Abstract
This article reports on the use of a visual methods approach to collecting and analysing data in relation to the area of leadership curriculum development. The focus of the study is the structure of the current leadership curriculum for the National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) in England. In particular, the authors explore the extent to which a visual method of data collection enhances their understanding of underlying structures of the NPQs, and the extent to which they can adopt findings from the study to influence the planning and preparation of future programmes. Participants in the study volunteered to attend an international conference workshop on leadership, management and administration. This was the forum for data collection. Purposive sampling ensured a prior knowledge of the theoretical framework underpinning our work and objectivity in that none of the participants were involved in the delivery of NPQ programmes in England. Findings suggest that the current NPQ programme structure lacks the flexibility required in order to provide a meaningful professional development experience. In relation to the theoretical underpinnings of this study, findings also highlight areas to be addressed when undertaking new NPQ programme development and delivery.
Keywords
Introduction
The provision of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for school leadership in England has been under review since March 2016. Established in 2012, the leadership curriculum underpinning the NPQs intended to facilitate the learning of aspiring and existing middle and senior leaders in schools, and headteachers. Discussions around the development of a renewed leadership curriculum suggest a potential shift towards greater autonomy in relation to its design, delivery and assessment (Department for Education, 2017). In this article, the authors (hereafter referred to as ‘we’) attempt to demonstrate the extent to which a visual methods approach to exploring the current NPQ programme structures provides insights into the leadership curriculum, and how these insights might be used to inform future development work in preparation for new NPQ accredited provider status in March 2017. From a methodological point of view, our discussion will include a review of the advantages and issues we encountered when adopting an interpretive approach to data collection concerning an area of leadership development.
Visual methods of data collection
The empirical evidence base for the use of visual methods of data collection is strong. It includes research studies from the medical sciences as well as from the social sciences. This form of data collection reinforces a belief that people communicate in different ways and can connect differently with ideas if they are presented in a visual format (Clark et al., 2013: 16). Visual methods of data collection encourage participation and inclusion (Allan, 2012; Hopkins, 2010). They stimulate dialogue through the encouragement of reflection through and about the data collection process. Moreover, they allow research participants to display thoughts and ideas in a format other than the spoken word (Harper, 2002). An advantage of visual data collection methods is their capacity to generate dialogue where there is no prior knowledge or experience.
Building a visual methodology
The purpose of our study was to explore the leadership curriculum in England, delivered under licence from the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) from 2012 to 2016, in order to inform our planning for future leadership development programmes. Our review of empirical literature uncovered studies relating to NPQs, the concept of teacher and leader development, and Bernstein’s (2000) theory of symbolic control, which we adopted as the theoretical framework for our study.
Empirical literature on the theme of NPQs for school leadership serves mainly to evaluate the programmes themselves in relation to the concept of leadership (Crawford and Earley, 2011; Rhodes et al., 2009; Simkins et al., 2009). A search of national leadership development programmes in the Scottish context uncovers complexities involving concepts of space, identity and agency (Reeves and Forde, 2004). Work by Reeves and Forde (2004), in relation to the Scottish Qualification for Headship programme, suggests that teachers/aspiring school leaders inhabit a ‘third space’ between school and face-to-face days on leadership development programmes in order to acquire an uncomfortable hybrid identity of uncertainty between school leader, teacher and learner. In practice, their study explores the links between individual and group learning, and their effective facilitation. This is certainly an important finding for consideration when designing the new leadership curriculum in England because it suggests the need for a flexible approach to curriculum structures to facilitate dialogue and inclusion between varying dimensions of the NPQ programme: participant, in-school coach, face-to-face day facilitator, administrative support.
In relation to the NPQ programmes for school leadership development in England, the theoretical perspectives highlighted above raise issues of ‘symbolic control’ (Bernstein, 2000: 3). Empirically, ‘symbolic control’ (Bernstein, 2000) is evidenced by the concept of ‘pedagogic practice’. ‘Pedagogic practice’ (Bernstein, 2000) relates to how power and control exist and are communicated in a social context. They are governed by codes of ‘classification’ (power) and ‘framing’ (control). ‘Classification’ relates to the concept of power and concerns the structure of social contexts, which Bernstein compares to ‘boundaries’ (Bernstein, 2000: 5). In relation to our study, ‘classification’ concerns perceived structures within the leadership curriculum: modules, assessment practices and learning format. ‘Framing’ involves the nature of social relationships in relation to social boundaries. In relation to our study, ‘framing’ concerns the level of formality on programme delivery days, between teachers and learners, and the language they use. Both ‘classification’ and ‘framing’ have modalities, which range from ‘strong’ to ‘weak’. Bernstein uses the metaphor of a temple to apply the modalities of ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ ‘classification’ and ‘framing’ to the social context of a school (Bernstein, 2000: 10).
Features of the current NPQ programmes suggest the existence of ‘strong’ aspects of ‘classification’. There is a set number of essential and elective modules per programme, which reduce the amount of participant choice in their programme of study. Programme participants must attend all modules to qualify for final assessment. This also suggests a prescriptive, top-down approach to the NPQs. Written final assessment is submitted to an external independent national assessment centre. Less obvious are the dimensions of ‘weak classification’ and ‘framing’: the adaptation of programme content to cater for participant needs or the extent to which programme days foster dialogue and reflection in and on practice. In our study, we were keen to explore the extent to which a visual method of data collection facilitates an understanding of these dimensions in order to disrupt the ‘classification’ and adapt our new NPQ programmes.
Methodology
Our visual method of data collection required participants to sort short extracts of text, also known as slips, under the headings ‘classification’, ‘framing’, ‘strong’ and ‘weak’. Text on the slips was selected by the corresponding author of this article from the marketing materials of an NPQ licensee in the north-east of England. It was envisaged that selected programme information would elicit ‘weak’ and ‘strong’, ‘classification’ and ‘framing’ judgments. Text was printed onto strips of card to allow participants the freedom of arranging them as they wanted (Figure 1).
A snapshot of the data collection process.
The data collection activity was conducted as a workshop at the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administrative Society (BELMAS) annual conference in 2016. This was because our sample selection required respondents to have particular experience and expertise. The method of data collection required that participants had some prior knowledge and understanding of Bernstein’s (2000) concepts of ‘classification’ and ‘framing’ to be able to deconstruct the existing leadership curriculum. In addition to being purposive, the sample of participants was also random because we had no prior information regarding the demographic of the workshop other than the expectation that participants would attend because of the inclusion of Bernstein’s theory in the title. In fact, we worked with four academic colleagues: three from different higher educational institutions in the UK and one from the USA. Each participant volunteered their informed consent prior to a formal request. The four academic colleagues worked in pairs. The authors of this article also completed the data collection task, with one author assigned to each group of academics. This was to experience for ourselves whether there were particular advantages to the visual method of data collection over to any other method.
Finally, although it was already familiar to them, participants were reminded of the key themes within Bernstein’s theory of symbolic control before embarking on the visual method of data collection. The task itself took 45 minutes of the allotted workshop time. It was not possible to carry out follow up interviews due to the busy schedule of the conference and the availability of everyone involved in the workshop.
Analysis and findings
The original purpose of our study was to explore whether a visual method of data collection would facilitate an exploration of the underlying structures of the leadership curriculum in England, and whether we could use findings from the study to inform the development of future leadership programmes.
To this end, the manner in which we analysed the data required particular consideration. At the outset, one of the authors interpreted the visual aspect of visual methods quite literally, and suggested it would be enough to simply look and see where participants placed most of the slips in relation to the headings ‘classification’ and ‘framing’, and within them, according to ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ and record each completed data set by photograph as a snapshot, creating a particular shape or pattern, for comparison.
In practice, the idea of replicating findings from a visual method of data collection with a visual method of recording and presentation was naïve. The issues of replicating the positioning of the slips to allow for analysis and then presenting the findings were nonetheless real. To this end, participants drew on their knowledge of Bernstein’s (2000) system of coding aspects of ‘classification’ and ‘framing’ in order to label their strips and facilitate the process of analysis. During the analysis stage, care was taken by the first author using photographs taken during the conference workshop to complement participants’ codes and place the slips in their original positions. However, we cannot guarantee their accuracy is absolute. To be able to include them here, we present our findings in a table.
We suggest that it is possible to interpret particular shapes and patterns in Table 1 using the naked eye although we would question this as a rigorous and robust analytical approach. These shapes suggest that the information included on the slips as part of the data collection task corresponded more with ‘classification’ and the structures within the leadership curriculum that with the ‘framing’: opportunities where dialogue flows and participants collaborate with one another. Concerning ‘framing’, patterns within the data suggest this occurs most frequently within slips 16 and 17: communication to programme licensees and participants. More reliably, the analysis of each slip in turn across the range of possible positions suggests the emergence of patterns of perception in relation to the various aspects of the leadership curriculum and a dominance of structures over more open processes.
Findings.
Note: outliers – strong classification and framing: 8, 10, 11.
Group 1
Group 2
An unexpected finding during the data collection process was participants’ use of sticky notes to justify the positioning of slips. This spontaneous addition to the methodology created opportunities for better understanding their decisions. It was also an example of reinforcing participants’ voice in their own words. In their own words, participants identified the ‘predominance of classification and regulation’ (sticky notes, Group 1), the hypothesis of our study. They also compared ‘instrumentalism over exploration’ (sticky notes, Group 2).
Discussion
We have a growing confidence in applying Bernstein’s (2000) theory of symbolic control to the analysis of leadership materials and in the value of visual methods of data collection to do so. The outcomes of this study suggest that codes of ‘classification’ and ‘framing’, representing dominant discourses of power and control, permeate the wider context of the school leadership curriculum in England. Findings from this study raise timely questions concerning personal ideologies in relation to the purpose of the leadership curriculum, and the extent to which they can be reconciled. If we believe in principles of ‘exploration’ including collaboration, dialogue and inclusion, for example, we should seek to include opportunities for exploiting them within the freedoms of the new NPQ programmes as their authors. Alternatively, we should be aware of motivations for reinforcing the ‘instrumentalism’ identified by our study’s participants, in the future curriculum, over which it is planned we will have greater control.
Concerning findings in relation to adopting a visual method of researching an aspect of educational leadership, empirical critiques including misinterpretation (Galman, 2009), poor facilitation of conversations during the data collection stage (Allan, 2012), the manipulation of power and control as part of the data collection process itself (Packard, 2008) and issues relating to capturing what is not said or done (Pain, 2012) as potential limitations of our methodological approach are all valid within this piece of work. We encountered tensions when having to decide whether or not to allow participants the freedom to interpret the task themselves. For example, one pair focused on the precise positioning of cards in related to the given categories. The other pair appreciated the need to categorize the information but they also wanted to add additional comments using additional notes. Similarly, one pair placed the sub-categories ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ in the same order beneath the main categories of ‘classification’ and ‘framing’. The other pair arranged them as ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ beneath the main category of ‘classification’ and then as ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ beneath the adjoining main category of ‘framing’. In this case, participants’ additional explanatory notes offered insights into the thought processes behind their interpretation of the task. Indeed, the dialogic nature of the task presented tensions when adopting an experiential task in order to explore issues of dominance, power and control. With so much activity in one room at the same time, recording the spoken word was problematic due to discussions taking place between and across pairs, with and between facilitators.
The visual method of data collection facilitated participation and inclusion. Indeed, we suggest that participants’ spontaneous use of sticky notes and coding are examples of wanting to take ownership of the task and ensure their responses could be clearly understood. Their contributions, although based on prior knowledge of Bernstein’s (2000) theory of symbolic control, did not have any grounding in the leadership curriculum in England. From this perspective, the dialogic processes facilitated by our particular visual methods of data collection allowed knowledge generation without predetermined experience or expertise.
In practice, findings from this study suggest that our current NPQ programmes already include some desired approaches in relation to curriculum delivery, where classification and framing are perceived to be ‘weak’: face-to-face days facilitated by serving school leaders; all participants should have a named in-school coach to facilitate work-based learning. In addition, we have permission to change up to 20 per cent of the content of each module, module content is adapted on an annual basis by a team of reviewers to cater for regional issues around leadership, and communication from the licensee to participants and facilitators is by e-mail, at face-to-face annual reviews and on an online learning platform. In their sticky note responses, participants in our study identified these programme features as collaborative, inclusive and developmental: indicative of a flexible approach to curriculum structures to facilitate dialogue and inclusion between varying dimensions of the NPQ programme as advocated by Reeves and Forde (2004). Looking to the future, there is scope in the new NPQ programmes to introduce ‘weaker’ structures to aspects perceived by participants in our study as ‘strong’. For example, the modular curriculum written by the NCTL will be replaced by content areas and leadership behaviours (Department for Education, 2017). This will allow greater freedom to include materials that are purposeful to our programme participants, drawing from a wider range of sources rather than those which have been suggested by NCTL. Going further, since 2012, NPQ participants have submitted a written final assessment of an in-school initiative in relation to a set of pre-determined competencies to an external assessment body. The new programmes allow programme providers the flexibility to decide how final assessment should be carried out.
Conclusion and further work
In an attempt to resolve the dilemmas presented within this article, we return to the purpose of our study. Our initial interest was in exploring the extent to which a visual method of data collection helps to provide justifiable insights into the leadership curriculum in England. Having discussed practical and participatory aspects of the data collection task, we are inclined to begin our conclusion with a consideration of the role of our visual method of data collection as a process of knowledge creation. We must be aware of the significance of our visual method of data collection on ontological and epistemological grounds (Leat et al., 2015). In other words, we need to clarify whether we were more concerned with the outcomes of our research than the process or vice versa. If, for example, our primary concern was to undertake a small-scale research study that unlocked the potential for participants to participate and engage in dialogue about the NPQ programmes, then the visual method offered a helpful approach. If we were more interested in undertaking a research methodology, which achieved particular outcomes without bias or limitation, our approach was naïve and requires further development. In either case, the practical applications of our findings suggest that there are areas within the current NPQ programme provision which can be exploited in order to establish greater flexibility, freedom and inclusion. Similarly, we have identified aspects of future programmes which can be exploited to reflect our desired approach. In terms of future work, we anticipate that the visual approach to data collection will facilitate a comparative analysis of current and new NPQ programmes. With this in mind, we anticipate publishing the findings from a study of new NPQ programme model once it is complete.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.