School leaders approaching equity and inclusion through collective action and professional networks: findings from Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan

• In Event: Education Conflict, Protest and Development

Proposal

Introduction
Shifting from awareness of equity policies to transformative action for education inclusion issues requires local as well as national perspectives and this is strengthened by collective action. Although school leaders are important local change agents for school improvement, their experiences remain under researched in south Asia where there is limited access to professional development on inclusion.
Our consortium research 2021-2023 involved school leaders in collaborative professional enquiry known as NICs (Networked Improvement Communities) in Nepal, Pakistan and in Afghan refugee schools in the region. The collective groups were supported with open resources and facilitators to research local inclusion issues within their own contexts and to test out deliberate inclusion changes to support all learners and marginalised groups.
Such a bottom-up and localised approach shifts perspectives on local leadership agency and importantly engages in dialogue with key stakeholders in power for a “receptive social environment” (Campbell 2010). This research, funded by GPE KIX, addresses policy context and potential for scalability throughout.
This paper presents findings on leaders’ development of agency on inclusion in different practice and policy contexts with recommendations on the potential for scalability of the model of networked improvement communities for equity and inclusion.

Theoretical framing
Our research draws on socio-cultural theories: the inclusive practices taken up by school leaders – foregrounded as our unit of analysis, are shaped by their own prior experiences, personal orientations to action and the possibilities that are available in their settings - the beliefs, rules and values of their communities, which are in turn situated within and interdependent with national or province level policies, expectations and goals. We utilise the concept of inclusive practice as the need to both understand and take purposeful steps to meet the learning needs of each learner so that each can participate fully in education.



Methodology
Initial empirical mixed methods research with school leaders in Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan generated knowledge on school leaders’ perspectives and practices related to education inclusion together with their recent experiences of professional development and ICTs (Lindqvist & Pettersson, 2019). Findings were nuanced across countries and contexts . However, they suggested most school leaders’ understandings of inclusion centre on achieving equality in access to school through attending to pupils’ material needs. Few school leaders consider how school practices such as teaching strategies might be excluding specific groups of pupils, and hence impacting on pupil learning outcomes. Data is rarely used to investigate and promote inclusion. Formal professional development opportunities for school leaders are limited, particularly on inclusion, but peer interaction utilizing social media is widespread, as is access to digital devices.
These phase one research findings informed the design of the school leader collaborative groups and open digital resources in each country. Pilot groups of school leaders (a minimum of 30 in several locations in each country) were recruited in collaboration with relevant authorities. In Pakistan and Nepal, the project worked with school leaders in public schools in two different locations. Following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan (August 2021), project working shifted to school leaders in schools serving Afghan refugees in the Peshawar area of Pakistan.
Over a period of several months these school leaders engaged with the open resources in small groups supported by local facilitators. Tablets were distributed to school leaders to enable access to the resources (in online or offline mode) and communication within the community and with the facilitator. The open resources focused on building school leaders’ awareness and recognition of equity and inclusion issues in their schools and offering tools to support structured experimentation to redress inequity and enhance inclusive practice among their colleagues (the tools use a form of improvement science PDSA cycles). School leaders' community and school activities were observed by country researchers using multiple instruments; three in-depth individual semi-structured interviews with each school leader at start, midpoint, and end of their project engagement; analytical data from the VLE hosting the open resources; interviews with facilitators; facilitator notes from group meetings, and initial and end surveys with the school leaders.


Findings overview
School leaders operate in challenging contexts negotiating structural and resource issues, limited professional guidance on inclusion, and nuanced local socio-cultural beliefs; all impacting on the marginalisation of learners.
This innovative model of supported NICs with an open resource pedagogy moved notions of professional development from a fixed training course to a collective responsibility for action on inclusion and equity. School leaders created their own definitions, models of inclusion, and action plans. In the local networks headteachers shared issues and reported on data analysis, inclusion audits and micro changes in schools, and as trust developed, discussed challenges such as entrenched attitudes. Some inclusion work was at school and classroom level, for example staff attitude and behaviour towards marginalised groups. Other actions mobilized community stakeholders on attendance and support.
These shifts in approaches to inclusion represent a development of school leader agency and in some cases also extended beyond the school to engage with stakeholders, such as advocating for changes in the language of instruction and awareness of bureaucratic barriers to attendance such as requiring birth certificates. Stakeholders have started to engage with recommendations and potential for scaling.

Authors

• Freda Wolfenden, The Open University, UK

• Saraswati Dawadi, The Open University, UK

• Deborah Cooper, The Open University, UK