Wilson, Jan (2004) A study of school improvement : understanding the processes and outcomes of planned pedagogical improvement in independent preparatory schools. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis describes the processes and outcomes of planned pedagogical
improvement in a group of independent preparatory schools. It is an ethnographic
investigation of these schools, which were researched and reported as multiple
composite case studies.
The research focuses upon two unusual and different aspects of school improvement.
Firstly, a central theme of the study is the importance of the dynamic between
improvement in classroom practice and the concomitant modification to school
organisational arrangements.T he cases tudiesi nvestigate the essenceo f the
mteractional processes that the schools experienced during implementing a process of
pedagogical improvement, and as a result, a model is proposed to suggest a possible
way of understanding the school improvement processes in these schools. Secondly,
the research has been undertaken in the independent primary (preparatory) sector,
where there has been little research undertaken and a dearth of literature that is useful
and relevant to the culture of these schools specifically.
The thesis examines and analysest he constraints,p roblems and successesth at the
schools faced; and in particular considers individual and organisational capacity
building, the stages that the teachers and schools moved through, the processes,
consequences and outcomes and whether the pedagogical improvements could be
sustained.
The writer presents an empirical model of the process and argues that the evidence
could be related, in a meaningful way, to other independent preparatory schools.
The outcomes of the evidence appears to indicate that effective pedagogical
improvement processes, that focus on modifying classroom practice and improving
children's achievement, can be strategies for educational change; which can lead to
adaptations and improvements within the organisational management arrangements,
systems and controls within the school to support teaching and learning.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Preparatory schools -- Great Britain, School improvement programs -- Great Britain
Official Date:	June 2004
Dates:	Date Event June 2004 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Institute of Education
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Hopkins, Stephen ; Harris, Alma, 1958-
Extent:	372 p.

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