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Dr Derek Sankey
Senior Lecturer,
Centre for Learning-study and School Partnership
With a name like VITAL, this project must be doing something important. It represents a major Institute initiative to work with schools in supporting their teachers' professional development and assisting the schools as they become learning communities. The letters VITAL stand for Variation for the Improvement of Teaching And Learning. The plan, over the next three years, is to support around 120 schools in conducting Learning Studies, where the focus is directly on the improvement of learning and teaching. Each year some 40 schools will participate in the projects, which will cover all the Key Learning Areas (KLAs) across both primary and secondary schools. The word 'variation' refers to the Theory of Variation which provides the main conceptual framework of Learning Study.
| Building on Previous Learning Study Success | ||
| Over the past three years, the Centre for the Development of School Partnership and Field Experience at the Institute has conducted 70 learning studies under the PIPS*1 and STEM*2 projects, funded by the Quality Education Fund. We have also run many intensive mentoring courses. Building on this past track record, the VITAL Project will considerably extend the number of schools involved. In order to mark this new phase, the Centre has been renamed the Centre for Learning-study And School Partnership (CLASP). |  Pupils participating in group discussions during the research lesson. |
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| Note: *1 PIPS: Progressive and Innovative Primary Schools Project *2 STEM: Secondary Teaching Evaluation and Mentoring Project |
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