Thinking schools – sustaining the common mind

When we were considering curriculum innovation in school communities we looked carefully atissues of sustainability. A straightforward definition of sustainability would be the ability to embed, continue and further develop the innovation in a coherent way without adversely affecting anything else. Research suggests that if innovation takes place in isolation, maybe as an ‘add on’ to the ‘normal’ curriculum, then it is far less likely to have a lasting affect on the learning and teaching that takes place in the school (Fullan 2001). If the innovative work is powerful and has a positive and transforming effect on the members of the school community then it tends to outlast the influence of the initiators of the innovation (Senge 2000).

We found nine key themes which we feel to be concerned with sustainability emerging from the evidence of interviews, visits and debate with the three schools involved in this study. They are:
1. Whole school ‘effective thinking’ approaches have been adopted that change habits and dispositions of thinking and learning rather than just thinking strategies and tools, and staff all have an underlying understanding of the pedagogy behind the approaches – they know why they are doing what they are doing. Examples of these approaches, called ‘infusion’ approaches by Carol McGuinness, are Philosophy for Children, Mantle of the Expert which is a contextual drama approach and Accelerated Learning.

2. Curriculum redesign has centred on the importance of developing children’s metacognitive awareness and integrating new initiatives whilst maintaining the coherence of the overall framework – nothing has been put forward as an ‘add on’ to an existing curriculum.
3. Each school community values and demonstrates full pupil involvement and accountability. Pupils are given an authentic voice in the school community.
4. There is a strong, central shared set of beliefs and values to work by in each school and all involved are fully committed to it.
5. Each staff community are, to varying extents, action researchers in their approach to learning and teaching – they are creative and critical thinkers themselves.
6. Whole school Continuing Professional Development is a strong feature of each community and staff continue to develop and integrate appropriate strategies and approaches into their work.
7. There is evident trust between colleagues in each school community.
8. Staffs are passionate about what they do – as is evidenced by the ‘fire in the eyes’ of staff members when they talk about what they do!
9. There is authentic community involvement in each of the three schools. Those interviewed stressed about the importance of including the local and wider community and identified ways in which this is practised. The schools have become, to some extent, the ‘drivers’ of the community aspirations. There is an expectation from those in the community that the school will continue to work in an innovative way.

In each school there was a strong sense of teamwork and trust in colleagues. Staff talked of the possibilities of sharing the good things that happened in their classrooms with colleagues, and also sharing the disasters without being thought badly of on either account. Professional debate formed an important element of the work of each school. Hargreaves (2002) talks of the need for colleagues to trust each other in order for innovation to embed. He quotes Reina’s (1999) work on trust in the workplace. Reina identifies three forms of trust:
- contractual trust – colleagues trust each other to meet their obligations and keep promises – to do what they say they will do.
- competence trust – colleagues trust their own and their colleagues actual ability to do the job.
- communication trust – colleagues do not keep things to themselves, they share information and there is a flow of talk and debate.

Examples of these different forms of trust could be seen in each school. Systems were set up to ease the formal sharing of information from courses, school visits, professional readings etc. Trust between different members of the school community was a theme that emerged from the interviews and visits we were involved in for this study. Teachers had the confidence to share new ideas with each other, with the Senior Management Team and with governors. As one teacher described it:
‘We’ll make an action plan, take it to curriculum meetings and Governors, looking at what we have done and need to do now… putting things in place… trying them out… feeding back to each other…’
In addition to trust Hargreaves (2002) identifies the following five dimensions for sustainability:

1. Creating sustaining learning.
Learning should be engaging, creative and nourishing and connecting children to a ‘passion for learning’. In this scenario staff are seen as leaders of learning. In each school studied there is a very strong focus on learning, as illustrated in the following interview quotes:
‘Yes – we are all good learners’ ‘We don’t waste time in learning time’. ‘Your brain is important… we listen and think so we learn.’ – children.
‘What is important is the ability fro the children to think for themselves… to think outside the box’
– parent governor.
‘I work out how the different children learn… I believe that all children can do something.’ – teacher
2. Distributed leadership
The important element of this dimension is that the innovative approach is built up over time and nothing is done as a ‘quick fix’. This way the change lasts over time and does not just rely on one leader. The duration of the innovative work at the study schools ranged from 9 to 3 years. As yet none of the schools in the study have had a change of head since the work began, but there have been changes in leadership positions and some staff have moved on to other schools. In the school where the innovative work has been sustained for nine years and distributed leadership is in place, a deputy head left for a headship and is seeking to transform her new school into a ‘thinking school’, and three other staff moved into teaching positions where they have been able to introduce and develop ‘effective thinking’ approaches into their new jobs. A trainee teacher in one of the schools has begun leading the teaching of Philosophy for Children.
In each school in the study distributed or shared leadership is practised, building the capacity in others to lead innovation and be a full participant in the realisation of the vision of school as a ‘thinking community’. As noted earlier, in each situation there is a growing awareness and expectation on the part of the local community that the school will continue to live by it’s values and beliefs about democracy and inclusion in the ‘thinking’ and ‘questioning’ approaches to learning.
3. Innovation within existing human and financial resources
Hargreaves (2002) refers to the need for the school community to be able to be successful within existing human and financial resources. One of the emerging themes from the study, as noted above, is that the underlying pedagogy for innovative approaches is fully examined and understood by staff and therefore becomes part of a ‘habit of mind’ or disposition – part of one’s ‘being’ as an educator. Thus this is not dependent on situation or resources. The ‘action research’ approach might be seen to be reliant on financial resources, but there are many outside ‘aids’ to this, for example Teachers International Development and Best Practice Research Scholarships, bursaries, Network Learning Communities, all of which have been accessed by the study schools to facilitate development work in the absence of adequate school budgets! An important aspect of this dimension is the necessity for adults to have a positive ‘work/life balance’ and not expect more than is possible of the people within the organisation. The study schools all made some reference to this, for example, operating a ‘family first’ policy and releasing people for things such as attendance at their own children’s performances, a days sleep for a new dad etc. recognising the importance of happiness and well-being in people’s lives.
4. Responsibility to other schools, children and communities
Hargreaves (2002) also refers to the need for change and development in the school community not to impact negatively on the surrounding environment but to acknowledge a responsibility to other schools, children and communities. Each of the study schools demonstrate this quality. One of the heads led her infant school colleagues and fellow heads in discussions on ways to develop ‘Thinking Skill’ approaches in their schools. Her Advance Skill Teacher works with other local schools and contributes to university courses. A quote from one school’s recent OfSTED report reads: ‘The school is very influential beyond its locality’. Each study school has a planned programme for staff to visit other schools to learn from them and share practice with them.
Sustainability, argues Hargreaves, is about social justice. Each school seeks to enable their children to grow to be influential in whichever community they will live in and to have a positive effect. As one of the heads interviewed put it:
‘I want children to really know that they can make a difference in whatever their community is – children who are well versed in knowing how to learn…’

5. Building capacity through diversity
The fifth dimension concerns sustainability being about building future capacity of teachers and children through creating a sense of diversity – looking for different ways of achieving excellence and not just through standardised approaches to learning. If we standardise all learning, argues Hargreaves, we make people vulnerable, as they will have no capacity to learn from each other over time. In valuing and encouraging diversity we enable a flow of learning to continue over time. Each study school had a rich environment where all the different forms of intelligence are celebrated and where children can excel in their chosen field, be it academic, practical or creative. Also, the diverse strengths of staff were recognised and celebrated. One school published a set of entitlements that children have access to over the four years in the school and have a policy for using the different talents and passions of the adults in the school.

Many schools demonstrate some or all of the above dimensions, but for change and development to embed and sustain in a ‘thinking school’ or ‘community of enquiry’ we believe that all of them need to be in place. Full involvement of the local and wider community was an important aspect of the work of all three schools. When community and schools work closely together, a real understanding of the culture and values of each group in the partnership can build. We can see in each school setting a meeting of the community aspirations for their children, and those of the school. Much positive energy is created when the aspirations and values of school and community meet. Parents and community have a valuable part to play in enhancing the children’s learning experiences in each school and the school plays a valued part in the life of the communities they are in. Expectations of the community that the school will continue to provide a lively, creative and innovative curriculum for their children are high. Each community knows and understands what it wants for their children and what part they can expect to play in it.

Two key questions emerge for us as leaders. These are:
- How can we best plan for change and development that outlives us?
- What will help us to build capacity for leadership not only in our staff and children, but also in our local and wider communities?