Kulvarn Atwal – ‘the thinking school’ – a new approach to learning-centred leadership

Kulvarn Atwal is Headteacher at Highlands Primary School, Ilford, London (Number on Roll 700+). He completed his Doctorate in June 2016. Here he talks to Chris Oates about the challenges of post-graduate study and the impact of his studies on his professional practice.

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Kulvarn Atwal

First of all can you give readers a little background about yourself?

I completed my PGCE at the University of East London (UEL) in 1999 and in my first year of teaching, I started studying for a MA in Education. This was against the advice of senior colleagues who thought I needed more experience, but I’ve always believed that you should keep studying to develop as a practitioner so it was a natural next step for me, although it was quite unusual at the time. Then in 2008 I was appointed as a Deputy Head in a large primary school where I had responsibility for the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of staff. CPD/teacher learning has always fascinated me and so it seemed that the obvious next step was to join the Professional Doctorate programme at UEL. I wanted to focus on teacher learning and what factors impact on teacher engagement in professional learning activities, with a particular focus on teacher engagement in action research. The premise was − well I did a Masters and I know that it’s impacted on me, so how do teachers feel that engagement in learning activities impacts on them?

So tell us about your research.

During the course of the first two or three years of engaging in literature, following my supervisor’s advice, I discovered workplace learning theories – so, people like Lave and Wenger (1991) and communities of practice, Hodkinson and Hodkinson (2005) or Alison Fuller (2004) who looked at expansive learning environments. And I realised there’s an irony that in schools − the very institutions where the actual core business is learning, namely children’s learning − the quality of adult learning is so poor. So, through my research I developed a model which could be introduced in schools to maximise both formal and informal learning opportunities for staff.

How did you find fitting study with work?

I was actually quite disciplined, with set hours of study, but made sure that I also got breaks during the holidays. One thing I noticed is that you make more progress if you’re working intensely for periods of time, than if you’re dipping in and out; so for example I would give myself a target for the end of term and then switch off for the breaks.

So do you have any other advice for anyone who is currently considering undertaking an EdD/professional doctorate?

I’d say definitely to keep going when you start doubting yourself − because you will doubt yourself. Also, the journey is as important as the end product, because of all the skills that you gain from facing something challenging − in some ways the more challenging something is the more you learn and the more you get out of it.

The other thing is, don’t be too precious about your writing, just write - writing is learning and often we don’t think of it like that - we think of writing as the end product - but writing is part of the learning process − but what works for me might not work for somebody else!

Can you describe how your studies have impacted on your practice?

Yes absolutely, I believe we need learning focussed leaders. I teach every day. Everybody in the school has to teach because it’s part of our core practice and my title’s actually Head Learning Leader not Headteacher. I don’t have a deputy, she’s the Senior Learning Leader and we’re the only two people on the leadership scale; so that means I can distribute teaching and learning responsibilities across the school. I don’t actually agree with the word ‘teacher’, our teachers are called ‘class leaders’ − they lead the learning in the room. They lead the adults, they lead all the resources, they coordinate the children. And we believe very strongly in dialogic learning processes; that the big role of the ‘so called teacher’ is to facilitate children’s talk, so that the teacher is building on the children’s ideas and children’s thinking, rather than saying that this is what you’re learning; because there’s a big difference between telling someone and enabling someone to discover. There are no limitations in this environment − people come up with ideas to improve learning - they don’t wait for instructions from above.

I want everybody in the institution child/adult/cleaner/teacher to see themselves as a learner. Leaders should see their group of teachers in the way that they want the teachers to see their group of children; to personalise the learning experiences, to create an environment in which learning is seen as a social activity situated at the heart of the institution. So we work together, teach together, plan together, discuss learning, assess the children together. In fact almost everything is designed to be collaborative. One of the big findings of my research is about opportunities for teachers to work in different groups. For example if you’re a year 4 teacher you get the ability to engage in professional dialogue with someone who might be in reception/year one and that helps to develop a community of practice over time − it sounds so simple − but it’s so effective.

So this is obviously something you feel very passionate about.

Yes − the model itself isn’t difficult, but a lot of what I’m saying falls on deaf ears because it requires a different conceptualisation of the role of the teacher and a very different conceptualisation of leadership strategies in schools. We have a very distributed leadership strategy − everyone sees themselves as a leader and I’m also very passionate that the model has teacher wellbeing at the centre. The problem is that if you present it to Headteachers it’s difficult to change practice. For example I discussed this with a local Headteacher and he said ‘I don’t need to do that we’re outstanding − why should I pay for teachers to get a Masters when they might get another job and go somewhere else’ − but we’re developing people for the profession not just our school. But I have been over to Oslo quite a few times to lead the development of a similar model with the schools there and the research has been well received.

Tell me more about the work in Oslo.

We work with a charity called ‘Achievement for All’ and through this senior leaders from Oslo visited the school They asked me if I’d read the work of Viviane Robinson − I said I hadn’t – and they told me that our school was the first school they’d ever seen that looks like the perfect model of what she’s been suggesting (Robinson 2011). They invited me to work with their schools directly and now there are schools in Oslo implementing the model. Overall we’ve probably hosted three or four hundred teachers watching demonstration lessons here in our school.

…and how has the model impacted on your own school?

When I first arrived at the school it had been graded as requiring improvement - but now we’ve been contacted by the Mayor’s office because our pupil progress is through the roof. Imagine the impact of having a Master’s level practitioner working in a collaborative learning environment, where everyone is concerned about every child, not just the ones in their class and is experimenting with their practice and engaging with research − the impact on a child that has 7 of those teachers in a row is phenomenal.

…so obviously studying for the Doctorate has had a big impact on both the school and your career - do you think you would be where you are now without it?

I think I would be in terms of being a Headteacher, but the Doctorate has given me more professional confidence in what I’m doing and why I’m doing it and that’s not to underestimate the gravitas that goes with it. I do an assembly and I say to the children ‘we never stop learning and I can prove it because I’m now a Doctor’ and this is an inspiration to the children − I can feel the children are proud of it.

So where do you go from here?

I’m part way through writing a book, which I’m hoping to call ‘The Thinking School’, because I believe that when you go into a classroom you should look at the quality of thinking, rather than what’s produced on paper. I’m hoping that if I can demonstrate with this model that you retain teachers to the profession, that they feel passionate about what they do, they’re constantly learning and children are making fantastic progress − then if someone’s really interested in education they’d want to pick up that book and understand ‘how do we get to that point?’.

Kulvarn, thank you for your time and I’m sure I’m not the only who hopes to have the opportunity to read your book very soon.

Kulvarn’s thesis is available online at:

Atwal, K (2016) Developing an understanding of the factors that influence teacher engagement in action research and professional learning activities in two English primary schools. Professional Doctorate Thesis. Accessed at: http://roar.uel.ac.uk/5367/

The work of the charity ‘Achievement for All’ can be accessed at:

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/our-work/projects/achievement-for-all/