Abstract
Many developed countries around the globe have a single minded aim of raising the educational standards of their academic institutions. Different countries have adopted different strategies to achieve this aim and UK has categorically requested for high levels of Central Government Intervention. Schools with low academic attainment have been subjected to central government intervention and have therefore been forced to improve their existing standards through a blend of pressure and support. According to one policy, all schools within the system were supposed to achieve a uniform minimum standard as per the academic performance. Those that failed to meet the predetermined guidelines came to be known as schools facing challenging circumstances.
Improve the environment
In order to improvise and academic institution, you need to first try and improve its infrastructural set up. In a recently conducted study in the schools in the UK, which were apparently located in poor surrounding, it was found that they had fairly low levels of infrastructural facilities. Majority of the schools had poor physical structures, wherein the windows often leaked, the glasses were broken, the furniture was covered in graffiti and the corridors were covered with litter.
The first step was to improve the environment wherein the staff and teachers worked. Paint and repair work, allocation of new furniture, addition of a new furniture area, allocation of display boards and refurbishment of the staffrooms were some of the few features that were adopted by the low level schools in UK. Besides, litter was removed and the students and staff members were given the task of removing graffiti from the walls. The strategy was aimed at instilling the lost confidence in students, teachers and the parents, by clearly stating that their school was changing for the better (Christopher & Alma, 2004).
Building trust
Lack of trust amongst staff and students was also considered as an important factor which led schools on a steady downslide. For staff, opportunities to work together, as a team, attend social events and indulge in staff development activities, were looked on as an important tool for trust building, while for the students, activities such as committees, student’s councils, after hour clubs and organized trips were initiated for team building. Likewise, even the parents needed to be invited and made to interact with the staff members as well as the students alike. Due to this, the existing barrier between the staff, the students as well as the parents were broken down and the school was allowed to develop in a natural manner (Howard et al., 2004)
Focused teaching and learning
If a school is to function in accordance to the changing times, it needs to adopt a methodology, which clearly states that the goals should be minimum whereas the focus is clearly maintained. By making use of student initiated and student directed activities, schools can hope to improve their existing academic standards. At the same time, effective teaching strategies and approaches were adhered to by the staff members so as to maintain focused learning at all levels. Structured lessons, curriculum delivery in small packages and rapid feedback were also initiated in the overall development process (Howard et al., 2004).
Community building and professional development
In a bid to develop the overall standards of schools, the school administration decided to build links with the community by allowing parents to interact with staff members and the students alike. They were then asked to valuate the resources offered by the schools besides providing their personal feedbacks for improvising the existing standards of the institutions. Schools that were engaged in experiments and fostered continuous improvement through enquiry into existing practices were capable of improving for the better (Eric, 2008)
Pedagogy and the uniform policies
There have often been concerns regarding the recent research work that has been invested in assessing the overall benefit in the field of pedagogy. Researches have shown that the last ten years have been rather problematic in terms of the quality and effectiveness of doctoral supervision in postgraduate supervision.
With the increase in the overall enrollments in universities, a more proactive and timely approach towards completions of assignments was considered essential to remove the documented levels of student dissatisfaction. In order to achieve better quality, completion rates and students satisfaction, it was essential that the student supervisor relationship was based on trust, responsiveness and flexibility rather than the rule of law. Constructivist pedagogy is not created and not received and it is socially constructed and mediated by discourse rather than talk (Barbara, 2009).
In order to achieve success through this methodology, it is vitally important that methodologies which encourage participants to connect between theoretical ideas and their daily practices should be advocated. For example, students should be asked to write cases of their practices and personal experiences, which should then be presented in front of the entire class. The case studies are then studied, analyzed and then connected to the relevant literature, with the focus always relying on the actual constituents of the case (Barbara, 2009).
References
Barbara, A. (2009). PhD pedagogy and the changing knowledge landscapes of universities.. Higher Education Research & Development, 28(2).171-175.
Christopher, C., & Alma, H. (2004). Improving schools in difficult and challenging contexts: Strategies for improvement. Educational Research, 46(3),219-225.
Eric, K. (2008). South central: But woes complicate colleges’ attempts to improve achievement. Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(1), 75-78.
Howard et al. (2004). Positive behavioral interventions and supports in New Hampshire: Preliminary results of a statewide system for implementing schoolwide discipline practices. Education & Treatment of Children, 27(4), 455-465.
Lily, O. (2005). Cracks in the iceberg: surfacing the tensions of constructivist pedagogy in the context of mentoring. Teachers & Teaching, 11(3), 295-305.