Collaboration and networking have recently come to the fore as major school improvement strategies in a number of countries. A variety of initiatives, from government and other agencies, have encouraged collaboration and led to a lot of practical activity in this area. However, at present there are no texts in education that explore collaboration and networking from both a theoretical and practical perspective. In this book, we aim to provide a theoretical background to educational collaboration, drawing on research and theory in policy studies, psychology and sociology, leading ultimately to a typology of networks. This theoretical base will be tested in the discussion of a number of case studies referring to specific initiatives such as the Federations programme, multi-agency collaboration and Networked Learning Communities. Lessons for practice will be drawn and presented in terms of factors internal and external to the school. The key issue of network leadership will be addressed here as well.

Focusing on what can be done to promote equity within education systems, what the barriers to progress are and how these barriers might be overcome, this book provides detailed examples of strategies that have proved to be effective in addressing this challenge. Built on the work of the authors over the last three decades, the book presents an approach to educational change that will be relevant to different countries. The authors argue that there is untapped potential for promoting progress towards greater equity within schools and the communities they serve. They also show how this potential can be mobilised by using forms of collaborative action research to stimulate the development of more inclusive ways of working. Central to this approach is the use of evidence collected by practitioners with the support of university researchers, drawing on the human resources that are there in every school. Grounded in research, evidence and experience in the field, this book is ideal reading for a wide audience of practitioners and policy makers globally, including senior staff in schools, as well as post-graduate students, researchers and academics who are focusing on educational improvement.

Focusing on what can be done to promote equity within education systems, what the barriers to progress are and how these barriers might be overcome, this book provides detailed examples of strategies that have proved to be effective in addressing this challenge. Built on the work of the authors over the last three decades, the book presents an approach to educational change that will be relevant to different countries. The authors argue that there is untapped potential for promoting progress towards greater equity within schools and the communities they serve. They also show how this potential can be mobilised by using forms of collaborative action research to stimulate the development of more inclusive ways of working. Central to this approach is the use of evidence collected by practitioners with the support of university researchers, drawing on the human resources that are there in every school. Grounded in research, evidence and experience in the field, this book is ideal reading for a wide audience of practitioners and policy makers globally, including senior staff in schools, as well as post-graduate students, researchers and academics who are focusing on educational improvement.

Around the world, countries are searching for ways of making their schools more effective for all children and young people. This book offers a new way of thinking about how to address this challenge. It sees improvement as requiring a collective effort that involves contributions from all members of a school community. Crucial to this is the idea of ethical leadership. Promoting Equity in Schools is written by a team of academic researchers who had a most unusual opportunity to work with a network of schools over three years, experimenting to find more effective ways of including hard-to-reach learners. Bringing together practitioner knowledge and ideas from research carried out from a variety of perspectives, the authors provide rich accounts of what happened when the schools attempted to become more inclusive and fairer. In so doing, they throw light on the challenges this presents for school leaders. The accounts presented in the book are located in Queensland, Australia, where the school system faces significant difficulties in relation to equity that resonate with similar difficulties around the world. These difficulties relate to policies that emphasise high-stakes testing and school choice, which tend to promote increased segregation, to the particular disadvantage of young people from low-income and minority backgrounds. The arguments presented suggest that even where worrying policies are in place, schools with leadership driven by a commitment to equity can still find space to develop more equitable ways of working.

The aim of this book is to consider how schools and LEAs can develop inclusive policies and practices for students who experience a range of difficulties in learning or behavior. It highlights debates and contradictions about the realities of inclusion and suggests ways in which practice can move forward. The contributors look at key areas of development in special and inclusive education and considers ways in which the latest research can inform practice. Areas covered include promoting inclusion for all; how to make sense of the Code of Practice SEN Thresholds; working with Teaching Assistants; new approaches to counseling and pastoral care in schools; including pupils with EBD; how nurture groups are helping inclusive practice; making education inclusive for pupils with sensory disabilities; including pupils with specific learning difficulties; and preparing students for an inclusive society. The book will be of particular interest to teachers, LEA support staff, educational psychologists and related professionals who face the challenge of meeting the needs of a diverse population within an inclusive framework. it will also be of relevance for students in further and higher education, and their tutors.

In the World Library of Educationalists series, international experts compile career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, major theoretical and practical contributions - so the world can read them in a single manageable volume. Readers will be able to follow the themes and strands and see how their work contributes to the development of the field. Spanning Mel Ainscow's accomplished 30 year international career in education, the texts in this book trace his efforts to find ways of fostering more equitable forms of education. This has involved a series of struggles as he has experimented with different approaches - in a variety of contexts - to find new possibilities for responding to learner diversity. Over the years this has related to a variety of headline themes, starting from special education, through to integration, on to inclusive education, and then, more recently, educational equity. The readings have been chosen to illustrate the changes that have occurred in Ainscow's thinking and practices and a short introduction is provided for each chapter that is intended to help readers to understand the significance of what is presented and how this relates to other chapters in the book. The writings in this text reinforce the idea that the promotion of equity in schools is essentially a social process that has to occur within particular contexts.

Despite consistent improvements in the school systems of over recent years, there are still too many children who miss out. It is not only children from disadvantaged backgrounds attending hard-pressed urban schools that the system is failing - even in the most successful schools there are often groups of learners whose experience of schooling is less than equitable. As a result of their close involvement with a group of schools serving a predominantly working-class community over five years, the authors of this book offer an analysis of how marginalisation within schools can arise, and provide suggestions for responding to this crucial policy agenda. They propose a teacher-led inquiry strategy that has proved to be effective in moving forward thinking and practice within individual schools. However, their research has shown that using the same strategy for system change is problematic within a policy context that emphasises competition and choice. Learning from this experience, the authors analyse the factors that inhibit the collaborative approach needed to reduce inequities that exist between the schools, in order to formulate proposals that can move the system as a whole towards more equitable provision. In Developing Equitable Education Systems, the authors focus on the way teachers' sense of 'fairness' can become a powerful starting point, helping individual schools to inquire into and develop their own practice and provision. They provide practical suggestions for practitioners about ways of working that can create a greater sense of equity within particular school contexts, and highlight the barriers to a wider strategy for reducing system inequities that reside in local and national policies and traditions. At a time when government policies in many countries move to extend the diversity of educational provision - for example, through the introduction of charter schools in the USA, free schools in Sweden and academies in England - the authors also include a set of recommendations that offer a timely warning against the fragmentation of school systems in the misguided belief that competition benefits all children. They suggest that a more sensible approach would be to avoid situations whereby the improvement of one school leads to a decline in the resources available to, and subsequently the performance of, others.

Despite the efforts that have been made to bring about improvements in schools, some children and young people remain marginal by current arrangements. The development of more inclusive schools remains one of the biggest challenges facing education systems throughout the world. However, inclusion remains a complex and controversial issue, and the development of inclusive practices in schools is not well understood.
Improving Schools, Developing Inclusion uses evidence from in-depth research to provide new insights as to how this important agenda should be addressed. The authors challenge many existing assumptions about school improvement and educational reform, and propose that the development of inclusive practices will only be achieved by engaging in dialogue about the deeply held beliefs of teachers and policy makers. In so doing, they provide a new way of thinking about how schools can be made more inclusive.
The approach to inclusive development recommended in the book has major implications for policy and practice in the field. It looks at:
- Implications for the work of school leaders
- How staff teams work can together in order to address barriers to participation and learning
- How schools can collect and use evidence in order to strengthen their practices
- The sorts of critical and alternative perspectives to which schools need access
- The implications for relationships between schools, local authorities and researchers
At a time when policy-makers and practitioners are searching for more effective ways of responding to student diversity, this challenging book offers powerful messages as to what needs to be done to move schools in a more inclusivedirection.

Despite the efforts that have been made to bring about improvements in schools, some children and young people remain marginal by current arrangements. The development of more inclusive schools remains one of the biggest challenges facing education systems throughout the world. However, inclusion remains a complex and controversial issue, and the development of inclusive practices in schools is not well understood.
Improving Schools, Developing Inclusion uses evidence from in-depth research to provide new insights as to how this important agenda should be addressed. The authors challenge many existing assumptions about school improvement and educational reform, and propose that the development of inclusive practices will only be achieved by engaging in dialogue about the deeply held beliefs of teachers and policy makers. In so doing, they provide a new way of thinking about how schools can be made more inclusive.
The approach to inclusive development recommended in the book has major implications for policy and practice in the field. It looks at:
- Implications for the work of school leaders
- How staff teams work can together in order to address barriers to participation and learning
- How schools can collect and use evidence in order to strengthen their practices
- The sorts of critical and alternative perspectives to which schools need access
- The implications for relationships between schools, local authorities and researchers
At a time when policy-makers and practitioners are searching for more effective ways of responding to student diversity, this challenging book offers powerful messages as to what needs to be done to move schools in a more inclusivedirection.

The aim of this book is to consider how schools and LEAs can develop inclusive policies and practices for students who experience a range of difficulties in learning or behavior. it highlights debates and contradictions about the realities of inclusion and suggests ways in which practice can move forward. The contributors look at key areas of development in special and inclusive education and considers ways in which the latest research can inform practice.
Areas covered include promoting inclusion for all; how to make sense of the Code of Practice SEN Thresholds; working with Teaching Assistants; new approaches to counseling and pastoral care in schools; including pupils with EBD; how nurture groups are helping inclusive practice; making education inclusive for pupils with sensory disabilities; including pupils with specific learning difficulties; and preparing students for an inclusive society.
The book will be of particular interest to teachers, LEA support staff, educational psychologists and related professionals who face the challenge of meeting the needs of a diverse population within an inclusive framework. it will also be of relevance for students in further and higher education, and their tutors.

Based on the field-tested approach of the Cambridge "Improving the Quality of Education For All" project (IQEA), this handbook includes a wide range of staff development activities, readings and photocopiable proformas to enable schools to implement their own improvement projects. The book should assist schools embarking on their own journey of school improvement and developing action plans as a consequence of school inspections.;This second edition has been extended to include recent evidence and examples from the IQEA project. Increased involvement with school in different contexts and different countries has expanded the evidence base concerning IQEA's impact and effectiveness. Consequently, this book offers an updated view of the project and places it within the contemporary context of school reform and change.

The current emphasis on individualised intervention programmes for students with special needs may not only be impractical, but also undesirable. This book compares and contrasts special needs approaches with school effectiveness strategies. The author sets out theories about inclusive schooling that arise out of a detailed scrutiny of practice. The link between theory and practice will be welcomed by many practitioners. With extensive examples from the field to illustrate Ainscow's ideas, this is an eminently accessible text.

The current emphasis on individualised intervention programmes for students with special needs may not only be impractical, but also undesirable. This book compares and contrasts special needs approaches with school effectiveness strategies. The author sets out theories about inclusive schooling that arise out of a detailed scrutiny of practice. The link between theory and practice will be welcomed by many practitioners. With extensive examples from the field to illustrate Ainscow's ideas, this is an eminently accessible text.

Around the world, countries are searching for ways of making their schools more effective for all children and young people. This book offers a new way of thinking about how to address this challenge. It sees improvement as requiring a collective effort that involves contributions from all members of a school community. Crucial to this is the idea of ethical leadership. Promoting Equity in Schools is written by a team of academic researchers who had a most unusual opportunity to work with a network of schools over three years, experimenting to find more effective ways of including hard to reach learners. Bringing together practitioner knowledge and ideas from research carried out from a variety of perspectives, the authors provide rich accounts of what happened when the schools attempted to become more inclusive and fairer. In so doing, they throw light on the challenges this presents for school leaders. The accounts presented in the book are located in Queensland, Australia, where the school system faces significant difficulties in relation to equity that resonate with similar difficulties around the world. These difficulties relate to policies that emphasize high-stakes testing and school choice, which tend to promote increased segregation, to the particular disadvantage of young people from low income and minority backgrounds. The arguments presented suggest that even where worrying policies are in place, with leadership driven by a commitment to equity, schools can still find space to develop more equitable ways of working.

First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

As countries seek to develop their education systems, achieving sustainable improvements amongst students from disadvantaged backgrounds remains a major challenge. This has considerable implications for those in the research community as they seek to influence developments in the field. Drawing on the authors' extensive experiences as researchers, policy advisers and influencers, Changing Education Systems offers key insights on how to promote equity within education systems. Exploring three large-scale national reform programmes, the book: Presents a series of propositions that are the basis of a research-based approach to system change Explains the creation of relationships in which academic researchers collaborate in the process of development Considers smaller place-based projects that are set within policy contexts dominated by the idea of market forces as a strategy for improvement Explores the steps needed to overcome locally specific barriers Changing Education Systems is a must-read for policy-makers and practitioners involved in educational reforms, as well as researchers wishing to contribute to and learn from such developments.

In the World Library of Educationalists series, international experts compile career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, major theoretical and practical contributions - so the world can read them in a single manageable volume. Readers will be able to follow the themes and strands and see how their work contributes to the development of the field. Spanning Mel Ainscow's accomplished 30 year international career in education, the texts in this book trace his efforts to find ways of fostering more equitable forms of education. This has involved a series of struggles as he has experimented with different approaches - in a variety of contexts - to find new possibilities for responding to learner diversity. Over the years this has related to a variety of headline themes, starting from special education, through to integration, on to inclusive education, and then, more recently, educational equity. The readings have been chosen to illustrate the changes that have occurred in Ainscow's thinking and practices and a short introduction is provided for each chapter that is intended to help readers to understand the significance of what is presented and how this relates to other chapters in the book. The writings in this text reinforce the idea that the promotion of equity in schools is essentially a social process that has to occur within particular contexts.

As countries seek to develop their education systems, achieving sustainable improvements amongst students from disadvantaged backgrounds remains a major challenge. This has considerable implications for those in the research community as they seek to influence developments in the field. Drawing on the authors' extensive experiences as researchers, policy advisers and influencers, Changing Education Systems offers key insights on how to promote equity within education systems. Exploring three large-scale national reform programmes, the book: Presents a series of propositions that are the basis of a research-based approach to system change Explains the creation of relationships in which academic researchers collaborate in the process of development Considers smaller place-based projects that are set within policy contexts dominated by the idea of market forces as a strategy for improvement Explores the steps needed to overcome locally specific barriers Changing Education Systems is a must-read for policy-makers and practitioners involved in educational reforms, as well as researchers wishing to contribute to and learn from such developments.

Over recent years, education systems across the globe have experimented with the concept of the autonomous school. This takes a variety of forms and the schools involved have different titles, such as charter schools in the USA, academies in England, free schools in Sweden and independent public schools in Australia. As this radical trend in policy gains momentum, Inside the Autonomous School considers whether the model is achieving its desired aims. Drawing on evidence from an in-depth, longitudinal study of an academy located in an urban district in England, this book traces the various developments which took place in the school on its journey from 'failing', to achieving an inspection rating of 'outstanding'. The authors present a rich, first-hand account of the impacts that various policies and practices have had on the autonomous school and at the same time, situate their accounts and analyses within a wider national and international context. This leads them to consider what can be done to ensure that school autonomy consistently promotes excellence and equity within education systems. A fascinating read and invaluable resource for practitioners, researchers and policy makers in the field of education, Inside the Autonomous School sheds much needed light on an increasingly established policy which is set to have far-reaching effects.

Collaboration and networking have recently come to the fore as major school improvement strategies in a number of countries. A variety of initiatives, from government and other agencies, have encouraged collaboration and led to a lot of practical activity in this area. However, at present there are no texts in education that explore collaboration and networking from both a theoretical and practical perspective. In this book, we aim to provide a theoretical background to educational collaboration, drawing on research and theory in policy studies, psychology and sociology, leading ultimately to a typology of networks. This theoretical base will be tested in the discussion of a number of case studies referring to specific initiatives such as the Federations programme, multi-agency collaboration and Networked Learning Communities. Lessons for practice will be drawn and presented in terms of factors internal and external to the school. The key issue of network leadership will be addressed here as well.

Despite consistent improvements in the school systems of over recent years, there are still too many children who miss out. It is not only children from disadvantaged backgrounds attending hard-pressed urban schools that the system is failing - even in the most successful schools there are often groups of learners whose experience of schooling is less than equitable. As a result of their close involvement with a group of schools serving a predominantly working-class community over five years, the authors of this book offer an analysis of how marginalisation within schools can arise, and provide suggestions for responding to this crucial policy agenda. They propose a teacher-led inquiry strategy that has proved to be effective in moving forward thinking and practice within individual schools. However, their research has shown that using the same strategy for system change is problematic within a policy context that emphasises competition and choice. Learning from this experience, the authors analyse the factors that inhibit the collaborative approach needed to reduce inequities that exist between the schools, in order to formulate proposals that can move the system as a whole towards more equitable provision. In Developing Equitable Education Systems, the authors focus on the way teachers' sense of 'fairness' can become a powerful starting point, helping individual schools to inquire into and develop their own practice and provision. They provide practical suggestions for practitioners about ways of working that can create a greater sense of equity within particular school contexts, and highlight the barriers to a wider strategy for reducing system inequities that reside in local and national policies and traditions. At a time when government policies in many countries move to extend the diversity of educational provision - for example, through the introduction of charter schools in the USA, free schools in Sweden and academies in England - the authors also include a set of recommendations that offer a timely warning against the fragmentation of school systems in the misguided belief that competition benefits all children. They suggest that a more sensible approach would be to avoid situations whereby the improvement of one school leads to a decline in the resources available to, and subsequently the performance of, others.

Responding to Diversity in Schools provides guidance for education practitioners on how to use an inquiry-based approach in responding to learner diversity. It supports readers in addressing an agenda for change, considering questions such as: Who are the learners who are missing out? What evidence do we need in order to understand the barriers faced by these learners? How can we analyse this evidence in order to find effective ways of moving forward? How do we involve others in this process? Responding to Diversity in Schools sets out to encourage innovation in schools, challenge existing assumptions and practices, and promote critical reflection. The contributing authors explain how to use a wide range of research methods, including visual methods that can be used to gather the views of children and young people. In addition, the book provides illustrative examples of innovative approaches to doing research with children, teachers and parents in schools. Written in a clear, direct style that addresses the types of concerns facing teachers on a daily basis, this book offers both practical guidance on responding to the challenge of diversity and inclusion from an inquiry-based learning perspective, and a range of detailed worked examples from schools. It will support individual practitioners and staff teams working on school development issues, as well as tutors wishing to use inquiry-based approaches within workshops and courses. It will also benefit post-graduate students who are focusing on inclusion, diversity, school development and leadership.

Responding to Diversity in Schools provides guidance for education practitioners on how to use an inquiry-based approach in responding to learner diversity. It supports readers in addressing an agenda for change, considering questions such as:

• Who are the learners who are missing out?
• What evidence do we need in order to understand the barriers faced by these learners?
• How can we analyse this evidence in order to find effective ways of moving forward?
• How do we involve others in this process?

Responding to Diversity in Schools sets out to encourage innovation in schools, challenge existing assumptions and practices, and promote critical reflection. The contributing authors explain how to use a wide range of research methods, including visual methods that can be used to gather the views of children and young people. In addition, the book provides illustrative examples of innovative approaches to doing research with children, teachers and parents in schools.

Written in a clear, direct style that addresses the types of concerns facing teachers on a daily basis, this book offers both practical guidance on responding to the challenge of diversity and inclusion from an inquiry-based learning perspective, and a range of detailed worked examples from schools. It will support individual practitioners and staff teams working on school development issues, as well as tutors wishing to use inquiry-based approaches within workshops and courses. It will also benefit post-graduate students who are focusing on inclusion, diversity, school development and leadership.

In this comparative study, an international team of researchers from eight countries develop case-studies which explore the processes of inclusion and exclusion within a school or group of schools in a local and national context. The book's topics include classroom observation and students' experiences of the school day, and it contains interviews with staff, students, parents and school governors. Through a juxtaposition of the case-studies and commentaries on them, differences of perspective within and between countries are revealed and analyzed. The book draws attention to the problems of translation of practice across cultures. The editors start from an assumption of diversity of perspective which, like the diversity of students within schools, can be viewed as problematic or as a resource to be recognized and celebrated.

Over recent years, education systems across the globe have experimented with the concept of the autonomous school. This takes a variety of forms and the schools involved have different titles, such as charter schools in the USA, academies in England, free schools in Sweden and independent public schools in Australia. As this radical trend in policy gains momentum, Inside the Autonomous School considers whether the model is achieving its desired aims. Drawing on evidence from an in-depth, longitudinal study of an academy located in an urban district in England, this book traces the various developments which took place in the school on its journey from 'failing', to achieving an inspection rating of 'outstanding'. The authors present a rich, first-hand account of the impacts that various policies and practices have had on the autonomous school and at the same time, situate their accounts and analyses within a wider national and international context. This leads them to consider what can be done to ensure that school autonomy consistently promotes excellence and equity within education systems. A fascinating read and invaluable resource for practitioners, researchers and policy makers in the field of education, Inside the Autonomous School sheds much needed light on an increasingly established policy which is set to have far-reaching effects.