XI NIS International Research-to-Practice Conference

Inspirational Speakers

International Speakers

Colleen McLaughlin

Director of Education Innovation at the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Professor Colleen McLaughlin is Director of Education Innovation and leader of the Educational Reform and Innovation team, She has held various leadership roles: Head of Department at the University of Sussex and Deputy Head of Faculty at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education. 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; counseling in schools; and aspects of personal, social and emotional development in schools. Support for international educational reform is 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.

XI NIS International Research-to-Practice Conference, 24-25 October 2019: Keynote Speech

Taking the contribution of teachers seriously in policy and practice

It is now oft quoted and accepted that teachers are the most important factor in the quality of education for young people. What does that mean? What are the implications for policy, practice and ways of working? What are the different models of working with teachers that we see in action and theory? This input will look at existing research evidence, including research in Kazakhstan, to explore these questions in more depth. It will also explore the challenges and dilemmas of putting the rhetoric to work. It will also critique some of the approaches which appear only to pay lip service to the idea of taking teachers seriously.

XI NIS International Research-to-Practice Conference, 24-25 October 2019: Keynote Speech

Translation and Continuity of Educational Innovations in the Secondary Education System of Kazakhstan

The process of systematic modernisation of the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in Kazakhstan has been studied by the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education team in collaboration with Nazarbayev University and Nazarbayev Intellectual schools since 2012. This symposium presents three case studies conducted in 2019 in central and southern Kazakhstan and Nur-Sultan of the modernisation in different regions of Kazakhstan, as well as some more general data. It draws on the data collected in 2016-2019 as part of a series of mixed-method studies examining the perspectives and attitudes of schoolteachers, school principals and other stakeholders towards the implementation of novel features of the primary and secondary education curriculum and assessment practices in Kazakhstan. Data were collected in April 2016, September 2017, April and May 2018, and April 2019. Methods used were interviews and focus groups with principals, teachers and students. There were also surveys administered to teachers in pilot and some mainstream schools. The research questions covered six aspects of the reform: 1. how the aims of the initiative were understood and being met; 2. views of the content of the new curriculum; 3. changes in teaching practices; 4. new model of assessment; 5. professional support and resources; 6. introduction of the trilingual policy. The symposium will explore key findings of the study across these six areas and will argue for the central role of the teacher in implementing systematic educational change.