EQI researchers present at AERA 2018

EQI researchers present at AERA 2018

EQI Researchers Prof Joe O’Hara and Dr. Martin Brown presented a paper as part of an international seminar entitled  Accountability of Educational Networks: New Avenues to Improve Public Education. Organised by Dr. Melanie Ehren of UCL Institute of Education the seminar brought together reseaarchers and scholars from Scotland, Chile, Ireland and England to discuss issues relating to evaluation, accountability and network governance.

In their paper entitled ‘ The beginning of the end of quiescence: The possibilities and conditions necessary for polycentric evaluation’ reported on ongoing research into systems of inspection and network governance that have been developed in West Belfast over the past decade. This work, which formed part of the recently completed Polycentric Inspection in Networks of Schools (PINS) Erasmus + project,  explores ways in which a variety of stakeholding groups can create evaluation structures in a network setting that focuses on the development of educational quality through the use of inspection.

The other papers in the seminar reported on research into Multi- Academy Trusts in England by Mealine Ehren and David Godfrey, work conducted in Chile by Carmen Montecinos and Mauricio Pino on School Improvement Networks and research being conducted in Scotland by Chris Chapman on Network governance. The respondents – Profs Jim Spillane and Thomas Hatch , tied together the different strands and challenged the presenters to develop this emerging area of research in the coming months and years.

More information on the the PINS project can be found at http://www.schoolinspections.eu/