Magdala EvaluationNottinghamTrentUniversity

FROM VOICE TO CHOICE: An evaluation of a project to develop effective learning in schools through creativity

report for

The Magdala in Ashfield Team

by

Dr Tony Cotton

Reader in Education

The School of Education, The NottinghamTrentUniversity,

Clifton, Nottingham. NG11 8NS

Tel: 0115 8483702

Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Institute of Education, University of London, 5-8 September 2007

1. Executive Summary and Recommendations

In February 2005 the ‘Magdala in Ashfield’ team met to plan a project which they had titled ‘From Voice to Choice.’ The aims of the project were:

  • To promote social inclusion and regeneration through widening participation in creative arts
  • To enable participants to discover new ways of learning to learn within the school curriculum
  • To promote economic regeneration by raising self esteem and aspirations through creative thinking and enterprise skills
  • To bring communities together by generating sustainable partnerships
  • To construct, implement and research a model of creative learning in both formal and informal contexts, informing both personal and professional development
  • To evaluate and share findings of this innovative model nationally and internationally

A team from NottinghamTrentUniversity were engaged to carry out the evaluation. The evaluation took place between March 14th 2005 and March 31st 2006.

The main findings of the evaluation are as follows:

1.1 In order to ensure shared ownership of such projects, and to create a close fit between the project aims and the planned activities, a team which includes members of the creative team, and teachers from all schools which are involved, should engage in a process of collaborative planning. Time should be allocated for this process and time must be allocated to ensure all teachers are enabled to support any evaluation process.

1.2 Many students already have a clear view of how they learn best. They did not have to be introduced to new ways of learning how to learn. It may be that lessons in which they are disengaged do not meet students own set of success criteria. These can be summarised as:

  • I feel successful when I overcome a perceived weakness or a barrier to learning is removed
  • I feel successful when I can draw on personal experience to support learning, or when I can apply my learning outside school
  • I feel successful when I can measure my achievement
  • I feel successful when I am given responsibility

1.3 If such projects are to have sustained impact across the schools this will have to be based upon changing classroom practices rather than an expectation that such projects will ‘change’ the students who are engaged in the projects.

1.4 There is some evidence that there were considerable successes with individual students in terms of raising self esteem.

1.5 New partnerships were formed through the creative process. Partnerships between the students and the creative practitioners, the creative practitioners and the school teachers, new forms of partnerships between the students and their school teachers, and partnerships between groups of students who do not normally operate as a group.

1.6 Effective teaching is practiced by teachers who:

  • Offer care and personal support to learners
  • Understand and respond to learners as individuals
  • Model skills and expertise and develop this in learners through an apprenticeship approach
  • Develop and support collaborative activity in the classroom

1.7 The evaluation offers a series of questions which schools can focus on in order to implement a model of creative learning in formal contexts:

  • How can current structures be modified so that teachers have the time and space to attend to individual learning needs?
  • How can current structures be modified so that learners and teachers have the time and space available to develop complex ideas?
  • How can current structures be modified so that teachers have the ability, belief and flexibility to allow for individual coaching of skills to take place?
  • How can teachers be supported in developing their skills in modelling learning through an apprenticeship approach?
  • How can teachers be encouraged to exhibit their own high level skills to motivate and encourage learners?2.

Introduction

In February 2005 the Magdala in Ashfield team which consisted of members of the management teams from three schools in the Ashfield area; The Sutton Centre Community College, The Kirkby Centre, now a specialist sports college and Ashfield School; the Arts Development worker for Ashfield District Council and members of the Magdala Trust met to plan a project which they had titled ‘From Voice to Choice.’ The Magdala Trust work through opera to engage young people in new ways of learning.

The aims of the project were

1. To promote social inclusion and regeneration through widening participation in creative arts

2. To enable participants to discover new ways of learning to learn within the school curriculum

3. To promote economic regeneration by raising self esteem and aspirations through creative thinking and enterprise skills

4. To bring communities together by generating sustainable partnerships

5. To construct, implement and research a model of creative learning in both formal and informal contexts, informing both personal and professional development

6. To evaluate and share findings of this innovative model nationally and internationally

A team from NottinghamTrentUniversity were engaged to carry out the evaluation described in objective 6. At this time the team consisted of Professor Morwenna Griffiths (Professor of Educational Research); Dr Tony Cotton (Principal Lecturer in Education) and David Needham (Senior Lecturer in Business Education). The final evaluation was carried out and written by Tony Cotton with Morwenna Griffiths and David Needham acting as a critical review panel.

The process was also monitored by a steering group consisting of the Magdala in Ashfield team which met twice during the research. The evaluation took place between March 14th 2005 and March 31st 2006.

The evaluation report outlines the range of contexts within which the project was developed, describes the philosophy underpinning the research and describes the research process. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 outline the findings in each of the three schools as well as detailing the process within each school. Chapter 7 then draws these findings together to offer conclusions which can be developed by analysing and synthesising the findings from each school.

Context

This project takes place in the context of an increasing influence of creativity within educational settings. Creative Partnerships are having an impact on the educational experience of young people within formal education and there is some discussion of the impact of creativity in the research literature. Anna Reid and Peter Petocz[1] have suggested that creative teaching can be seen as a way of encouraging students,

to see the essence as well as the detail of the subject, to formulate and solve problems, to see the connectedness between diverse areas, to take in and react to new ideas (Reid and Petocz 2004: 45)

This can be seen to link to project aims 2 and 3.

The following section sets the context for both the project and its evaluation. The information describing the schools is taken from the most recent Ofsted inspection reports on the schools. Full copies of these reports are available at The information on The Magdala Opera Trust is taken from its website

Magdala Opera Trust

Magdala Opera Trust describes itself as a unique community-based musical organisation. It provides opportunities for adults and young people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to discover their creative and vocal ability through the power of opera. Their stated objectives are the provision of opportunities to realise and develop creative skills in an environment (domestic and scholastic) where those opportunities would not otherwise be present. Magdala had previously offered workshops to one of the schools involved in the ‘Voice to Choice’ project and was selected for this project as there stated aims closely met the objectives of ‘Voice to Choice.’

The three schools involved in the project are

The HolgateComprehensiveSchool

Holgate is an 11-18 comprehensive school and has 1463 pupils on roll of which there are 129 students in the sixth form. There are slightly more boys than girls on roll. It is situated in Hucknall, adjacent to the north-western boundary of Nottingham. Most pupils come from the area between the school and the city centre, which is below average in terms of social and economic measures when compared to the national average. The school population is almost entirely white (British/European) and English is the first language for almost all pupils.

Pupils join the school in Year 7 with below average standards in English, Mathematics and Science. The percentage of pupils identified as having special educational needs is above average. Just over half the pupils continue into post-16 education. It is a similar picture at the end of Year 13 with many continuing into higher education.

During the period of planning and running the ‘Voice to Choice’ project the school went through a period of considerable upheaval. An Ofsted Inspection in November 2004 placed the school in Special Measures and this resulted in considerable staff turn over including members of the ‘Voice to Choice’ team.

2 groups of 25 students were initially involved in the project. One group attended the workshops during school time and the other after school. This format was abandoned as the attendance of the after school group was very poor. The teachers suggested that it was not in the ‘local culture’ for children to attend after school activities. This is interesting as one of the other schools in the study has a well established culture of offering ‘11th session’, which allows and expects students to attend a range of activities after school. This school seems to have more success in students attending beyond the traditional school day.

The two teachers supporting the workshops carried out case studies of 6 children. These children were selected to represent the range of children attending the sessions. These were primarily students who were not engaging with the traditional curriculum alongside a group taken from the Gifted and Talented group. The teachers described the membership of the workshops as 1/3 Gifted and Talented, 1/3 students who exhibited challenging behaviour in the classroom and 1/3 students with attendance problems.

The members of this case study group were to be observed by the teachers and interviewed before the workshops. They were also interviewed by the researcher from NTU after the workshops.

This group was then replaced with a group who volunteered to work through a process leading to the final performance to ensure a high standard of performance. This was felt to be important to the school as good publicity was essential whilst the school was under intense media scrutiny following an inspection which had placed it in special measures.

SuttonCentreCommunity College

SuttonCentreCommunity College is an average-sized comprehensive community college of 957 girls and boys aged 11 to 18. The college draws students mainly from the town of Sutton-in-Ashfield, an area which includes much economic and social deprivation. More students want to come to Sutton Centre than there are places for. A very low number of students (four) are from minority ethnic groups and even fewer speak English as an additional language.

The proportion of students on the special educational needs register, including those who have a statement of special educational need, is above average at 30 per cent. The proportion of students qualifying for free college meals (nearly 23 per cent) is also above average. The profile of students’ attainment on entry to the college is very low compared to the national average. The college occupies a town centre site and shares a number of its facilities with other services. Many adults learn alongside students during the day and in extended evening sessions. The numbers of students who join and leave the college other than at the usual times are high, with 49 students joining and 54 leaving in the last college year.

The very real commitment of the college to community education has fostered very good relationships and has contributed strongly to the very good learning ethos that is leading to rapidly

improved standards in most areas of the curriculum. The governing body is totally committed to maintaining this ethos and securing improvement which has won the support of the parents.

The group of students experiencing the workshop at the Sutton Centre opted for the workshops as a part of anon timetabled week during which all students could select experiences which would not normally be available to them. This group contained students across years 7 – 11. Some of the students had worked with Magdala before as they had run workshops at the Sutton Centre previously. The staff also had experience of the Magdala process.

KirkbyCollege

KirkbyCollege is a mixed 11 to 18 comprehensive college in Kirkby in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. The number of students on roll is below the national average with 745 on roll, including 54 sixth formers. The vast majority of students are of White British heritage. Most of its students come from areas which face significant social and economic deprivation. The number of students entitled to free school meals is high. The academic standards of students on entry to the school tend to be very low with literacy levels particularly low. The proportion of students with learning difficulties and disabilities is well above average but the number of students with a statement of special needs is below average. Mobility of students is well above the national average. The college was granted specialist SportsCollege status in 2005.

The group of students who worked with Magdala at The Kirkby Centre were all members of a single tutor group in year 9.

Aims of the evaluation

The evaluation aimed to enable participants to discover new ways of learning to learn within the school curriculum through teacher-led action research with each school, with each teacher researcher developing their own questions in consultation with the team from NottinghamTrentUniversity. The themes and findings from the three schools would then be shared, evaluated and analysed, and reported to a range of audiences.

A second aim of the evaluation was to construct, implement and research a model of creative learning in both formal and informal contexts, informing both personal and professional development. Finally the evaluation report would be used to share findings of this innovative model nationally and internationally.

The Nottingham Trent University Team had previously undertaken an evaluation of the apprenticeship model of the learning which takes place in creative practice when creative practitioners work alongside teachers in school[2]. This research noted that many children at risk of exclusion were able to achieve more and reach greater levels of independence. This finding resonated with aim 1 of the Voice to Choice project and gave the team the opportunity to explore the impact of creative practice on the learning and engagement of learners at risk of exclusion in a new context.

In his thematic review ‘Pupil voice: purpose, power and the possibilities for democratic schooling’, Andrew Noyes[3] suggested that an important thrust in any activity focused on pupil voice is the shift from working ‘on’ young people, to working ‘with’ these same young learners. The evaluation process aimed to privilege the voice of the young people in the evaluation process through extended interviews before and after the workshops and the final performance. One of the teachers suggested that a valuable part of the evaluation was

the space and time to talk to the students. We never normally have the time to talk to the students about how they are feeling. I learnt things that I have never known about them even though I have been teaching them for 4 years.

A final aim of the evaluation was that the evaluation process itself would allow the three schools to learn from each other. As each school was engaged with Magdala at different times in the school year the ongoing evaluation could be fed back between the schools. This allowed them to draw on best practice and developing ideas as the project progressed.

3. The Research Process

The evaluation followed an action research model. It employed collaborative, participatory, and self-study methods. Using an action-research methodology had the added benefit of contributing to the aims of the project, since it involved all the participants in developing the resulting theory-and-practice, making it more likely that they would continue to use it by giving them ownership of both the research process and the outcomes.

The research was conducted by the participants themselves – teachers in collaboration with each other – supported and mentored by the team from NottinghamTrentUniversity, with the research team being responsible for synthesising the research into a single report. Teachers were encouraged to work collaboratively with other staff and their students. In this sense they carried out a piece of ‘self-study’[4] in that they investigated their own practice and its effects, investigating themselves as, in Jack Whitehead’s useful phrase, ‘living contradictions, living out one’s values’[5]. Self-study action-research has evolved methods which enable it to be used by busy, initially untrained practitioners who learn to research ‘on the job’, continually refining their understanding and skills during the process. Particularly relevant to this project, such methods included creative processes in data collection, analysis and presentation.