'Partnership' Approaches to Deep Rooted Problems in Local Communities: an Educational Case

"'Partnership' Approaches To Deep Rooted Problems In Local Communities"

Patrick Easen

Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 27th to August 30th

Introduction

This paper is derived from a larger study of a school improvement project, the Educational Achievement Strategy (EAS). The EAS project represented an example of a growing recognition, internationally as well as nationally, that deep rooted problems with both economic and social dimensions require a multi-agency approach based upon communities. Inevitably, then, this Project was breaking new ground in what it sought to do and how it sought to do it. As multi-partner approaches to identified problems are increasingly likely to occur in the future, it is important that the implications of such approaches are explored. This paper describes the Project and its context before outlining the main findings about the workings of the ‘partnership’. Finally, some criteria for a successful ‘partnership approach’ are proposed.

The Educational Achievement Strategy

The Educational Achievement Strategy (EAS) was conceived as "an exciting and innovative project of strategic importance to the economic recovery of the West End of Newcastle" (Project documentation). This area of Tyneside suffers from a variety of social and economic difficulties which are seen as contributing to and reinforcing educational problems. An important feature of the Project was that, although funded by City Challenge, it was founded on partnership (between City Challenge and the City of Newcastle Education Service) and sought to develop partnerships at a variety of levels (e.g. between the central Project and schools and between participating schools and their communities). It was acknowledged in the Project documentation that what the Project set out to do was not amenable to "quick-fix" solutions but required "a sustained effort on the part of a variety of partners over a number of years".

Designed to tackle a fundamental educational problem in the West End of Newcastle, namely "the cycle of low expectation and low achievement" (Project documentation), the project was seen as "a targeted approach to breaking into the cycle of under achievement at points that most of the stakeholders agree are critical"(Project ibid). The cycle itself was conceptualised as consisting of a number of factors and was expressed diagrammatically in Project literature as shown on page 2.

Linked to this model and derived from a "consultation and data analysis process" (ibid) were ten key themes. These formed the basis of the strategy and were :

1. Parental involvement in children’s learning.

2. Literacy and numeracy.

3. Community facilities in schools.

4. School attendance and punctuality.

5. Enhancing self esteem, confidence and perspectives for the future.

6. Bullying and racism.

7. Measurement of achievement.

8. The role of local employers.

9. Information and communication.

10. Co-ordination and integration.

These themes provided both the broad overall aims for the Project and a set of targets for schools. Individual schools then contracted to the Project in relation to the targets which were used as a means of measuring and monitoring progress.

Implementation of the Educational Achievement Strategy was supported in the following three ways:

•Financial support was made available for capital projects and any necessary underpinning resource provision.

•Each of the primary and nursery schools was given a teacher for one day a week to be managed by the head teacher. This was to allow the release of other staff to work with parents and to develop initiatives around the particular themes of the Strategy.

•A project team was appointed to work with schools to implement the Strategy. The appointments covered Literacy, Numeracy, Parental Involvement, Transition, Curriculum Development and a Project Officer (for management and administration).

The three year project, launched in October 1994, involved 22 schools (one Secondary and 21 primaries) in the inner-city area of the West End of Newcastle.

The Context Within Which The Project Worked

It would be impossible to understand and comment on the EAS Project without some consideration of the context within which it had to operate. Innovations such as this do not take place in a vacuum but against an existing backcloth. In particular, there were three features of this which were important in shaping the development and impact of the Project.

The first was the 'political climate' in the sense of the underlying deep beliefs, assumptions, interpretations and expectations on which interaction in the wider public affairs of our society depends. In recent years reduced public funding has been accompanied by rising expectations of the education service and political moves to alter the distribution of power between education professionals and the wider society. As a consequence Local Education Authorities (LEAs) have had to cope, for example, with a shift from being an essentially 'command structure' to an essentially 'service structure', whilst schools have had to manage the new demands and responsibilities of increasing autonomy and both have had to come to terms with 'accountability'.

Some of the practical effects of these changes for the Project included:

•frequent changes of personnel within the Local Authority Education Service so that there was less opportunity for building the good personal relationships and the deeper understandings that some respondents saw as a requirement of a successful partnership between the Authority and the schools; and

•the swiftly changing nature of the roles and the work of both LEA personnel and head teachers which may not have been fully understood by other partners in the Project so that there was less chance for a common perception of what was realistic or workable in relation to the Project.

The Project, then, has to be seen in the light of the recent shifts in power between central government, local authorities and schools and to see it as a reflection of national policies.

Secondly, although the EAS Project was conceived as a partnership between various groups, its effectiveness would depend on a shared understanding developing between the various parties of their different viewpoints and perspectives. In this case, an understanding of the basic causes of the problems with which they were dealing was needed as well as a focus on the symptoms. Such a common understanding has to be produced though communication. In that sense communication between the various groups represented in and working with the Project became very important. Equally, so too has communication between those groups and the wider groups of young people, their families and their communities with whom the Project sought to work was important. In relation to the context of the Project, however, communication becomes particularly critical when it does not exist or has broken down between some or all of those involved. The West End of Newcastle contains marginalised young people within increasingly marginalised communities. In such situations, where young people (and others) draw upon their own experience to judge the worth of any scheme, they are influenced by their life outside of the classroom rather than conventional schooling. Such a situation is not auspicious for either 'common understanding' or 'communication' and the implications for the Project run deep. Indeed, one of the most interesting views of accountability is that of Sallis (1989) who discusses 'mutual accountability' which, she claims, is grounded in dialogue. According to Freire (1972), dialogue is crucial for the development of communities. Without it, members of a community are unable to develop critical awareness and response is practically impossible. Freire refers to this as the 'culture of silence'.

Thirdly, in many communities large extended families and social networks have traditionally offered support and provided meaning to the residents' lives. Such things seem to be diminishing in the West End of Newcastle where social continuity appears to be being replaced by social instability. This is characterised by short-term tenancies, considerable local mobility and consequently high turn-over rates in the school population. To this may be added a higher rate of change than usual in school staff as teachers move to schools where the demands, if not less, are different in nature. At a time when there is increasing emphasis on continuity of schooling, Project schools exist in a state of endemic instability.

All of these factors seemed to be working against the emergent patterns of the Project even though many respondents acknowledged its goals as being desirable. In addition, the schools perceived themselves as struggling against what one head teacher described as the "receding tide of resources". This perception within the schools of increasingly adverse resourcing of the education service was described as causing a consequent loss of morale and increasing pressures on available time to maintain current work in classrooms. The value of the support provided by the EAS was acknowledged but was described as inadequate to cover the loss of provision overall.

Summary Of The Findings Of The Study

The overall impression of the EAS to emerge from the evaluation was of a Project beset by problems and difficulties from its inception. In particular, the EAS had been interpreted very differently by those involved. This had resulted in a wide range of differing actions in schools. In terms of impact mainly this could be seen in capital schemes such as parents rooms being added to some schools. In addition, some examples of good practice and some shifts in attitude were described. However, because of the complex nature of the way schools work, it was not possible to ascertain with complete certainty that there had been any extensive or sustained impact on teacher's practice as a result of the Project. As a consequence, despite the range and scope of activities undertaken in relation to the Project, it was difficult to conclude that any specific impact on pupil achievement has been directly attributable to the strategy.

These disappointing findings reflect two central, complex and inter-locking themes. First the nature and scale of the problem of under achievement which the Strategy set out to tackle. Second the nature of the partnership between City Challenge, the Local Authority, the private sector and the community which under-pinned the development, management and implementation of the Strategy. It is worth describing these in more detail.

The first of these themes, the nature and scale of the problem of under achievement which the Strategy set out to tackle, had several consequences.

•There was little consensus within the Project of what might constitute educational achievement and even less constructive debate on the issue.

•There were fundamental problems with the relationship between educational achievement and the targets eventually used by the Project.

•The expedient of limiting indicators of educational achievement to simple indicators of progress in relation to literacy and numeracy masked disagreement and debate of essential core issues as well as detracted from other aspects of pupil competence.

Similarly, the second theme - the nature of the partnership between City Challenge, the Local Authority, the private sector and the community - had a number of consequences.

•Partnership was seen as the cornerstone of the EAS and yet conflict between partners significantly weakened the design and implementation of the Project. Communication between the different parties involved in the EAS became strained and insufficient dialogue hindered progress.

•There was a high level of frustration and concern over the lack of shared understandings between partners in the EAS about the nature of achievement and assumptions made about its assessment.

•There was insufficient involvement of the LEA advisory service.

•The relative autonomy of head teachers within the EAS proved to be, in some cases, a catalyst for change and development. In several other cases, however, it was a barrier.

Mistakes, some at least stemming from the way the partnership functioned, were made throughout the processes of planning and implementing the Project. At its most obvious, there was an assumed agreement about the meaning of ‘ achievement ’ and of ‘ under achievement ’ compounded by a lack of debate and exchange of expertise on the best strategies for tackling this central issue. It seems reasonable to conclude that had the partnership worked (or been made to work) more effectively it might have been a different story in terms of impact. It is this, therefore, that is the focus of the rest of the paper.

A Partnership Of Polarised Members

There is a common current belief that education is "at the heart of inner city regeneration”. While this may be true, it does not mean that schools and teachers by themselves can be effective in raising the levels of pupil achievement. The picture is considerably more complex.

"Beyond the school gate are underlying issues such as poverty, unemployment, poor housing, inadequate health care, and the frequent break up of families. Education by itself, can only do so much to enable individuals to reach beyond the limiting contours of their personal and social circumstances and succeed... " (OFSTED 1994).

This was well understood by all the partners to the EAS and was the basis upon which City Challenge wished to proceed. In a foreword to the 1995 EAS report, Wilson set out the origins of the EAS Partnership.

"The Strategy was established by the City Challenge Partnership, in particular councillor Tony Flynn, Chairman of the Education Committee, Bryan Hutchinson and Jackie Haq, two community representatives and myself representing the private sector. We were united in our desire to create local solutions and put education back into the heart of the community."

Despite a continuing commitment to the central aim of the EAS, the evaluation study revealed considerable disillusion and pessimism about the functioning of the Partnership itself. Most of the problems which ran through the implementation of the Educational Achievement Strategy stemmed from the fundamentally polarised views of the key partners which surfaced repeatedly at each level. The tensions and conflicts which bedevilled implementation are one consequence of this polarisation which, once it was locked into the strategy, had been difficult to shift. Wilson's opening words in the 1995 Report proved prophetic.

"Putting Partnership into action is a difficult notion and it was with a certain amount of trepidation that City Challenge representatives from the private and community sectors approached an education project."

The development of any strategic plan to effect change is based on several principles. Firstly, a definition of the nature of the problem and a review of the underlying causes of the problem, secondly the establishment of realistic aims, thirdly the drawing up of a plan of action to meet the aims and finally, agreeing on a system for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the plan. In the case of the EAS, there is evidence of substantial agreement at one level between the partners at the first stage, but, as the evaluation study documented, consensus became harder to find as the Project unfolded and the real meanings behind the words (with their concomitant actions) became crucial. The hallmark of this was increasing polarisation of the partners.

The differences in perspective and ways of working which eventually had an impact upon each level of the Project were compounded by problems in the structure of the management which reflected these polarised attitudes. The resulting conflicts were not resolved because ownership and direction of the Project were shared by partners who did not agree (and could not construct any meaningful agreement) about some fundamental points. As a consequence there was no consistently strong steer from the top. This had serious implications for implementation and meant that the Project had an inauspicious start. This was the rather stark view presented to the evaluation team. It is confirmed at all levels of the Project from the views of those involved at strategic level, from those involved on a daily basis and from those involved in schools.

Essentially, the differences of viewpoint produced two factions. On one side was the Local Authority and the Education Department and on the other City Challenge with its community and private sector representation. The fact that the City Council was a partner in City Challenge does not mean it always identified with what was often called the "Challenge philosophy". Occupying the middle ground were the schools whose work represented the rationale for the Project and the principal setting for its implementation. In many ways the schools can be seen as separate bodies pursuing individual agendas which frequently placed them at odds with both City Challenge and the Local Authority. As noted earlier, the far reaching changes stemming from the 1988 Education Reform Act cannot be separated from the key issues emerging from the evaluation

Although the Strategy was initially centred firmly on education as a tool in the wider aim of urban regeneration, the early hold on the Project remained firstly with City Challenge and secondly with the Planning and Development section of the Education Department. In essence this meant that a strategy which rested ultimately on improving the educational performance of pupils at classroom level, became part of the City Challenge system of monitoring that regeneration through a series of targets, milestones and outputs.