case study critical friend

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The role of the critical friend in leadership and school improvement

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This exploratory case study, arising from a longitudinal project into the establishment of a new secondary school in New Zealand, examines reflective practice through critical friend roles among staff. The paper describes, through the lens of Bourdieu's logic of practice, the implementation of a critical friendship approach linked to the school leaders’ vision and aim regarding learning within open classroom spaces as part of a modern learning environment. Reflective practice involves critiquing, rethinking and reframing existing professional practices, often through a critical friendship approach among school staff within a fostered collaborative and open culture. The researchers interviewed six participants (four leaders and two teachers), observed how the teaching and learning took place in the new open classroom spaces, and reviewed blog posts and the school's website. Findings reveal that critical friendship, as a way to develop staff cohesion, is fostered and supported by the school leaders’ vision and actions, while the physical geography of the new classroom spaces, and the redesign of learning, also make this easier to enact. Staff cohesion, trust and openness to peer scrutiny are hallmark of this emerging school culture. These emerging findings provide some insights into how one new school culture develops cohesion with its stated vision and mission.

School Leadership & Management, 2008

International Journal of Education

Education contexts engaging in reform, operate in complex environments that require the coherent implementation of education policies. Research highlights that systems that support shared leadership, strong communication practices and a sharp focus on the articulation of shared beliefs, are positioned to support strong policy interpretation though the enactment of school improvement strategies. This paper explores the inter-connected roles of a system middle leader (regional Project Officer) and a school leader (Principal) in interpreting and enacting systemic policy and direction in a state primary school within a regional context in Queensland, Australia. The case study utilised the regional Project Officer and Principal participants as co-researchers and captured their experiences through recorded narratives and narrative inquiry conversations. The thematic data analysis provides useful information about how school leaders can work with system middle leaders and their own school’...

Educational Action Research, 2020

There is a growing body of action research on school improvement and development. Many of these studies have found the use of critical friendship valuable in relation to teachers’ or principals’ practice. Yet, little attention has been paid to critical friendship at the school district level. This study explores how a superintendent and three principals changed their understandings through interaction with a critical friend. It draws on reflective conversations, written reflections and observations of meetings between the participants, and is framed within practical action research aimed at changing the participants’ understandings. We found that through a trust-building process the critical friend acted as a catalyst for systematic reflections, helping leaders to set aside time and space to reflect. This has contributed to new ways of talking and thinking and has enhanced the leaders’ system thinking.

When it comes to improving schools, context always matters (Murphy, 2013, p. 260). School leaders are “masters at brokering” (Murphy, 2013, p. 259) change. These changes are usually through the transfer of programs, interventions, and structures that worked elsewhere and pay little regard to the conditions and context that made them work (Murphy, 2013). School improvement reform will require “substantive systemic change” (Adelman & Taylor, 2007, p. 55) that considers the “current culture of schools and intended school improvements” (Adelman & Taylor, 2007, p. 56). This study will use a qualitative, multiple case-study methodology, a semi-structured interview protocol, and a document review to identify how school leaders in five, accredited high or mid-high poverty Virginia middle schools both identified and provided resources to address barriers to student learning. The instrumentation tool for this study was based on the learning or enabling components of the Adelman and Taylor imp...

This article begins by presenting four main positions on the leadership in education territory: critical, humanistic, instrumental and scientific. It is argued that the current generic and globalised model of transformational leadership is rooted in the latter two positions and is the preferred model within government policy in England. The article then goes on to focus on the knowledge claims underpinning critical approaches by firstly, exploring the concerns raised about transformational leadership; and, secondly, examining alternative approaches to leadership theory and practice. In particular, emphasis is put on how the epistemology of research and theorising in critical work is inclusive of practice, connects practice with the processes of democratisation, and so opens up possibilities for teacher, student and community leadership as an educative relationship.

International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 2021

The main aim of this paper was to investigate the factors affecting the effectiveness of peer leadership training offered to peer leaders to enhance the provision of psychosocial support to vulnerable learners in schools in Amathole West Education District, South Africa. The previous research in other countries have shown that many of these training programmes lacks institutional frameworks that makes it necessary for effective peer leadership training. This Training in peer leadership programmes in schools is noteworthy. A qualitative approach and a case study research design was used to investigate the effectiveness of the orientation training given to peer leaders in schools. Semi-structured interviews were used as the main data collection tools. Four secondary schools were purposively selected. A sample size of 26 participants comprising of 4 LO teachers, 4 School Principals, 16 peer leaders, 1 District Official and 1 Learner Support Agent was used. Data was analysed using a thematic approach. The major findings revealed that the training programme for peer leaders was flawed and inadequate to cover the psychosocial support curriculum. The study concluded that the current training for peer leaders was weak and did not produce competent peer leaders. The study recommended that peer leaders should continuously be given training in different aspects of psychosocial support provision throughout the year and LSAs and LO teachers should be offered separate training as coordinators of school programmes. Lastly, peer leadership training curriculum should be reviewed to match the ongoing social transformation in schools and the programme should be allocated with a functional budget.

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Background/Context: This study builds upon research on teacher professional communities and high school restructuring reforms. It employs a conceptual framework that draws upon theories of "community of practice" and "community of learners." Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study analyzes how teachers' professional inquiry communities at the high school level constitute a resource for school reform and instructional improvement. Setting: This research focused on a reforming, comprehensive urban public high school with site-based management. Population/Participants/ Subjects: This study investigates the practices of six school-based oral inquiry groups known as Critical Friends Groups (CFGs), which were selected as cases of mature professional communities. Twenty-five teachers and administrators participated as informants. Research Design: This research involved a video-based, qualitative case study. Data Collection and Analysis: Data included observations of CFG meetings, interviews with teachers and administrators, and document collection. Analysis entailed coding with qualitative software, development of analytic cross-CFG meta-matrices, discourse analytic techniques, and joint viewing of video records with informants. Findings/Results: The author explores four particular design features of CFGs-their diverse menu of activities, their decentralized structure, their interdisciplinary membership,

Improving Schools, 2008

Many of our schools are situated in communities characterised by high levels of disadvantage, presenting a range of challenges. One possible response is to acknowledge this disadvantage and to try to address some of the problems it raises for students. Another is for the school to be proactive, recognising the challenges faced by the community and taking a lead in bringing about change. Part of a larger research project, this paper explores the extraordinary leadership role of Prospect Road State School (a pseudonym) in bringing change to a multiply disadvantaged community though collaborative action with other agencies and creative approaches to bringing people together. This school's experiences and achievement illustrate what may be possible when school leadership proactively sets out to improve a community described by the principal as being 'in crisis'. The experiences explored indicate ways of rethinking the relationship between school and disadvantaged communityof working synergistically with others to make a significant difference.

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Home > Journals > Active Journals > IJ-SoTL > Vol. 13 (2019) > No. 1

“How am I going to handle the situation?” The Role(s) of Reflective Practice and Critical Friend Groups in Secondary Teacher Education

James R. Carlson , University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Follow

This qualitative study was designed as a single-case study of a small, public, teacher education program in the Midwest. The author conducted a study on the perceived role of a “critical friends group” (CFG) in the development of beginning secondary teacher candidates’ understandings and practices of reflective practice. Three main types of data, including course assignments, participant interviews, and observations were collected and analyzed. Findings from three (3) focal participants reveal characteristics of reflective teaching from the reviewed literature observed within and across the cases examined here. The perceived importance of the CFG varied on a case-by-case basis, with some experiencing the CFG as friendly, but mostly uncritical, and others remaining indifferent to the arrangement. Additionally, the author elaborates on three broad lessons learned and reinforced through the investigation into the local, including: 1) Critical reflection can and does occur in beginning TCs’ practice, 2) CFGs led to informative learning, but not transformative learning, and 3) Designating a group “critical friends” is neither a guarantee of critical thinking or friendship.

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Recommended citation.

Carlson, James R. (2019) "“How am I going to handle the situation?” The Role(s) of Reflective Practice and Critical Friend Groups in Secondary Teacher Education," International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning : Vol. 13: No. 1, Article 12. Available at: https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2019.130112

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https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2019.130112

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