DCU Institute of Education
DCU Institute of Education
The Development of a Quality Framework for Ethos in Educate Together Schools

The Development of a Quality Framework for Ethos in Educate Together Schools

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One of the hallmarks of an Educate Together school is its unique equality-based ethos. This is set out in the Educate Together Charter which outlines the core values and principles underpinning the operation of all primary and second-level Educate Together schools; specifically that Educate Together schools are:

Equality-based i.e. all children/ learners having equal rights of access to the school, and children of all social, cultural and religious backgrounds being equally respected.

Child-centred/ learner-centred in their approach to education.

Co-educational and committed to encouraging all children to explore their full range of abilities and opportunities.

Democratically run with active participation by parents in the daily life of the school, whilst positively affirming the professional role of the teachers.

As Educate Together expands the number of primary and second-level schools across Ireland, it has become more important than ever for schools to reflect on and strengthen how they implement this fundamental approach to teaching and learning and daily life of the school. Towards this end, Dublin City University, Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection (EQI) was commissioned by Educate Together to develop a national Quality Framework for Ethos in Educate Together Schools. A key requirement for Educate Together was that the resulting Framework would support schools to self-evaluate and not place additional work on the schools beyond what was already required.

This work began in 2019 and involved widespread consultation with various stakeholders from within the Educate Together network. Interviews were conducted with key personnel in the national Educate Together office as well as a focus group with members of the Board of Directors. This led to the development of draft quality standards and statements of effective practice. Two national consultation meetings followed, in Cork and Dublin which was attended by representatives of 7 primary and 3 second-level schools. Participants in these full-day meetings included, students, teachers, Deputy Principals, Principals, parents and Board of Management representatives. The meetings involved active participation in a range of activities which encouraged attendees to focus on the meaning of ethos and to give feedback on the wording of the draft standards and statements of effective practice.

The Quality Framework involves setting out standards and statements of effective practice which schools will use as part of a self-evaluation process to evaluate practice, and to plan and implement improvements in the school. Draft guidelines for self-evaluation of ethos have been developed and are being tested by 21 Educate Together primary and post-primary schools across the country, over the 2019/20 school year.

This work is being led for DCU by Dr. Shivaun O’Brien, Centre for Evaluation Quality and Inspection and builds on almost 20 years of her experience in developing improvement frameworks and supporting schools and educational organisations to undertake self-evaluation. Dr. O’ Brien is a lecturer in the DCU Institute of Education and is heavily involved in a number of initial teacher education programmes and the Doctor of Education programme, where she delivers a module on evidence based leadership. She has carried out extensive research in Ireland and abroad on school improvement, quality assurance in education and self-evaluation in particular. Her research focuses on models of professional development for school self-evaluation, the use of data by schools and the involvement of students and parents in school self-evaluation processes.

During the Pilot Phase of the initiative, Dr. O’Brien will deliver four DCU-based training sessions to a designated SSE leader from each participating school. The training is designed to support schools to implement the school self-evaluation process over the course of a school year. Participants will be supported to get started in October 2019 and the training will outline a clear plan for how schools may complete the evaluation process by the end of April 2020. The course will support the SSE Team Leader, one step at a time. Each session prepares the participant to implement the next stage of the process back in their school. The model encourages wide consultation with representatives of the school community.

The content of the sessions will include the following:

  • Getting started with SSE, establishing an SSE team, organising tasks and identifying what data to gather
  • Organising and facilitating SSE Team meetings
  • Preparing/ adjusting questionnaires/ survey tools
  • Using Google Forms to gather data
  • Collation and analysis of data
  • Completion of the SSE Report
  • Completion of the School Improvement Plan (SIP)

Schools in the initiative will also be supported directly by the Education & Support programme in Educate Together, Sandra Irwin-Gowran, Programme Manager and Aoife Blood, Ethos Guidance Officer. Directly relevant to this project is the concurrent development of good practice guidance on the core principles and values of Educate Together ethos which will aid the schools in developing the resulting action plan from the SSE process.

Feedback from participants following the first training session was very positive and it is hoped that this will provide a great impetus for the initiative going forward. Following the Pilot Phase, the guidelines for schools will be redeveloped in advance of the 2020/21 school year.
For further information from: Educate Together contact Sandra Irwin Gowran: sandra.irwingowran@educatetogether.ie
DCU Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection (EQI) contact Dr. Shivaun O’Brien: shivaun.obrien@dcu.ie