The challenge of transformational change and leadership in Scottish primary schools: A case study intervention approach

Monaghan, Aileen (2019) The challenge of transformational change and leadership in Scottish primary schools: A case study intervention approach. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The study was motivated by the central challenge of whether the use of the Education Scotland ‘Transforming Learning Approach’ could support unpromoted teachers to take greatly increased responsibility for transforming learner entitlements, within Curriculum for Excellence, through the provision of high quality leadership. This enquiry aimed to see if unpromoted teachers, working in two primary schools, could benefit from bottom-up approaches that would encourage them to scope out well-considered ideas for improvement and see them through to completion. Three broad research questions (RQs) defined the scope and direction for the research. These focused on what teachers’ perspectives were on the need to transform Scottish primary schools through enhancing the teacher leadership of their unpromoted teachers, what teachers’ perspectives were on Education Scotland’s new “Transforming Learning” approach being able to enhance teacher leadership for all and increase the pace of change within Curriculum for Excellence, and lastly, what teachers’ reactions were to piloting the school design model, an intervention to transform schools and whether they could demonstrate impact from the use of the “Transforming Learning” approach. The research took the form of a case study approach, based on two primary schools in a large Scottish city. It adopted a mixed method approach which consisted of the use of two questionnaires, four focus groups, a series of practical workshops and the results of teachers’ agreed actions to collect and analyse the data. Among the main findings were the following: firstly, overall, teachers in the two schools were not prepared yet to implement Curriculum for Excellence further as part of school transformation. This was, apparently, because of their excessive workload, including being overwhelmed by policy initiatives over the last six years, lack of time and little knowledge of transformational change. Secondly, without strategic system change, including a higher level of digital learning and more support for teachers, their creative and innovative potential is likely to remain unrealised. Thirdly, some teachers may be clinging to past teacher identities which prevent them from accepting teacher leadership as a contemporary expectation of the teacher’s role.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: Education, transforming learning, primary learning, unpromoted, teacher, teachership.
• Subjects: L Education > L Education (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Supervisor's Name: Dimmock, Prof, Clive
• Date of Award: 2019
• Depositing User: Mrs Aileen Monaghan
• Unique ID: glathesis:2019-74374
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 09 Sep 2019 11:12
• Last Modified: 10 Dec 2019 11:18
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.74374
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/74374