Researching and supporting the ‘Every Dundee Learner Matters’ educational strategy
Dundee City is launching a new two-year strategy to improve the quality of education for all children and young people in the city. Developed by a group of experienced headteachers, the strategy will be supported by researchers from the University of Glasgow’s Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change. Key to this support will be working with teachers and local authority colleagues to help generate evidence to monitor the implementation and impact of the Programme.
The programme will involve the creation of new partnerships made up of schools who will use inquiry groups to coordinate a process of school-based collaborative action research. School leaders will also be supported to analyse their roles in creating the organisational conditions necessary for the success of collaborative action research as a basis for school improvement. The researchers will also work with local authority colleagues to develop new ways to support and challenge schools in relation to the agreed goals of collaborative activities.
The programme recognises that there is considerable expertise within the City’s schools, their communities and the local authority that can be mobilised to improve the learning of all children and young people. A key aim, therefore, is to move this knowledge around so that it benefits all learners, in every school.
PI and Co-Is
PI: Professor Chris Chapman (University of Glasgow, School of Education)
Co-Is: Professor Mel Ainscow; Mr Kevin Lowden and Mr Stuart Hall (University of Glasgow, School of Education)
Start and End date
1 April 2019 - 31 March 2024
Funder and Funding amount
Dundee City Council/SAC
£224,389
Project News
This project is the latest development in the ROC team’s support and research in Dundee City. Previously the team has worked with 13 primary and secondary schools and local authority staff to enhance practitioner’s collaborative action research as part of their educational improvement approaches. (https://nsee.org.uk/nsee-dundee/)
The project is now co-developing a City-wide education strategy, involving all schools, with teachers working in cross-school groups, supported by the ROC team and local authority colleagues. On 5th May 2021, there will be a launch event for headteachers and senior local authority staff with further events planned in May and June 2021 for teachers to establish the partnerships and build capacity.
Over the next three years, these school partnerships teams will use collaborative enquiry to identify children and young people’s needs, develop tailored approaches to tackle achievement and wellbeing issues and assess their impact. The learning from these partnerships will inform the wider education system in the City.
The project will produce a range of research outputs, including papers, reports briefings and blogs on findings. The team will also produce resources (including on-line and blended) that facilitate robust collaborative practitioner enquiry as part of locally owned approaches to improve learner achievement and wellbeing. These will be co-produced with practitioners and useful for teachers across Scotland and beyond.
Associated Websites
News of the Project’s developments and progress will appear on the ROC team’s Network for Social and Educational Equity (NSEE) Website: