Achieving 24/7 schooling: a headteacher's perspective
Mr Andy Schofield
Varndean School
Brighton, United Kingdom
How far do we want to go in our vision of the 24/7 school? A school that is open for learning 24/7 is not physically open all the time. A 24/7 school has extended opening hours, say from 8am to 8pm, for the majority of the year, with virtual opening at any other time. Most schools in the UK are open for formal learning from about 9am to 5pm, 190 days a year - so there is a huge gap between current reality and 24/7, 365 days a year, despite the fact that schools do not aspire to be all night supermarkets. The idea of 24/7 learning not only changes our conceptions of time and space, as the boundaries of the school and learning change - but it will also reconfigure relationships and change the role of the teacher, the responsibility of the student, and the relationship between school and home. Schools like to control freedom, and the 24/7 school has the potential to liberate learners and challenge powerful norms - as long as equity issues relating to access can be overcome.
The key is to ensure that learning can take place whenever the student wants it to - and this requires a quality virtual learning and support environment. The potential for 24/7 learning seems greater, the older the student. There are secondary schools in the world that started out as virtual schools - and we can learn from these, but most schools are starting from a different position. Most of us face grafting the 24/7 school, or something approaching it, onto the outdated factory model that currently holds sway, which is a very different proposition altogether. Resource reconfiguration, when over 90% plus of the budget is invested in staffing, and an increasing proportion going into back office and support functions, is a major ask.
There are universities that have abandoned much of their lecturing practice and now only require students to attend for a minimum amount of time for of teaching. However, certain learning experiences, such as drama and sport, require students to work in groups or teams. Others require specialist facilities that may only be available at school - and then there are the broader issues of socialisation and personal competencies that need nurturing. How much choice in learning will students be given? What do schools do if a student completes courses 'without permission'? How much say do we want to give students and their parents, about when and where learning takes place? Learning away from school could remove some of the social pressure so many individuals feel at the school itself. A one-to-one relationship with an online tutor has the potential to personalise at a deeper level than much of what we currently do.
The 24/7 school will probably adopt a blended approach to learning - with core time on site and other time used as agreed with the student, to suit his or her circumstances and learning needs. Student progress would be judged by outcomes, regardless of where, or how, the learning took place. The provision of 24/7 learning should dramatically increase the degree of personalisation
What support would schools need?
Visionary support from 'centralised services' - be they local authorities, regions, agencies or government - is needed to drive new models of resource allocation, world class IT, MIS (Management Information System) and knowledge sharing, which is an international market. Schools, cities or regions could pool resources to provide courses. How far reaching are the services on offer at the 24/7 school? What about capital investment for the co-location of services and personnel; health, sports, arts, knowledge, welfare, advice and guidance? PFI (Private Finance Initiative) contracts that specify that the school gets charged for use of its own building outside certain restricted hours are anathema to the 24/7 school - but perhaps for those of us saddled with such contracts, the development of virtual schooling takes on an even greater urgency. And finally.we need deep support for headteachers who want to lead system change but stay running schools - and who believe that changing the world through learning is possible.
Mr Andy Schofield is Headteacher of Varndean School, in Brighton, in the UK.
The Discussion Forum on this Workshop Paper is now closed.
