NIS International Research-to-Practice Conference

Inspirational Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Colleen McLaughlin

Prof. Colleen McLaughlin is Director of Educational innovation at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education in United Kingdom.

Prof. McLaughlin was at the University of Sussex where she was Head of Department for three years. Prior to that she was at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education where she was Deputy Head of Faculty. She taught in secondary schools and worked as an advisor in a local education authority before coming to the then Institute of Education in 1985. Her recent research has focused on wellbeing in schools (for the Welsh Government and the Nuffield Foundation); relationships in schools; sexuality and HIV related education in Africa (for the Commonwealth Centre for Education); bullying and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities; counselling in schools; and aspects of personal, social and emotional development in schools. Support for international educational reform is also now a major area of work. She has been involved as an advisor to governments and NGOs on the personal and social dimensions of schooling.

VIII NIS International Conference, 27-28 October 2016: Keynote Speech

Teachers matter: the role of teachers in reform and scaling up

Educators and policy makers realise, and research clearly demonstrates, that the most significant in-school factor affecting student achievement, in school success, and in the quality of a nation’s educational system is the quality of teaching. The role of teachers is therefore centre stage in any attempts to change systems or develop practices in schools. This presentation explores international research on the topic but also examines some recent small-scale research that suggests that curriculum reform also has the potential to address some key issues such as teachers’ sense of professionalism, motivation and identity. The need to keep teachers at the centre of reform and scaling will be argued for and the challenges in doing so identified, as well as the tensions between the needs of teachers and the needs of policy makers. In this presentation, Prof. McLaughlin will draw upon 2016 collaborative research undertaken in Kazakhstan by Nazarbayev University, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools Research Department and the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education into the pilot schools adoption of the new reforms. References Darling-Hammond L, Rothman R (2011) Teacher and leader effectiveness in high-performing education systems, Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education and Stanford, CA: Stanford Centre for Opportunity Policy in Education.