Catalyst is a professional learning tool intended to bring to life the findings of a collaborative research and development project carried out between researchers at the UCL Institute of Education and Challenge Partners, an informal national network of schools.
The project investigated four questions: What is it about effective middle leadership within and across schools that changes teachers' practice? What are the most powerful ways of sharing knowledge about excellent middle leadership practice within and across schools? What are the most important factors when designing evidence-based tools to track changes in teachers' practice as a result of middle leaders' interventions? What leadership conditions in schools help develop and embed cultures of shared outstanding practice?
The collection consists of two sets of resource cards and a clear and detailed facilitator guide, and has been designed for use by staff in schools in all contexts and across the entire student age range. Ultimately, the aim of the Catalyst process is to: help develop better understanding of and skills in teacher/middle leadership stimulate evidence-informed conversations about teacher/middle leadership which lead to deep and meaningful learning support skilled facilitation of these conversations encourage inquiry, improve problem-solving and enrich decision-making through collaboration enhance leadership within schools and across networks and school partnerships.
About the Authors
A Professor in Education at Durham University, Chris Brown is seeking to drive forward the use of professional learning networks to promote the collaborative learning of teachers. Chris also has a long-standing interest in how research evidence can and should, but often doesn't, aid the development of education policy and practice.
A former teacher and school leader, Karen Spence-Thomas is now a programme leader for Bespoke Leadership Programmes at UCL IOE. She specialises in designing and facilitating tailored professional development programmes for leaders within and across schools both in the UK and internationally, and co-leads the IOE's Research and Development Network of schools.
Louise Stoll is Professor of Professional Learning at UCL Institute of Education (IOE) and an international consultant, focusing on how schools and systems create capacity for learning. Louise has co-developed several materials and tools to support leaders and teachers in collaboratively connecting research evidence and practice.
Carol Taylor is a programme leader for Bespoke Leadership Programmes at UCL IOE. A former school leader, she helps schools to embed practitioner research and inquiry into organisational and individual practice. Carol also designs and facilitates bespoke leadership programmes for national and international contexts.
Industry Reviews
Catalyst is a highly effective resource that combines a rigorous research-informed approach with prompts for reflective and collaborative learning. It is appropriate for a wide range of professional roles and situations and has a consistent focus on sustainable capacity-building and professional and organisational change.John West-Burnham
This unique resource will be highly useful to every professional learning educator. The research findings are insightful and the format of the materials allows users in many parts of the world to place important and evidence-informed ideas into their school change practices.Judy Halbert
An innovative professional learning resource that supports and enables leaders to engage school leaders with evidence-informed practice, and which provides a means for colleagues to stimulate their thinking about a wide range of leadership scenarios and challenges. Highly recommended!Alison Peacock
Original, eye-catching, mind-engaging, practice-improving and brimming with professional learning practices which we know work well. The cards are the perfect catalyst for professional growth and, in turn, the development of more capable learners. This resource underscores the power of learning for all teachers and school leaders.Bill Lucas
For leaders and teachers who are tight for time but passionate about improvement, Catalyst presents a fantastic way to engage with the latest educational research and come up with personalised action plans for change. Practical, evidence-based and transformative, it presents the latest research, asks the right questions and then empowers us all to be catalysts for change. The exercises will help to move us beyond an individual journey of leadership and towards deeper conversations, stronger communities and more reflective cultures.Emmie Bidston
It's a thought-provoking resource and leads to a better understanding both of being a teacher leader and of being a learning community. The fact that Catalyst is both research- and practice-based makes it a splendid tool for many purposes, including: training new middle leaders and teacher leaders, reflecting on one's own team facilitation practices, deepening a learning conversation, and being a critical friend to others. It's both attractive as a conversation starter and as a way to get through the whole collective learning and design 'loop'. It's quite a new idea to transform research data into a toolkit such as this one. Catalyst transfers academic knowledge into practice, and hence gets it to the intended users right away. As a team process facilitator, I'm very happy to have all of this knowledge in a box and use it whenever it's suitable.Naomi Mertens
Catalyst offers a brilliant dissemination of much of the research around educational leadership, but it is also much more than this. The evidence-based Research Findings cards provide bullet-pointed lists of the most impactful attributes of leadership, and the Professional Learning cards provide leaders, at all levels, with activities and themes to help lead development, thinking and change. In the enthusiasm-rich but often time-poor environment of schools, Catalyst is a brilliant jumping-off point for leadership development.Rob Earrey
Catalyst connects school leaders with the research base through a set of multi-use practical resources in an accessible and user-friendly way.The pack offers a flexible approach to leadership professional development and self-assessment, which could be used by individual schools, MATs or alliances. A great professional development resource.Sarah Seleznyov
As a scientist I was drawn to this resource by the use of the word 'catalyst' in the title. A catalyst is a substance which speeds up reactions between other chemicals but remains unaltered after the process. In these challenging times I think we all want to make change, but without being 'consumed' ourselves. This resource really delivers on the promise of its title - it doesn't try to offer you a step-by-step prescription for success, but rather it provokes you to think about the issues you want to solve. Through a combination of self-reflection and consultation with colleagues, you are guided by key questions and research findings which can help you think beyond your normal constraints. At a time when people are searching for answers, Catalyst provides some great questions. My compliments to the authors.Dave Harris
