Outline Program for ICSEI 3P pre congress seminar

3 January 2011

Research into Practice

Click here to view the latest program in PDF format - updated on 14 Nov

Aims & Objectives

To provide students and ICSEI attendees with an opportunity to participate in a series of open discussions prompted by three case study presentations from England and the Netherlands which will provide an insight into the dilemmas faced by practitioners in creating the optimum contexts for the effective planning and delivery of integrated services for children, young people and families.

Program Overview

10.00-11.15 am	Session 1 Making integration work: linking the political and operational roles Since the multi country OECD funded studies under the umbrella of the International School Improvement Project (1982-1986) the mantra seems to be that sustainable school improvement depends to a large extend on an orchestrated cooperation of politicians, policymakers, researchers, change facilitators, school leaders and teachers. In his book "How to change 5000 schools. A practical and positive approach to leading change at every level" (2008) Ben Levin demonstrates what it takes to have all the key players involved over a longer period of time. We will explore some of the lessons from research and practice on linking and coordinating actions on various levels in an education system. Boudewijn van Velzen Senior Consultant APS International. Netherlands
11:15 - 11:45 am	coffee break
11:45 - 1:15 pm	Session 2 Dealing with wicked issues in integrated working: models of practice The term 'wicked' in the sense being used here was coined in 1973 (Rittel and Webber) and refers to issues or problems that have the following characteristics: each example of the problem is unique – there are no algorithms to follow to solutions; they are ill-understood; there are many causal levels and so have the characteristics of complexity (Blackman et al, 2006).  Put another way, wicked issues are often difficult to define and won't keep still: they are sets of complex, interacting issues evolving in a dynamic social context. Often, new forms of wicked issues emerge as a result of trying to understand and solve one of them. This session will aim to explore the usefulness of the concept of wicked issues as applied to leadership development in public sector services for children and young people. Anton Florek. Chief Executive. Virtual Staff College. UK                                                   Eleni Ioannides. Director of Children’s Services. Bury Council. UK
1:15 - 2:15 pm	lunch
2:15 - 3:45 pm	Session 3 Schools as knowledge centres  - the role of leaders in learning communities In this session we will explore the role and impact of Local Leaders of Education in developing and sharing good practice. It draws on the work of London Challenge, a three year programme of sector led improvement designed to build capacity and bring about sustainable improvement in some of London’s most challenging schools.  Eileen Barnes-Vachell. City Challenge Adviser. Department for Education. UK
3:45 - 4:15 pm	coffee break
4:15 - 5:00 pm	Session 4 - Participants responses and discussion

The ICSEI network for policy makers and administrators

The 3P network has been established to serve as a professional practice and research network for all those engaged in the policy determination, planning and delivery of services to children and young people.

Traditionally, this group of practitioners, who are sometimes collectively referred to as “policymakers and administrators”, has often worked in isolation from the other elements of service provision. Given the context of change in the delivery of services to children, young people and families, this way of working is no longer appropriate or sustainable and, consequently, a new paradigm of collaboration is required between;

• Policymakers (at differentiated levels)
• Politicians (at differentiated levels)
• Practitioners - those managing administration, providing training, consultancy, guidance and

advice to the delivery “system i.e.  in schools and in other strategic and operational networks
and stakeholder organizations e.g. youth offending teams, early years teams, pupil welfare teams,
sports and recreation services, early years and day care agencies etc

As a result these respective groups will require new competences, knowledge, skills and behaviours - in areas such as;

• Providing direction
• Leading and managing change
• Managing information
• Communicating and engaging effectively with children, young people, parents and carers
• Managing networks
• Working with partners and stakeholders.

The question is - how can we work on building the capacity of all those involved (the three Ps) in improving outcomes for children and young people? The key is to foster capacity building so that local educational and children’s services policy is developed in such a way that;

• it really stimulates and facilitates school improvement,
• school improvement becomes integrated into the broader construct of community and lifelong learning and the notion of “giving more children the opportunity to develop optima forma” ( viz. “it takes a village to raise a child”),
• professional groups with different backgrounds (the 3 Ps) get to know each other, respect each other’s ambitions and concerns, understand each other’s day to day work and, through this interaction, develop a common culture which underpins the improvement of schools and other agencies involved in the delivery of services to children and young people.

How does it work?
The “3 P – network” meets annually during the ICSEI conference. In between these meetings members of the networkl aims to share practice through;

• “virtual” communication through video conferencing, tele-conferencing, internet, newsletter, e-mail etc
• life encounters on ad hoc basis i.e exchange meetings called occasionally to consider specific “hot issues” of the day leading to;
• management seminars

Thus, at its core, the “3 P – network” aims to provide opportunities for:

• exchanging professional practice
• reflecting on professional practice
• developing a collective intelligence base
• providing the impetus for research into local authority capacity building.

It is hoped that this focus will serve to promote the professional development and competence of all staff working in the strategic management and operational delivery of education and children's services at local authority level and, through this, increase the effectiveness of that sector of provision which sits between national government and schools.

To register interest in joining the 3P Network, please contact:
anton.florek@virtualstaffcollege.co.uk