaching as part of this change?

Theory of action: Integrity and the theory of action (Part 7 in a series)

Richard Lockyer | Dec 12, 2020

We conclude our theory of action series with two posts which help to contextualise the concept of organisational learning in an educational setting. This post focuses upon the way different schools and school systems interpret the term and how professional integrity impacts on organisational learning. Continually striving for the fit In their account of organisational…

Theory of action: How organisations learn (Part 6 in a series)

Richard Lockyer | Dec 9, 2020

For the theory of action to function we need to step back and view the organisation to which we are applying it as a whole. We need to ensure that each member of staff is continually engaged in attempting to know the organisation, and to know themselves in the context of it. Organisational learning  Chris…

Theory of action in practice (Part 5 in a series)

Richard Lockyer | Nov 28, 2020

When we translate Chris Argyris’s organisational structures into the context of school improvement, our experience has shown us that two important issues emerge. When placing Argyris’s single and double-loop modes of learning into an educational context with its web of inter-related variables, it would be easy to assume that successful teachers use double-loop learning.  However,…

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