This month, members of the Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change from the School of Education at the University of Glasgow team travelled to Vina del Mar, Chile, for the 2023 International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI).
Chris Chapman with Carmen Montecinos and Jim Spillane, ICSEI’s president elect.
This is the first face-to-face Congress since Morocco 2020 and involved more than 600 researchers, policymakers and practitioners from over 50 countries around the globe. During the pandemic, ICSEI held two very successful virtual congresses in partnership with the Norwegian-based LearnLab. However, participants were delighted to return to an in-person format to share findings, experiences and learning generated during a challenging period.
The overall theme for this year’s congress was educational systems learning under challenging circumstances: Global Perspectives, Collaboration and Local Solutions for Reimagining Schooling.
Adjusting to a new reality
Chile, like the rest of the world, has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. It forced the entire population to adjust to a new reality in which work, study, and all daily interactions took place virtually, often under strict lockdown and social isolation.
The impact of school closures in various countries, including Chile, are beginning to be better understood, and approaches and associated interventions designed to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on children and young people are being implemented across the globe.
An important part of the work of the Congress is to share and explore ideas and evidence-based approaches to support the generation of students that had their schooling interrupted by the pandemic.
The ROC team delivered a symposium at the Congress highlighting their design-based implementation research on system change across 66 educational establishments in an urban school district. The model for change, involving a novel Research-Practice Partnership, is underpinned by building leadership capacity, developing an inquiring stance and supporting authentic collaboration with, between and beyond organisations to build a ‘Networked Learning System’ that works across professional, organisational and geographical boundaries.
Widespread awareness
Now entering its second year, achievements include:
- Widespread awareness of the strategy and what it aims to achieve across the education system
- All schools and nurseries have established one or more school inquiry group (SIG)
- These groups have used collaborative action research to identify and address barriers to the presence, participation, and progress of some of their pupils
- Education officers and university research team members collaborated to support these school-led improvement efforts.
- A series of events has been organised to provide assistance and advice to key players in the field.
Professor Chris Chapman, ICSEI President and PI of programme, said: “We’re delighted that we will be able to share our work with a global audience at this year’s ICSEI congress. After the events of the past two years, it has been wonderful to welcome educational researchers, policymakers and practitioners to reflect on recent experiences and share the learning from a most difficult time for children and young people and those working to support their learning and development.”
In addition to the Congress, Chris Chapman has been Visiting Professor at PUCV, Chile, working with colleagues on a range of collaborative projects.
Chris and Professor Mel Ainscow also keynoted at the Inclusive Education Summer School in Chile and met with policymakers and the Chilean Minister for Education to share ideas and experiences about supporting inclusive and equitable change across education systems.