Scratching the surface? Innovating for fundamental change

What does it take to go beyond merely scratching the surface and making a real difference to the organising principles of a school? This was the focus of a recent SHAPE Live event, hosted by Andrew Nye, Deputy Director, Digital and New Product Development at Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Guest presenters were Dr Jeremy Hannay, Head of the award-winning Three Bridges Primary School in London, and Kata Csuba, Head of Flourishing and Inclusion at the online School of Humanity. Though they are from very different schools, both educators have established successful and innovative models that have enabled learners and teachers to flourish.

We need to be soil people: fostering a nurturing environment to first enable teachers to grow and flourish

The first speaker was Jeremy Hannay, who described how he has created a high-performing primary school where wellbeing is at the heart of the school’s ethos. Jeremy, who arrived in the UK from Canada 12 years ago, said he felt "it was a shock to encounter a high pressure ‘performativity’ culture in the UK education system, with its emphasis on high stakes teacher assessments, paperwork, and performance scrutiny". He described the damage he felt this has done to teacher morale, and shared an alarming statistic: 40% of new inner London teachers quit within the first five years (Department for Education 2018).

So, what’s the secret to the success of Jeremy’s school? He described how creating ‘soil people’, by which he means fostering a nurturing environment to first enable teachers to grow and flourish, is at the heart of his approach. He emphasised that creating a happy environment for teachers is key. An environment where educators are given the autonomy to carry out their own research, are encouraged to self-refer for continuous improvement and where there’s a culture of collaboration and joy, and making mistakes is not frowned upon. This, he said, is crucial if teachers are to create the same learning environment for their classes. And the results speak for themselves. Despite having well above average numbers of disadvantaged and ethnic minority pupils, Three Bridges outperforms the national average for attainment and Ofsted has rated it ‘outstanding’ in all areas.

First and foremost, we wanted to create a School that learners love

Kata Csuba’s inspiring talk focused primarily on how learner agency is central to the curriculum design of the School of Humanity. The question that she posed at the start: 'What are the outcomes and what is the purpose of education’ is at the heart of their approach. To this end, they have devised a programme where learners direct their own learning, and where topics studied are completely learner led. Students are encouraged to solve local and social problems and are teamed up with partners in industry who encourage them to solve real-life problems from their companies. Assessment is not traditional. Students’ report cards include areas such as social, emotional and intellectual development, but rigour certainly isn’t sacrificed and the report cards are recognised by 200 universities, including Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology . It also seems that the school has achieved its main mission: 90% of students say they love the programme.

Some challenges of implementing innovation

Andrew then posed a series of questions around potential obstacles to innovation and their views on accountability. In the UK, Jeremy pointed out that the main challenge is working within an external system designed for scrutiny. His response was broadly echoed in the results of the online poll, which asked the question ‘What’s the greatest obstacle to innovation in the education sector?’. Kata also articulated her view that standard materials and curricula are no longer fit for the 21st Century. The world is changing exponentially, especially in technology and digital transformation and the remote workplace is driving change. Andrew then asked what accountability means to them. Jeremy acknowledged that as Head of a State school, he is accountable for how public money is being spent, but he believes too much energy is typically focused on external accountability at the expense of internal senses of accountability. For Kata, the most important measure is ensuring learners are prepared for a fulfilled life.

So how might people in other schools start if they want to initiate change, and how long might it take a school to adopt their approach? Kata suggested starting with very small steps and stressed the importance of bringing learners on the journey, not just teachers. Jeremy pointed out that even though he’s been at his school for ten years there’s lots to do and he still hasn’t finished. Both stressed the importance of listening and learning from others, and being humble, flexible – and kind.

Future visions

In concluding the event, Andrew asked Kata and Jeremy their vision of the future. Both are ambitious and are keen to see others follow in their footsteps to innovate and change the status quo. Kata wants to focus on fine tuning their model and setting up partnerships. Jeremy has chosen to stay in London, even though he admits returning to Canada would be the easier path, because he wants to influence others to change the climate of education in the UK, and help the young people teachers serve.

Watch the event recording and find out more about previous SHAPE Live debates.

About the author

Annabel Marriott, Secondary Publishing Manager (English) at Cambridge University Press & Assessment

Annabel was an English language teacher and teacher trainer in Japan, the UK, the Czech Republic and Spain for twelve years before joining Cambridge University Press in 2001. She has spent the last 20 years working in educational publishing and specialises in developing courses for Secondary schools globally. In addition to her publishing career, Annabel has been a governor at a secondary school in Cambridge.