Mearns Primary School is a four-stream school situated in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire. The school presently has a roll of 816 pupils and also provides Nursery places for 120 children. I first became aware of Action Learning Sets in 2006 when I was invited to participate in an Action Learning Set (ALS) - Coaching Project. The aim of the project was 'to develop Principal Teachers and Chartered Teachers across sectors to lead the development of action research within local authority schools by using coaching skills.' Further information on the course referred to the development of questioning skills to raise attainment in literacy in the ‘below average’ group, I felt that improving my questioning skills would promote further progress in pupils’ learning by enabling me to enhance the development of critical thinking and reasoning skills. The practice could then be rolled out to benefit the whole school.
Action Learning involves taking a new approach to problem solving, with a small group providing challenge and support to assist one another to find the best solutions and to formulate an individual action plan. A key principle of the ALS is that participants are enabled to identify and maximise their own learning skills. Open questioning which avoids advice or prescriptiveness enables individuals to reflect on practice and assists them to find their best solution to their challenge. Trust is essential; once established, it enables the group to form closer, more collaborative relationships and the synergy produced promotes higher-level thinking and reasoning skills.
The process of the ALS is as important as the content, and the five day training programme to be a coach/facilitator consisted of learning by doing, working through the four stages of skill development from 'unconscious incompetence' to 'conscious competence'. It is essential to develop the skill of being observer as well as participant. By doing this the facilitator can see both perspectives to situations and can therefore take a more holistic position in order to provide more accurate and creative ways of making a difference.
Having undertaken the training as coach/facilitator for the ALS, the next step was to explore how this would lead to improvements to be experienced by pupils in the classroom. This would involve planning and implementing a mini-project which would focus on literacy and involve children in the underachieving group for whom the project would make a difference.
I enlisted the support of my stage colleagues and after some discussion we decided on a project to promote personal reading among boys. This would afford us the opportunity to identify obstacles to boys reading and hopefully to implement effective strategies which would encourage and support positive attitudes and a lifelong interest in reading.
I introduced the concept and structure of the ALS to my colleagues, and in order to familiarise them with the process, we chose a first issue unrelated to the reading project. The presenter of the issue reported that the non-judgemental and empathic approach had been of great assistance in helping him find the best solution to the problem and had enabled him to formulate an action plan. This fostered a positive attitude in the group towards the effectiveness of the set and a second session led to an action plan to promote reading.
All of our P6 pupils were given a questionnaire (National Literacy Trust) about their reading habits and preferences which confirmed that boys would read more if they were in reading groups with friends. So, initially we decided to focus on boys for our five week project. Our discussions with the boys suggested that there was little parental involvement in their reading; this highlighted the importance of involving parents in the project. We ensured a variety of genres to interest the boys and were credited with stickers for each book read. On achieving five stickers, they received a certificate. The boys were also encouraged to complete short book reviews and ‘Fantastic Facts’ for the reading display in the school corridor. A second questionnaire helped us with our evaluation; parents said that the new approach encouraged their children to read more. The staff involved were very encouraged by the success of the project and are aiming to expand the project to encompass P5 and P7.
Our success in the Reading project was in large part due to our participation and collaboration in the ALS, which afforded the opportunity for
'the open flow of ideas; faith in the individual and collective capacity of people to create possibilities for resolving problems; and the use of critical reflection and analysis to evaluate ideas, problems and policies' (Beane and Apple).
Participating in action learning sets engenders an ethos of mutual respect and support among colleagues and enables professionals to work together collaboratively to enhance teacher professional development and performance, resulting in greater impact within the classroom and the increased potential to raise standards and attainment.
In order to introduce the concept to a wider audience I gave a short presentation to staff on the May in-service day 2007 and followed this with the offer of in-house Continuing Professional Development (CPD); to date I have received eight expressions of interest. I hope to establish an action learning set in the school and to encourage others to develop an interest in becoming coach/facilitator. Learning about the concept and structure of the set and becoming comfortable with the process will require staff to dedicate a substantial number of CPD hours
The impact of this practice will hopefully be seen in projects that will be taken forward by individuals and teams, but there may be another, less tangible result in the form of closer, more collaborative relationships with colleagues which will have a positive impact on the learning experiences of the pupils.
In association with Education Scotland