Abstract/Positionality

Executive Summary

The DCU Changemaker Schools Network (DCU CSN) is an exciting and unique school-university partnership of twenty-eight primary schools, or ‘university schools’ in both the North and South of Ireland and the DCU institute of Education (DCU IoE). The work of the network has been greatly influenced by recommendations derived from a previous evaluation titled ‘Beyond what Matters: What works in Irish Changemaker Schools’ (King et al, 2020).  The DCU CSN is funded philanthropically through the DCU Educational Trust. 

The DCU CSN functions as a professional learning community within the DCU IoE, linking the contemporary practice(s) of innovative schools to the research, learning and teaching of the DCU IoE. The nexus of this model of a school-university partnership is the cultivation and development of ‘university schools’ characterized by close collaboration between students, practitioners, and researchers. The four core principles of the partnership are the development of teachers and teacher educators, refining practicum experiences, conducting research and development projects, and establishing networks to disseminate the experiences and share insights from the projects (Smith, 2016).

The network is based on the belief that schools are sites for transformation and change and have the capacity to respond to complex issues to effect positive social and educational change. The nexus of the DCU CSN is the idea that all children can be changemakers or active citizens, with the agency to affect change in their schools, homes, and communities. It is the identity formation of children as citizens of the present not of the future, through the engagement of the whole school community that solidifies the concept of being a changemaker. Schools in the network foster and develop school cultures wherein empathy, creativity, leadership, and teamwork thrive. The work of the network is foregrounded in the development of shared goals, a democratic approach, mutual trust, innovation, and flexibility.

The DCUCSN is grounded in the belief that schools are greatly challenged to develop children’s citizenship capacities and the understanding that creating a school culture which fosters and creates space for the agency and empowerment of children as well as their positive identity formation, will create real and systemic change. The work is also grounded in the value and powerful contribution of networks and professional learning communities to the schools involved and their potential to impact on the education system and teachers in initial teacher education.

 Importance of networks and partnerships in education is well held post- Covid -19, when collective capacity building supported school leaders (Harris & Jones, 2022) in dealing with crisis and change. As school principals engaged in ‘sense-making’ (Devine & Murphy, 2022) they sought guidance and support from their networks (Fahy et al, 2020). The development of networks develops the social capital of school leaders. Social capital in this instance relates to the resources acquired through relations with others (Bourdieu, 1986). The relationship between social capital and valued school outcomes, is well documented (Coburn & Davis, 2003) and is embedded in relationships amongst people and organization in which they are situated (Small, 2010).

 The DCU CSN is one such platform or infrastructure (Spillane, 2020) in which school principals can develop the social capital of their schools. The university school approach also resonates with key developments in Irish education including the Teaching Council CROÍ (Collaboration and Research for Ongoing Innovation) Research Series. To date the DCU CSN functions as a professional learning community of ‘university schools’ in which the schools have benefited in the development of their social capital from their positionality within the university. As this concept develops, the development and scope of the schools to enhance student experience and learning, as well as the research and development of teacher educators is to be explored.

The DCU CSN is also an exciting research study, with a sample size of approximately one thousand children from fifty schools by 2025 for a quantitative study, then nestled within this the children and teachers of eight case study schools, for an in-depth mixed method investigation. A rich set of subjective mixed methods data is generated through quantitative multi-informant study (repeated measures of children, teachers, and school leaders) in each school context and a qualitative study (interviews with children, teachers, school leaders and an ethnographic observation of children’s learning in classroom contexts). This is strengthened by a rich set of objective data, quantitative data and systematic observation of pedagogy and procedures of schools. Of note, the teachers in the DCU CSN are the researchers and conduct the fieldwork for general KPI quantitative data.

There is critical evidence emerging from the research, that the model of professional learning and engagement used within this network has had a significant impact on the educational experience of the children and professional experience of teachers, and school leaders in the DCU CSN. Several interesting findings from this research have emerged which demonstrate this.

Firstly, there is significant evidence that engagement in the DCU CSN has an impact on the citizenship identities and participation of children in the DCU CSN schools. 

Secondly, the data affirms that teachers in DCU Changemaker Schools possess a strong sense of personal agency. This agency stems from active participation in decision-making, leadership opportunities, collaborative discourse, and a supportive environment valuing teacher voice and the four pillars of empathy, creativity, leadership, and teamwork. Thirdly, data collected by the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre as part of Rethink Irelands evaluation of Child and Youth Fund indicates increased social support and confidence as a common outcome from the teachers, children and school principals who were sampled. Finally, the DCU CSN is underpinned by the existence and support from the DCU CSN team. All parties emphasised the central importance of regular contact, the value of the CPD provided as well as other opportunities.

The DCU CSN is at an important juncture, the ambitions to scale and develop the network as an entity has been very successful. The next phase of the development of the DCU CSN is to further develop the university partnership aspect of the DCU CSN collaborating with students in the DCU IoE, practitioners, and researchers. Due to the nature of the model and the engagement with children, there is scope for ethnographic data collection using observant participation methodology and child-centred qualitative research as well as visual ethnography techniques, including photovoice. There is an opportunity to develop a way of operationalising and co-creating Zeichners (2010) concept of the third space in teacher education, in which practitioners, teacher educators, students and children work together to cultivate system change and bridge the practice to theory divide.