programme, actively pursuing systematic professional enquiry with colleagues,
drawing upon CCPE principles as a means of developing educational practices for
curriculum development. At least three head teachers (evidenced through interview
data) have opened new spaces by using this framework to inform professional
learning in their school.
There is some evidence that participating teachers have affected the cultures of
their schools, introducing more democratic practices than previously. There are two
aspects to this trend, which is slight but nonetheless discernible in the data. First
there is some evidence of increasing concern for social justice in educational
practice, and an increasing desire and ability to justify such practice in terms of
values and principles. This contrasts to some extent with the schools researched by
Priestley et al. ( 2015 ), where teachers were often unable to articulate long-term
purpose for their practices, instead tending to justify them in terms of more
instrumental and short-term imperatives such as keeping classes busy. Thus, our
data show teachers utilising increasing levels of social justice oriented language,
and a tendency for them to become more child-centred, seeking students’opinions
and developing a more inclusive culture. The previously mentioned example of
innovation in questioning is a notable example of this trend. Of course we would
not claim to be the sole influence behind these trends; CfE advocates this sort of
practice, and Scottish schools have been gradually moving in this direction for at
least a decade. More likely is the influence of CCPE in stimulating greater
engagement with such discourses, which in turn has had a knock-on effect on
practices. A second‘democratic’ trend relates to an interruption of traditional
hierarchies within schools. The programme facilitated collaborative working for all
involved—teachers, leaders and researchers—and emphasised the importance of
professional dialogue. This in turn has provided opportunities for developing
leadership skills, and affected working practices across the participating schools.
Finally, the data surfaces a great deal amongst our cohorts about developing
criticality: how engaging in reading challenges and interrupts current perspectives;
how it opens up new ways of thinking, generating the ability to more readily
consider multiple possibilities; and how it helps to develop new conceptual
frameworks to inform new ways of working.
52.4.2 Implications
This CCPE programme established by the university with the local authority has
been an exciting project for the majority of participants. From the point of view of
the participating teachers, it has opened up new possibilities for innovative working
which, in contrast to established patterns driven by accountability practices, is more
in tune with their values as professionals which brought them into teaching in the
780 M. Priestley and V. Drew