Strathclyde Enhanced Partnership Initiative Evaluation Report

The Strathclyde Enhanced Partnership Initiative is one of ‘a ‘family’ of pilots in the west of Scotland taking forward recommendations from the Scottish Government report by Graham Donaldson, Teaching Scotland’s Future. The thinking behind this pilot built on previous pilot projects developed by Glasgow University with Glasgow City Council and North Ayrshire Council. All of the pilots focus on developing partnerships between university, education authority and schools to support students’ professional development and assess their progress during placement. SEPI’s version of shared observation and dialogue was specifically tailored to placement experience. Students would work together to lead and observe a lesson, focus on an aspect of practice and discuss their observations and suggestions for improvement with a tutor. As in the Glasgow University pilot, SEPI encouraged description rather than evaluation of practice during lesson observations. In secondary placements, following debates about the respective contributions from subject tutors and generalist school-based tutors in supporting students, the SEPI pilot continued to use both but with reduced visits from subject specialist tutors. This evaluation of the initiative aimed to take account of the distinctive features of the Strathclyde pilot and the strengths, differing contexts and stages of development of its work with the authority and its schools. Evidence was gathered of the views of students, teachers and tutors through interviews and questionnaires. This evidence was considered alongside direct observation of the activities taking place.