Schoolwide Pedagogical Principles assist with the alignment of purpose and practice across whole school learning and teaching communities. This presentation shares the work of the Leadership Research International team and its IDEAS process working with schools to create shared commitment to school vision, values and a schoolwide pedagogy.

1. The Power of a
Schoolwide Pedagogical Framework
Workshop
Saturday 4th May 2013
Stuartholme School,
Toowong
Joan Conway
Shauna Petersen
Lindy Abawi
Researchers
Leadership Research International USQ
LEADERSHIP RESEARCH
INTERNATIONAL

2. When What
9.00am – 9.40am Introduction
 What do !/we know about Schoolwide pedagogy?
 Introducing the LRI’s research and development around Schoolwide Pedagogy.
 What do we want to know?
9.40am – 10.50am Learning Experience 1: The power of Schoolwide Pedagogy
 Clarifying the purpose
 Definitions of explicit teaching/instruction aligned to my Personal Pedagogy
10.50 – 11.20am Morning tea
11.20 – 12.30am Learning Experience 1: Building on the power of Schoolwide Pedagogy
 Strengthening commitment to ownership of new knowledge
12.30-1.00pm Reflection and ‘take home messages’

3. KWL – explicit teaching
Know Want to know Learnt

4. KWL
 What do I/we know about schoolwide
pedagogy?

5. SWP helps professional learning communities
when:
 Selecting teaching strategies
 Choosing resources
 Identifying and accessing support
 Aligning behaviour management practices across a school
 Interacting with the community
 Determining PD needs
 Prioritising demands and imperatives
 Identifying organisational ways of working and creating or
implementing policies ….
SWP: Organic & intuitive

6. The Research Background
The development of the LRI’s concept of SWP
was informed by research :
The most successful schools …found a way to channel staff and
student efforts toward a clear, commonly shared purpose for
student learning; they created opportunities for teachers to
collaborate and help one another achieve the purpose; and
teachers in these schools took collective — not just individual —
responsibility for student learning. (Newmann & Wehlage, 1995)
“The fact that a person has a particular orientation towards
himself or herself and the world is important, but equally
important are the ideas and values to which the orientation is
related” (Sarason, 1982, p. 176-7).

7. SWP: What is it?
A schoolwide pedagogy (SWP) is an agreed set
of pedagogical principles that reflect the
distinctive qualities of a school community.
SWP enables a teaching staff to:
 Emphasize agreed priority strategies for teaching or
learning or both in the diverse curricular and extra-
curricular practices of a school
 Reinforce each other’s strengths in their core work
 Grow professionally through a collaborative professional
learning approach

8. SWP: Part of a whole
One element within a process of
improvement – a number of pre-
requisites must be in place.
Commitment, diagnosis and a vision for
the future are essential starting points

10. KWL
 What do I/we want to know?

11. SWP: One approach
School vision: Aspire, Create, Together
ASPIRE to become the best we can be by
CREATING new ideas and knowledge so that
TOGETHER we succeed.
ACTIVE pedagogy: INSERT VIDEO CLIP
 Active commitment
 Creativity
 Teamwork
 Individual
 Vision
 Empathy

12. SWP: Making the links
Principle Definition Authoritative
Pedagogy
Key Resources
Empathy Empathy refers to the
fostering of positive
relationships based on
mutual respect between
all members of the
school community
(teachers, parents and
students). Our school is
a place where care and
respect of the
environment is actively
promoted.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs.
Bronfenbrenner’s
Ecological Systems
Theory.
At this school we:
• welcome community
participation in the
school
•Create a classroom
environment based on
mutual respect
•Discuss current
environmental issues
•Give students the
responsibility of caring
for our school
environment.

13. Learning Experience 1:
The Power of SWP
 The Tale of Greenfield Elementary
 The Grameen Bank

14. KWL
 What have I/we learnt?

15. Morning Tea

16. Learning Experience 2:
Building on the Power of SWP
 Eacham High School

17. SWP: What are the benefits?
 Personal professional learning
 Collaborative professional learning
 Relationships building across a campus
 An opportunity to develop teacher leaders
 Promotes teacher commitment
 Creation of a sense of shared purpose
 Develops professional community
 Does more than just tick boxes
 Allows schools to be one step ahead of the game

18. SWP: Key messages
“From the castle…
…to the network”  Vision
 Clarity
 Unique to context
 Collective commitment
 Underpinned by theory
 What else?

19. 3-Dimensional Pedagogy

20. LRI SWP Development Assistance
Two possible ways of obtaining assistance from
LRI staff for your SWP development journey:
1. A Cluster Delivery Model consisting of a series of
workshops plus facilitator development sessions run via
teleconference – a cluster in this case is considered to
be 3 or more schools working together. Although
working together each school is empowered to create
their own unique SWP.
2. A two day resource package providing hands on
intensive training for pedagogical leaders to learn how
to work with these resources in their context.

21. SWP Cluster Workshops
Workshop 1: Orientation
Workshop 2: Personal Pedagogy
Workshop 3: Collective Pedagogical Awareness
Workshop 4: Successful Practices
Workshop 5: Defining SWP
Workshop 6: SWP in Context
Workshop 7: Validation and implementation

22. SWP: Two day PD
A Resource Package comprising 3 components (2
optional):
1. A 2-day Professional Development Program together with
resources for school leaders of pedagogy development
2. Optional - Two 30 minute teleconferences between a school
and an LRI consultant subsequent to the 2-day program. (A
professional fee will be applicable.)
3. Optional – A school may wish to negotiate an onsite visit by
an LRI consultant during implementation of their SWP
developmental process. (A professional fee and any travel
costs are applicable.)

23. LRI Contact details
If you would like further information about the
LRI and/or package options please contact the
LRI administrator Marlene Barron:
marlene.barron@usq.edu.au
or you can email any of us
lindy-anne.abawi@usq.edu.au
joan.conway@usq.edu.au
shauna.petersen@usq.edu.au