Brave Hearts, Bold Minds
The Scots College Research Office
  • About
    • Our story
    • Our team
    • Undertaking Research at Scots
  • News
    • Blog
    • Research Bites
  • Projects
    • Experiential Education
    • Action Research
    • Indigenous Education
    • Faith and Learning
    • Staff Research
  • Programs
    • ScotsIdeas
    • The Clark Lecture Series
    • Scots Conferences
    • Professional Learning Opportunities
  • Publications
    • Scots Research Papers
    • Scots Research Reports
    • The Scots Dictionary of Biography
    • Reading List
    • Links

Announcing the Character Leaders in Education National Symposium 2022

10/3/2022

 
Picture
In partnership with The Scots College, The University of Notre Dame Australia and a School for tomorrow., we are excited to announce the Character Leaders in Education National Symposium 2022.

Building on years of research and engagement with schools around Australia and globally, the Symposium will bring Principals and leaders of character education in conversation with world-class researchers, including Harvard's Nancy Hill (President of the Society for Research in Child Development), and philosopher Professor Christian Miller (one of the world’s most prolific character education researchers).

Featuring more than 9 masterclasses, an exclusive symposium dinner, and profiles of leading character education work in Australian schools, this is a unique opportunity to think and network at the cutting edge of research and practice in human formation and explore being part of some exciting projects.

With 60 places available, and tickets selling quickly, register now to avoid missing out!

26-27 May 2022
Sydney, Australia

Find out more and register now at www.characterleaders.net

AARE Conference Presentation on 'Research-Invested Schools'

3/12/2021

 
Picture
“...teachers and principals are cast as technicians who have the technical skills to implement the ideas of others but not the professional expertise to engage in the exciting task of theorizing and designing curriculum” Reid, A. (2019) Changing Australian Education.

Research-Invested Schools (of which there are over 30 in Australia) are challenging this story in new and compelling ways.

Dr Caitlin Munday and I enjoyed presenting on this yesterday at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference with Prof Peter Twining, Prof Allyson Holbrook, and Dr Carl Leonard (University of Newcastle).

We will soon publish short pieces on Research-Invested Schools in Teacher ACER magazine and EduResearch Matters (the blog of Australian Association for Research in Education). And we look forward to some exciting research and collaboration among research-invested schools in the year ahead.

See below our abstract:
​
It is no longer especially novel to think of schools as sites of research, or to hear calls for teachers to be ‘research-engaged’ or ‘research-informed’ professionals. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers require all teachers to ‘structure teaching programs using research and collegial advice about how students learn’, and ‘engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities’. It is well recognised that practitioner research is an effective way to enhance professional learning and cultivate a climate of experimentation and review.  In addition, Government-backed education research institutes devoted to influencing policy and practice have proliferated in recent years, among them the Education Endowment Foundation in the UK, the What Works Clearinghouse in the US, and the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. The Gonski 2.0 Report recommended creating a national evidence and research institute, and with $50 million of federal seed funding, the Australian research education Organisation launched early in 2021, while the Q Project located at Monash University seeks to understand the use of evidence in Australian schools. Alongside these top-down approaches, a bottom-up movement is also in evidence as schools increasingly strive to embed ‘research-informed practice’ as a key part of their professional learning and improvement agendas. In the last 7 years, more than 30 Australian schools have either established a research centre or institute of some description or appointed a ‘research lead’ to explicitly focus on research. This paper seeks to distinguish the characteristics of this group of what we have termed ‘research-invested’ schools, where research engagement and the professional growth research skills development and knowledge creation affords become embedded in school goals and institutional identity. The paper traces the growth of this phenomenon and how research-invested schools have evolved within the increasingly fluid landscape of research development and training in Australia.

Teachers as Experts, Not Technicians

19/11/2021

 
PictureScots teachers undertaking higher degrees (Masters and PhDs) by research share their progress at the recent termly ‘PhD coffee club’.


​In the past week, you may have noticed two long-running education debates resurfacing on the lips of politicians and the pages of the popular press, raising questions about how to best ‘do school’. Their concern involves both what students are taught (the curriculum) and how they are taught (the pedagogy). The first is about teaching history, and specifically the approach teachers should take in addressing western civilisation’s good and bad aspects. Please read a very fine analysis from Dr David Hastie, one of our key lecturers in the Teaching Schools Alliance Sydney here.


The second is about teaching reading, and whether this is best done through phonics (systematically teaching words through their composite sounds and parts) versus whole-language teaching (teaching words in the context of sentences). There are many other debates in education – some new, some very old. Yet what is common to most debates is the subtext that to fix education, we need to be told ‘what works’ by academics and policymakers out there, beyond the school, and be held accountable for implementing it. It is as though teachers are fundamentally technicians, and if we can just refine their technique, then of course good outcomes will follow.


At Scots, we want to challenge this notion that teachers are merely technicians who ‘deliver the curriculum’ and reclaim a regard for their experience and expertise in the noble vocation of human formation. We have outstanding teachers at Scots who do not just deliver the curriculum but debate it; who do not just implement a pedagogy but adapt it to their context. Moreover, we are encouraging teachers to not only consume knowledge produced elsewhere, but to play their part in creating it through original research.


One aspect of this vision for reinventing the professional regard of teachers is encouraging further engagement in research. All our teachers are, to some degree, engaged in research through our Teaching for Character Program. In the program, teams design, implement and evaluate a new approach to teaching that deliberately develops one of our graduate qualities, such as creativity or service. Read more about it here. Over the years we have also seen a small number of staff undertake higher degrees by research (Masters and PhDs) connected to and supported by the College. This is a long and hard journey, but one that transforms the way teachers think about themselves and their roles as leaders in educational thought and practice.


This week our staff ‘PhD coffee club’ met online to share progress on various research projects. We celebrated the newly-minted PhD of Learning Enrichment Teacher, Dr Caroline Basckin, whose thesis explored ‘Evidence-based practices for students with special educational needs’. Coordinator of Student Experience, Mr Jeff Mann, shared his current focus on leading a global team to write a systematic review of research in outdoor education. Visual Arts Teacher, Mr Michael Whittington, reflected on a paper he is writing for his PhD about how COVID-19 has reshaped blended learning in the visual arts. Director of Cricket, Mr Greg Clarence, shared the exciting news of his submission to commence a PhD at The University of Notre Dame Australia, exploring how character can best be formed through sport. And Technology and Applied Studies Teacher, Ms Yogi Sewani, is at the point of inviting parents from the College to participate in her master’s research about cultural influences on parental perspectives of learning support – a project comparing Taiwanese and Australian parents. Read more about their projects and those of other staff here.


In October, we held a gathering of over 25 leaders in such schools around Australia to explore this phenomenon of schools taking ownership of building a research culture. Next week, I will be co-presenting a paper at the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference entitled Accelerating Evolution? The rise of research-invested schools, in concert with my Scots colleague Dr Caitlin Munday (who also serves as Director of the Teaching Schools Alliance Sydney) and our partners at The University of Newcastle, Professors Peter Twining and Professor Allyson Holbrook.


Read more about our approach to research here. We look forward to sharing more, in the coming weeks, about how Scots is leading the way in repositioning schools – and teachers – as research leaders, not just passive consumers.

Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning


Scots named among most innovative schools in Australia

10/11/2021

 
‘The Educator's’ 5-Star Innovative Schools list for 2021 has included in the top 30 (of 150 schools), The Scots College. This acknowledges the work of our inspiring staff at all campuses. 

Here's what they said:

The Scots College is one of Australia’s oldest and most respected Presbyterian boys’ schools, located in Sydney, that defends the honourable traditions, adventures and learning of boys. We exist to inspire boys to learn, lead and serve as they strive for excellence together.


The Scots College is committed to grow Scots boys who are ready for a future yet to be imagined. Scots boys are offered programs designed to inspire them to strive to their full potential and equip them for the world of tomorrow. The heart of the Scots’ innovation engine is the Patribus Initiative model – building expert communities of knowledge practice and formation in five key areas: character and care; experiential education; design thinking and creativity; mind, body and spirit; and entrepreneurship and social leadership. Beyond its outstanding academic, sporting and co-curricular results, Scots is changing the way education happens.


Scots staff are invited to be part of a dynamic learning community through our extensive professional learning programs directed by The Scots College Research Office. These include: ‘Teaching for Character’ program, the Master Teacher Mentoring Program, our Leadership Program, a capstone service learning experience (such as co-teaching in a school in Vanuatu), bespoke cohort-based coursework and research degree pathways in partnership with leading universities, and exposure to leading education thinkers from Australia and around the world.

Thinking about character education in boys' schools

30/4/2020

 
Our critical friend, Dr Phil Cummins, shares some of the findings from a major International Boys' Schools Coalition research project on the nature of character education in schools for boys, of which Scots was a key participant.

Character Education at Scots from The Scots College on Vimeo.

Why ‘the system’ doesn’t work for boys: ScotsIdeas with character and relationships expert Dr Rob Loe

16/3/2020

 
Picture
The popular ScotsIdeas program of ‘compelling conversations in education’ is back for 2020 with more engaging, relevant and thoughtful voices to help you bring out the best in boys. On 24 February, a sold-out audience of parents and staff enjoyed a compelling conversation about the science and character of relationships in schools.

Dr Rob Loe, former teacher, senior leader and leading academic in the measurement and management of human relationships as CEO of the Relationships Foundation, spoke lucidly about why relationships matter and why we don’t understand them as well as we should. In an age obsessed with social networks, he called for schools and families to invest in ‘relational networks’. ‘Relationships are not about how well you like people, but how well you know them,’ and the foundation for flourishing individuals, communities and nations.

How can we build deeper relational networks in schools? Drawing on ground-breaking research with tens of thousands of school students, teachers and parents around the world, he showed the protective impact of good relationships, and how great schools invest seriously in creating belonging. Four key strategies for improving relationships in schools included:
  1. Developing students’ awareness of unity over diversity
  2. Exploit synchrony, those routines and habits that enculturate, such as uniforms, chapel and assembly
  3. Create healthy competition among teams and not individuals
  4. Instil in students an awe for something larger than themselves

See below for a full recording of Dr Loe's talk.

Why 'the system' doesn't work for boys | ScotsIdeas with Dr Robert Loe | February 2020 from The Scots College on Vimeo.

Scots hosts boys' educators from around the world for experiential learning conference

31/7/2018

 
Over the first two weeks of the July school holidays, the College was involved in running and attending major conferences of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition. The IBSC brings together over 280 schools around the world to share research and practice in the educating of boys. The Principal has, for some years, been a Trustee of the IBSC, and since July 2017 has chaired its Research Committee (which also involves Scots Research staff Dr Hugh Chilton and Dr Caitlin Munday). As of July 2018, the Principal was elected the IBSC’s Vice-President  for Australasia, further cementing the desire for the College, in the words of our vision statement, to be ‘recognised globally as a leading, caring school for boys’.

IBSC Annual Conference

The 25th IBSC Annual Conference took place at The Southport School on the Gold Coast 8-11 July. It featured over 600 delegates from some 14 countries. Taking advantage of the proximity of this year’s conference and the opportunity to expose our staff to the world, we sent a delegation of 43 staff, selected from across our campuses and from executive, teaching and support teams. Scots staff gave 6 presentations, including a Featured Speaker session on research and innovation in boys’ schools in conjunction with Eton College and St Christopher’s School. Science Teacher Nick Little won the Action Research Award, the top in his global cohort, for his year-long study of how boys learn in our Graeme Clark Centre activity-based learning environments. He has since been asked to speak on the topic at a major conference in Melbourne. Staff who attended the program were effusive in their reflections on the ideas and inspiration this gave them for their work at the College. 
​
​

IBSC Pre-Conference Adventures: ‘Ventures and Adventures in the Real World: Educating boys experientially’
As a boost to the Annual Conference and an opportunity to show delegates the College’s programs and the Australian environment, we organised a 3-day experiential learning program at Glengarry, Bannockburn and Bellevue Hill. We had around 60 delegates from leading schools in the US, UK, Canada, South Africa, India, China and Peru. They engaged in a range of activities and sessions built around our experiential approach to teaching and learning, as well as our 5 Patribus Initiatives. Leading thinkers spoke to the guests, such as Jason Pellegrino, Old Boy and MD of Google Australia/New Zealand, on entrepreneurship, and Prof Kees Dorst (UTS) on design thinking and creativity. A highlights video of the conference can be seen here. This program provided a unique opportunity to share and build on the world-class work of our staff, and provide a new model of professional learning for future IBSC conferences. One attendee had this to say about Scots: 

“Not only is your school outstanding, but the way you present yourselves to the outside world, especially those of us from outside Australia, is a genuine inspiration.”

Professor John Stackhouse in residence at Scots

27/7/2017

 
Picture
Over the past two weeks, the College has been privileged to host eminent Christian scholar, Professor John Stackhouse Jr, Samuel J Mikolaski Professor of Religious Studies and Dean of Faculty Development at Crandall University, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Professor Stackhouse began his visit by speaking to all staff with nuance and grace, about the importance of 'vocation', or 'calling' to 'make shalom' and 'make disciples' in our work as a learning community. He explored this notion of vocation in more depth in seminars with each of the Senior School faculties, helping staff make the connections between what we teach (i.e. the subject), how we teach (i.e. the discipline and the pedagogy) and why we teach (i.e. our worldview and values). He also worked with Prep staff on the nature of the A Fine Scots Boy! The Positive Behavioural Plan and its connections to our Brave Hearts Bold Minds philosophy.

In sharing his own story with students at Senior School Assembly and House Chapels, Professor Stackhouse called for a greater epistemic humility - being aware of what we don't know or might have wrong - and an attention not just to our achievements but to our character. Such themes will be followed up in a special ScotsIdeas forum on 'Being a (Good) Man', this Thursday 27 July at 6:00pm. Professor Stackhouse's visit concludes with keynote addresses on Christian leadership at this weekend's Scots Leadership Program retreat, which involves a cohort of 20 staff, who have successfully won a place in this custom-designed 18 month training program.

It is a privilege to be in a learning community which draws on exceptional thinkers like Professor Stackhouse, reflecting our commitment to being recognised globally as a leading, caring school for boys. We look forward, in Weeks 4 and 5, to welcoming our annual Clark Distinguished Professorial Fellow, Professor David Smith from Calvin College, to speak on 'The World We Think We Live In: Schooling and Christian Imagination'. For more details and to register for the Clark Lecture, please click here: http://www.clarklectures.org/.

Australia's leading mental health expert Professor Ian Hickie AM at ScotsIdeas

24/3/2017

 

ScotsIdeas: Beyond Mental Health with Professor Ian Hickie AM from imageseven on Vimeo.

"Countries must learn how to capitalise on their citizens' cognitive resources if they are to prosper, both economically and socially. Early interventions will be key."

Quoting a recent publication in Nature, eminent thinker Professor Ian Hickie AM opened our recent ScotsIdeas forum, Beyond Mental Health, with this provocation. As he explored the unique developmental differences between individual young people, and the value and importance of 'kin' - networks of relationships within communities who are invested in that individual's care and flourishing - it was the nature of such interventions that characterised much of his subsequent discussion. As those in attendance will testify, the evening offered an important and timely exchange of ideas about the ways we can best care for the social and emotional wellbeing of our young men.


The video of Professor Hickie's presentation is now available online - please click here to view it in full. It was a true privilege to have such world class thinkers contributing to our knowledge and practice as a College community, particularly as we look to create the first of our five Patribus Centres, focusing on the character and care of fine young men.


Be sure to visit scotsresearch.org/scotsideas to watch videos of past forums on topics ranging from sustainability to speechmaking, sports science to the art of motivating boys. We look forward to seeing you at future ScotsIdeas events in 2017.


Dr Caitlin Munday
Research Fellow (Professional Learning)

Early Learning Centre Action Research with Macquarie University

18/11/2016

 
Picture
In very large schools like Scots with boys from ages three through to 18, there can be the perception that most of the deep reflection on educational practice takes place in the Senior School, when things 'get serious'. When you look at the Early Learning Centre, however, that assumption could not be further from the truth. Under the leadership of Mrs Gaye Entwistle, the ELC has built a rigorous, reflection-rich professional culture, seeking to provide the best experiential education for our youngest boys in a critical stage of their development. That culture was on display this week as each full-time teacher presented the fruits of their action research on developing a philosophy for the ELC that integrates the best of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood formation. This project was conducted as part of a joint study with the Early Childhood Education team at Macquarie University. Mrs Entwistle explained the process of collaboration between academics, teachers, boys and families, the questions teachers explored, and the fruit of this research in enriching practice:

A focus group of families and boys were given opportunity to meet with the lecturers to discuss the heart of the Centre. What was the evident practice that made the Centre unique? How was the impact of the reflective Reggio Emilia practice part of the Centre's philosophy?

Each teacher then chose an action research question and became part of a practitioner inquiry to research the question in their class. The research was diverse and was refined over a year as small groups and teachers refined their thinking and saw evidence of change in their practice. Data was collected, practice changed and re-evaluation in teams and classes meant at the final presentation of the work, teachers had not only found some answers but continued with a further question or line of inquiry. Many felt it had finished with a new beginning. Shared ideas and experiences have provoked new directions with year levels and teams reexamining documentation, classroom designs, furniture, small group combinations and programs.

Parent participation has given us a great collection of ideas and information to rebuild our website and to offer different ways of communicating our learning while reinforcing the much loved portfolios and celebration materials we currently share.

Questions explored included:

Gaye Entwistle
What starts aggressive play in the playground?
Kindergarten

Deborah McMurtrie
How does the outside environment impact learning?
Cubs

Kitty Joson
How do we normalise IT in the Lions program?
Lions

Christa Sheaffe
Do parents value/understand our practice or do they think we should be more formal?
Lions

Kathy Gibson
How can I prioritise reading skills and strategies during guided reading time?
Kindergarten

Markie Calle
What strategies impact phonetic development in the EALD boys?

Sam Nealson
How do we build a class community?
Kindergarten

Sarah Jane Marmion
Can problem solving maths strategies be productive in low skill sets?
Year 1

Adelaide Brown
How can I utilise the best class arrangement with boy's voices to build community?
Year 1

Penny Ryder
What impact is fidgeting having on learning?
Year 1

Kate Stoddard
How can I encourage a student voice in curating the class displays?
Year 1


The research confirmed our list of essential philosophy components in the Centre.
  • The agency of the child is paramount.
  • Knowing the child deeply is the beginning to growing.
  • Choice of the child is heard.
  • Voice of the child in the environment of the room and Centre, in documentation and celebrations of learning is important for connection and comprehension.
  • The environment must be a place of provocation to learning both beautiful and engaging.
  • The experience of play is needed to reinforce and consolidate learning in a social, linguistic and physical domains.
  • The environment is the third teacher.
  • The differentiation of the program to meet the child's needs is foundational to design of programs.
  • Connection and community are important for a sense of belonging, confidence and respect.
  • All boys can contribute to learning.

These key points will now become the basis for our document outlining the philosophy for the Centre. We are not a Reggio Emilia 'all of us thinking a bit differently about it' school. We are The Scots College and we do Early Childhood Education this way. We seek to reflect world's best practice, influences and research, in an Australian context.
<<Previous

    Recent News

    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All
    Arts And Design
    Boys' Education
    Character And Care
    Clark Lectures
    Experiential Education
    Faith And Learning
    Great Teachers
    History And Heritage
    IBSC
    Innovation
    Literacy
    Motivation And Engagement
    Pedagogy
    Professional Learning
    Pyschology
    Research
    Research Bite
    Research Centre
    ScotsIdeas
    Sports Science
    Staff Research
    Universities
    Wellbeing And Mental Health

    RSS Feed

Picture
Locked Bag 5001 
Bellevue Hill
NSW 2023, AUSTRALIA

research@tsc.nsw.edu.au
tsc.nsw.edu.au
+61 2 9391 7600
CRICOS Provider Code: 02287G
All rights reserved  
© The Scots College 2021