I have been trying for some time to identify ways of applying the methodological and analytical approaches, which I used in my doctoral work, to contexts of educational leadership in line with my roles and responsibilities within the North Leadership Centre<\/a>.\u00a0 My doctoral work was a study of teachers\u2019 developing understanding of enquiry based learning.\u00a0 It primarily concerned concepts of identity and agency in relation to curriculum innovation and formative assessment.\u00a0 My current position within the North Leadership Centre allows me to work with serving school leaders on aspects of their personal and professional development including identity and agency.<\/p>\n I was delighted, therefore, that my first solo abstracts for both BELMAS in July 2016 and BERA in September 2016 were accepted and included in the conference proceedings.\u00a0 The abstracts presented the rationale and outlines for two different workshops:<\/p>\n How can Bernstein’s (1996) concepts of ‘classification’ and ‘framing’ be used to explore the development of programmes for school leaders in the North East of England?<\/strong><\/p>\n This workshop addressed the theme of the 2016 BELMAS conference by challenging a shift in government oversight of education from compliance to performance (Ball, 2000) with a more \u2018humanist\u2019 approach to professional leadership development.\u00a0 It offered tasks aimed at identifying underlying issues which enable or discourage leadership curriculum innovation.\u00a0 The discussion considered whether incorporating the development of \u2018weak\u2019 social structures in new leadership development programmes can help to address key priorities in improving the leadership and management of schools in the current Education sector.<\/p>\n Our dialogical selves: developing an analytical framework for exploring practitioner identity and agency.<\/strong><\/p>\n This workshop introduced the concept of the \u2018dialogical self\u2019 (Hermans, 2001a; Hermans, 2001b) and invited participants to engage with a developing analytical framework for exploring themes of identity and agency.\u00a0 It offered practical tasks aimed at uncovering underlying issues which enable or discourage practitioners to \u2018act\u2019 within their particular contexts.\u00a0 The discussion considered whether the analytical framework I employed as part of my doctoral work can help to address key priorities in developing practice in the current Education sector.<\/p>\n Both workshops were designed to foster dialogue and encourage critical reflection in order to seek out whether my ideas for future work would stand up to the rigour and expectations of the academic community.\u00a0 For the first time at these conferences, I felt like I was beginning to find my feet as an academic, capable of holding my own in discussions with others for whom I have a very high regard.\u00a0 That other academics were prepared to share their experiences and expertise with me was a huge boost to my confidence.\u00a0 That they encouraged me to continue with my approaches will be the motivating factor moving forwards.<\/p>\n Moving forwards, then, I have committed to preparing and submitting an article for a special issue of \u2018Management in Education\u2019 later this year.\u00a0 When I reflect upon my experiences at both BELMAS and BERA, I now realise that I engaged in the conferences as a personal and professional learning opportunities, where, by providing stimuli for discussion, the responses of academic colleagues helped me to move forwards with my own my thinking and doing.\u00a0 Ironically, I feel I am undergoing a shift in identity myself, which is compelling me to engage further and with greater self-belief.<\/p>\n Dr Anna Reid is a Lecturer in Educational Leadership, Deputy Director of the North Leadership Centre and Programme Director for the North East Teaching Schools Partnership (NETSP) within the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University.<\/p>\n Twitter: @AjrReid<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n Bernstein, B. (1996) Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity<\/em>. Maryland: Rowman and Little Publishers, Inc.<\/p>\n Hermans, H,. (2001a) \u2018The dialogical self: Toward a theory of personal and cultural positioning\u2019, Culture & Psychology<\/em>, 7(3), pp.243-281.<\/p>\n Hermans, H. (2001b) \u2018The construction of a Personal Position Repertoire: Method and practice\u2019, Culture & Psychology, 7(3), pp.323-365.<\/p>\n Reid, A. (2016) \u2018Aspiring leaders understanding their \u2018selves\u2019 and\/in social contexts\u2019 [Online] Available at: https:\/\/www.bera.ac.uk\/blog\/aspiring-leaders-understanding-their-selves-andin-social-contexts<\/a>.\u00a0 Accessed on 16 August 2016.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reid, A. (2015) \u2018An opportunity for change\u2018 [Online]. Available at: https:\/\/www.bera.ac.uk\/blog\/an-opportunity-for-change<\/a>.\u00a0 Accessed on 16 August 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was tempted to begin this blog post with a witty anagram of BERA and BELMAS, the two conferences I attended this summer but it is with some degree of embarrassment that I have given up with nothing to show … Continue reading ![\"BELMAS\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/education\/files\/2016\/10\/BELMAS-287x300.jpg\")
\n<\/a>Image: Outcomes from the BELMAS 2016 workshop<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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