Implementing Education Reform
Three-part podcast series delves into a new book Implementing Educational Reform – Cases and Challenges published by Cambridge University Press.
“The quality of teaching has been described as the most significant lever in achieving positive outcomes for students,” comments University of Cambridge Faculty of Education Professor and Director of Education Innovation, Colleen McLaughlin.
Professor McLaughlin is the co-editor of a new book from Cambridge University Press, with Alan Ruby, Senior Fellow Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy, & Director, Global Engagement Office, Graduate School of Education University of Pennsylvania.
“We began a conversation which identified the lack of attention to implementation... there is much policy proclamation, many theoretical debates, or critical examinations … we wanted to produce something that was a grounded approach, something that really spoke to both policy and practice,” says Professor McLaughlin.
The book, Implementing Educational Reform – Cases and Challenges, presents eight detailed examples of how education reform has been implemented, capturing real examples of the choices and constraints faced by policymakers and practitioners. The final chapter brings together commonalities and differences across the cases.
To mark the launch of the book, Cambridge Partnership for Education recorded a three-part podcast series with four contributors to the book – editors Colleen and Alan along with Professor Mary James, who has a lifetime achievement award for her work in education research and its application, and Professor Mel Ainscow, who specialises in equity and inclusion in education.
Professor Colleen McLaughlin and Alan Ruby discuss the themes in the case studies presented in the book and why communication is fundamental to successfully implementing education reform.
Dominique Slade, who works for Cambridge Partnership for Education, talks with Professor Mary James about what can be learned from large-scale, whole system reform in Hong Kong.
Dominique Slade talks with Professor Mel Ainscow CBE about his work on two state-funded regional education initiatives in the UK aimed at better supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This book is written in the hope that it will help policymakers and practitioners alike and that it will be a welcome example of detailed human accounts of trying to enact aspirations to improve learning and teaching.
Cambridge Partnership for Education works with governments, ministries of education and international development organisations to improve the quality of education systems. They help them reach their goals through evidence-based education reform from every angle – curriculum, assessment, learning materials and teacher training.
More from the authors on Cambridge.org:
- In this blog, Professor Colleen McLaughlin explores some of the key questions to help us think about teacher development
