Supported reflective practice: a programme of peer observation and feedback for academic teaching development

The outcomes of the evaluation of a structured, peer-supported teaching development programme for academic staff are reported. Supported reflective practice forms the conceptual framework for the programme, which includes feedback on observed teaching and feedback on reflection. Key themes identified are the effectiveness of the supported reflective practice process, improvements to teaching practice, developing confidence and congruent espoused theory and theory-in-use, ongoing professional development and developing collegiality. Factors that facilitate the programme are explored, including the support triangle, the role of the educational developer in providing feedback and monitoring, and the role of the support colleague. Suggestions for implementation of similar programmes are offered.     

From Symphony to Jazz: The concept of strategy in education

This paper considers the derivation of the concept of strategy and its deployment as a management technique to enable organisations to prepare for the future. It then examines the related growth of school development planning and explores the extent to which this can be considered to be strategic. It is then argued that whether or not school development planning is strategic, the use of strategy in organisations is no longer either possible, if it ever was, or appropriate. The paper concludes by proposing an alternative basis for planning derived from a combination of marginal incrementalism and feminist literature on problem solving.     

Learning about domestic violence: young people's responses to a Healthy Relationships programme

This paper reports on an evaluation of a drama‐based Healthy Relationships programme on domestic violence delivered on a pilot basis to Year 8 pupils. The programme included a play delivered by a local theatre‐in‐education company followed by a series of weekly workshops. Eighty‐five pupils in a secondary school located in an area with high rates of social exclusion participated in the programme and the evaluation. Pupils completed questionnaires immediately before and after the programme and one year after the programme had finished. Thirteen pupils also took part in gendered discussion groups, which considered their views and opinions concerning the play and the workshops. The evaluation indicated that the programme was successful in enhancing pupils' understandings of domestic violence up to one year after delivery. Pupils responded well to the use of drama as a medium for learning, and some young people were able to demonstrate that they had developed positive ideas about healthy relationships. However, there was evidence of uncertainly for some young people with regard to the gendered nature of domestic violence following the programme. The discussion highlights this issue and identifies additional recommendations for both future research and future programmes.