Next Practice in Communities for Learning

• Background
• 1: Identifying, developing and maximising the skills of pupils and students to enhance learning
• 2: Identifying, developing and maximising the skills of those in school support roles to enhance student learning
• 3: Identifying, developing and maximising skills available within the local community and beyond to enhance student learning
• Current activity and project timeline
• Resources and practice
• Find out more

Background

In this project, which was formerly called 'Using the whole community to enhance learning', we want to look beyond workforce remodelling and begin to identify Next Practice ideas which consider new sources of support for children's learning - within and beyond the school. In particular, we are interested in:

• understanding how a remodelled workforce can further improve the quality of children's learning;
• exploring the implications of these new ways of working for the professional role and responsibilities of teachers.

The Innovation Unit is working closely with the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) to deliver this project.

Find out more about the work of TDA.

We have selected three strands or domains to structure this project, derived from approaches that have emerged from workforce remodelling and which have the potential to strengthen students' learning. In each case we will be asking what strategies, skills and expertise teachers will need in order to utilise this extended workforce and have identified possible examples from other professions where that may be able to inform our thinking.

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1: Identifying, developing and maximising the skills of pupils and students to enhance learning

Focus: In what new and effective ways can pupils and students themselves learn while supporting the learning of others and what does this mean for teaching?

Part of the project focus will be to consider what insights we can draw from other examples, whether formal learning or informal sharing of knowledge and skills of young people, from outside of school, e.g.

• youth activities including activity centres;
• scouting and guiding;
• use of emerging technologies such as instant messaging, peer-to-peer file swapping and gaming (networking to develop game playing strategies).

What insights can we draw from informal or formal examples involving adults, e.g.

• self-help groups run by and for people who share a common problem or experience and are increasingly acknowledged as playing an important part in health and community care;
• buddying arrangements found in ante-natal groups where there is the space to compare notes, share worries, get and give support to others who'll know exactly what you're going through;
• investment clubs, where everything is shared including decision-making, financial knowledge and responsibility;
• Special Interest Groups, e.g. in consulting firms where members share best practices, ideas and information and develop networks to develop thinking and solve problems in areas that interest them.

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2: Identifying, developing and maximising the skills of those in school support roles to enhance student learning

Focus: How might teachers, building on what has been achieved under workforce changes so far, work with school-based support and other staff to further enhance student learning across schools and communities in innovative, aligned and sustainable ways?

Part of the project focus will be to consider what insights we can draw from other sectors or different educational settings, e.g.

• the deployment of specialist experts and civilian support staff in the police service;
• how the range of roles within primary health care teams are managed;
• the Serious Fraud Office, where cases are allocated to a multi-disciplinary team comprising lawyers, financial investigators, police officers, IT and other support staff. The team is led by a case controller, an experienced lawyer, who is responsible for all aspects of the investigation and for any ensuing prosecution;
• Apple Retail's strategy of configuring and staffing its retail stores to more closely reflect customer learning needs with experts on site and access to user groups;
• the use of pharmacy technicians, dispensers, medicines counter assistants and pharmacists by Boots. All have a specific role to play and differing levels of expertise and all are available for consultation by customers according to context of query.
• e-learning facilitators who enable (head)teachers to learn together in NCSL's talk2learn community.

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3: Identifying, developing and maximising skills available within the local community and beyond to enhance student learning

Focus: How can teachers work with the local and wider community, both within schools and in out-of-school contexts, to draw in new influences and strategies that enhance student learning and how can they do so in a systematic, aligned and sustainable way?

Part of the project focus will be to consider what insights we can draw from other sectors and educational settings, e.g.

• The Bromley by Bow Health Centre in East London which enlists the skills of its patients, using them as a resource for others. As a result, patients can be referred for exercise and gardening on prescription; the elderly can become part of the 'Young at Arts' project; or join one of the many classes that include computing, printing, stained glass and woodwork. There are over 100 different projects in the health centre.
• Microsoft employing anthropologists to better its understanding of how people use computers and technology;
• Creative Partnerships' work on building sustainable partnerships between schools and the arts and creative sectors;
• B&Q's experience of recruiting older people (i.e. non-traditional retail staff) with life experience and knowledge of DIY to enhance customer service, their research showed "some customers feel more comfortable talking to older members of staff about more complex DIY projects as they naturally feel they have more 'life' experience".

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Current activity and project timeline

The project has been running since March 2006 and it will soon be working with leading practitioners in the 'creative and generative' stage of the Next Practice process.

Are you seeking to enhance learning through the innovative deployment and engagement of others within or outside the school community?

If so, and you would like to work with us towards the development of Next Practice in this area, then we would like to hear from you, with a view to working together through our creative events.

If you're interested, please e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Resources and practice

In order to inform the development of Next Practice in this area, we have scanned the available research, in this country and abroad, for interesting current practice.

We have also connected with current examples of practice both through literature review and direct engagement with leading practitioners.

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Find out more

We are establishing communities of interest associated with all the Next Practice projects. If you would like to register and receive regular updates and opportunities to engage with this work, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it stating your position, organisation and which of the projects you are interested in, e.g. leadership, personalisation or whole community.

You can engage in live discussions about all of the Next Practice projects via the Innovation Community in talk2Learn.

If you have any specific queries about any aspect of this Next Practice project, please e-mail the Next Practice Communities for Learning team at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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