The Ofsted report for 2011-12 paints a picture of a schools system in crisis, characterised by ‘inequities’ and ‘wide variation’ in performance. While the need for improvement is widely acknowledged, the question of how this should be achieved is omnipresent in the media, and in political debate. Education Secretary Michael Gove is actively proposing an overhaul of the GCSE assessment system, as well as a change of focus within core curriculum subjects. At the same time, the Coalition government is moving to give individual schools greater control (with approved free schools currently allowed a degree of discretion over their curriculum).
Growing concerns over academic achievement are matched by a recognition of widespread pupil disengagement. Estimates suggest that, by the age of 16, as many as 1 in 5 pupils have a low or nonexistent level of interest in classroom activity and study. Disengagement is linked to a range of poor educational outcomes in terms of attendance, attainment and behaviour.
The debate surrounding school improvement has so far been skewed towards the ‘supply’ side, but this project seeks to look at ‘demand’ – at what can be gained from increasing pupils’ involvement as stakeholders in their learning. This project will see Demos pilot such a strategy, as we look to the social care approach of co-production and adapt it to the school setting. Evidence indicates that empowering disabled and older people to participate to set their own healthcare goals can lead to positive outcomes - particularly promoting individuals’ reengagement with and sense of ownership of their own care. We predict that a similar, structured and user-led approach, which gives pupils responsibility for deciding their future, could lead to comparable gains in engagement and attainment.
Working with up to 8 pupils from school years 7 and 9 (the first and third year of Key Stage 3), across 4 schools in at least 3 UK regions, we will seek to answer the following questions:
- How transferable are the process and outcomes of co-production from the social care setting to the educational setting?
- What is the impact of structured, user-led goal setting on pupils’ engagement in their learning (according to their own and teachers’ perceptions)?
- What is the impact on educational outcomes linked to disengagement – e.g. behaviour, attendance and attainment?
- What is the impact of co-production on teachers – e.g. in terms of self-rated confidence, knowledge of their pupils, and workload?
- What wider factors influence the successful implementation of co-production?
- What are the limitations of using co-production within existing school structures (e.g. staffing structures, timetable and curriculum)?
Demos will regularly collect and analyse data from official school records, and from surveys and self-assessment by participants, to quantify and qualify the outcomes of our co-production model.
The findings will be presented at a Westminster launch event, involving local commissioners, MPs and representatives from the Department of Education. We expect the lessons from the pilot to help inform both policy and practice, not only as a means of re-engaging demotivated pupils but potentially also as a way of giving talented pupils the opportunity to stretch themselves.
The pilot will run from September 2013 to summer 2015 in partnership with TeachFirst, and is generously supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
