Sue Swaffield and Louis Major led a two-day research capacity building workshop for colleagues from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana, funded by the Cambridge-Africa Alborada Research Fund, with matched support from the Commonwealth Centre for Education (CCE).

They introduced the participatory monitoring and evaluation approach known as 'Most Significant Change' (MSC) technique to the thirteen participants, who will now go on to use the MSC technique in partnership with a number of schools in the field. MSC was contextualised to the CCE's/UCC's Leadership for Learning (LfL) Ghana initiative established in 2009. Sue and Louis also visited several LfL schools during the trip, and held discussions with potential users of a mobile phone-based system intended to support the continued expansion of the LfL Ghana programme.

Desmond Cox (left), MEd student on the Educational Leadership and School Improvement route 2011-2013, was presented with the Erika Lovelady prize by Dr Alex Alexandrou, one of the prize trustees. It was awarded in recognition of the quality of his thesis “Vertical or Horizontal? A study into the reorganisation of form groups in three schools”. Desmond chose to donate the prize money to “Honeypot”, a children’s charity that works to enhance the lives of vulnerable children and young carers aged 5-12 years by providing respite breaks and on-going outreach support. Desmond proudly retains an engraved medal and certificate, and said he was “honoured, humbled…. and bowled over!”
 
Applications to start the ELSI route in October 2014, co-ordinated by Sue Swaffield, are currently being considered. More details
 

LfL are delighted to be hosting colleagues from the Jagiellonian University and Centre for Education Development in February working on a two-year project developing a continuous professional development system for school headteachers. They will be working closely with Sue Swaffield and David Frost and also spending time with colleagues working in schools in the region.

You're invited to create opportunities with like-minded people interested in education, to take the lead, share practice, discover new ideas, network and be inspired during the course of one CPD-fuelled evening. Anyone can get involved, share great ideas they've trialled in their schools, ask important questions or simply sign up to take part in discussions about the teaching and learning process. The twist with an #SLTeachMeet is that all talks will be leadership-themed. You do not have to be in an SLT/SMT to attend.

4.30pm (refreshments & informal networking)
5pm (presentations start)
Donald McIntyre Building, Faculty of Education.
All welcome. Free to attend.
More information/to sign up

Four Lecturers

The Faculty of Education is seeking to appoint four innovative, research-active lecturers to join this leading international centre of teacher development and educational research.

The Faculty is committed to the highest standards of teaching and research and is a significant contributor to the improvement of educational policy and practice in partnership with schools and other educational agencies both in the UK and internationally.

Further information about the posts is available on the University's Job Opportunities website (see links below) where applications can be made online.

Unestablished Lecturer in Leadership for Learning (fixed-term, 0.6 fte)

University Lecturer in Children's Literature and Education
University Lecturer in Psychology and Education
University Lecturer in Sociology of Education