Staff Profiles
Professor David Leat
Prof of Curriculum Innovation
- Email: david.leat@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6578
- Address: Room 2.56 KGVI
School of ECLS
King George VI Building
Newcastle University
Queen Victoria Road
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE1 7RU
Background
Introduction
David Leat was appointed in 1989 as Geography PGCE tutor and continued in this role until 1999. Between 2001 and 2004 he was on leave of absense, working for the DfES in the KS3 Strategy as a Regional Director, putting research into practice. Since his return to the university he has been the Director for the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching CfLaT.
My original research interest in thinking skills has developed over the last 20 years, through projects on metacognition, Learning2Learn and innovative assessment to focus on Enquiry Based Learning/Curriculum (EBL/EBC), which is the curriculum format which best embodies innovative pedagogies. EBC encourages students to ask and pursue questions which are meaningful to them and arise through experience, thinking, talk and study. This a divergent approach to curriculum which stands in contrast to the dominant convergent model of pre-specified learning outcomes. EBC holds much promise for a transformative approach to education, which is more democratic, draws upon community resources and ignites intrinsic motivation.
However research does show that there is a dominant curriculum discourse, epitomised by targets, objectives and teaching to the test, which is so powerful because of Oftsed inspections and the threats they carry. Therefore it is very hard for schools to make radical changes to teaching and curriculum because of the risk implied. Furthermore it is notoriously difficult to change teachers' practice, so even where committed pioneers make some progress, it is altogether more challenging to sustain whole school curriculum change. We have learned these lessons over time and as a consequence CfLaT gives equal attention to professional learning and organisational/cultural change. Therefore working with school leaders, developing professional learning communities and 'working space', and setting up peer coaching or lesson study are important processes in curriculum reform.
CfLaT is now co-ordinating a local network of schools and teachers who want to make EBC a mainstay of their curriculum and we are developing a number of funded and unfunded projects which will support this ambition. This network is increasingly connected to national networks and organisations.
Research
Research Interests
The impact of thinking skills interventions on teaching and learning
The use of teaching thinking strategies or 'powerful pedagogical strategies' is an important approach to school improvement. It allows teachers to take ownership of the nature, pace and direction of their efforts to develop their teaching. Their power comes from allowing teachers to make manageable but significant changes to their teaching, which usually brings an immediate response from students. This 'visible' response from pupils invites and encourages teachers to sustain and development changes in their teaching. However we need to know more about the factors which accelerate and support this process, such as the teacher's ability to plan well, the students' response and the school's ability to support risk and learning.
Coaching
David Leat wrote the materials, based on research, which are now in every secondary school in England to train teacher coaches. There is very little research on coaching in the British context. Although the great majority of teachers are very positive about their coaching experiences, we know very little about the impact that coaching is having on professional learning, relationships, management systems and school improvement processes. The research is exploring these issues.
Learning To Learn
Learning2Learn is a popular phrase. It covers a multitude of teaching innovations designed to make students more motivated, independent, flexible, knowledgeable learners who will be able to learn and work well (and have fun) throughout their lives. It is important to understnad the ways in which teacher learning and student learning are related within this context, so that guidance to schools and other institutions can be offered.
Other Expertise
Having worked in applied research in universities and then in applying research while working for DfES, I have considerable insights into the how research can make an impact on teachers, practice and schools. This is reflected in the forthcoming publication 'Thinking Through School'.
Current Work
Research and development projects include:
1. Formative evaluation of Open Future, a primary curriculum innovation with 4 strands 'Grow It', 'Cook It', 'Film It' and 'Ask It' (Philosophy for Children) for the Helen Hamlyn Trust. Part of the formative work is in developing a progression framework for a skills based curriculum.
2. Evaluation of the ACTS Project (Activating Children's Thinking Skills) in East Ayrshire, funded by the Scottish Executive.
3. A research project on coaching for CfBT and the National College of School Leadership, investigating what happens in coaching sessions and testing whether an intervention makes an impact on both coaching practice and classroom practice.
4. Working as part of the CfLaT team on the Campaign for Learning Learning To Learn project involving some 25 schools in 3 Local Education Authorities.
5. A number of small funded projects supporting schools undertaking action research as part of school improvement.
Research Roles
Director of the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching
Postgraduate Supervision
Currently supervise 4 doctoral students.
Esteem Indicators
Top Four Esteem Indicators:
(1) Editor of the 'Thinking Through' book series. The series started in 1999 with 'Thinking Through Geography' by David Leat, which won the Geographical Association's Gold Award; the series now has 7 further titles.
(2) Author of Thinking Through School - winner of the Education Resources Books Award for 2007.
(3) Member of the National Advisory Group on Coaching and Mentoring.
(4) Member of the Primary and Secondary Advisory Groups for the BBC Digital Curriculum for Thinking Skills.
__________
Editor for the 'Thinking Through ...' series;
Member of the Primary and Secondary Advisory Groups for the BBC Digital Curriculum for Thinking Skills;
Member of the National Advisory Group on Coaching and Mentoring
Member of the Geographical Association Teacher Education Working Group
Member of the Science City Education Workstream Advisory Group
3 years on Leave of Absence working for the DfES Key Stage 3 Strategy (key role in developing training materials and designing a national whole school initiative - Leading in Learning).
Member of the Partners Group (academic reviewers) for the National Strategies initiative 'The Learning Conversation'.
Keynote speech at CLIL National Conference (Dutch Bi-lingual schools) at Ede, Holland, February 2007: 'The impact of thinking skills on learning'.
Publications
- Higgins S, Wall K, Falzon C, Hall E, Leat D, Baumfield V, Clark J, Edwards G, Jones H, Lofthouse R, Moseley D, Miller J, Murtagh L, Smith F, Smith H, Woolner P. Learning to Learn in Schools Phase 3 Evaluation Year One Final Report. London: Campaign for Learning, 2005.
- Leat D. Partnerships and Participation in Teacher Research. Cranfield, Bedfordshire: National College for School Leadership, 2004.
- Leat D, Higgins S. The role of powerful pedagogical strategies in curriculum development. Curriculum Journal 2002, 13(1), 71-85.
- Higgins S, Leat D. Horses for Courses or Courses for Horses: what is effective teacher development?. In: Soler, J; Craft, A; Burgess, H, ed. Teacher Development: Exploring Our Own Practice. Buckingham: Open University Press, 2001, pp.57-68.
- Leat D, Vankan L, Hooghuis F. Mysteries maken zichtbaar hoe leerlingen leren. Geografie Educatief 2001, 10, 16-19.
- Leat D, Nichols A. Brains on the table : diagnostic and formative assessment through observation. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice 2000, 7(1), 103-121.
- Leat D, Nichols A. Observing pupils' mental strategies: signposts for scaffolding. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 2000, 9(1), 19-33.
- Leat D. Rolling the Stone Uphill: Teacher development and the implementation of Thinking Skills programmes. Oxford Review of Education 1999, 25(3), 387-403.
- Leat D, ed. Thinking through Geography. Cambridge: Chris Kington, 1998.
- Leat D, Lin M. Developing a pedagogy of metacognition and transfer: Some signposts for the generation and use of knowledge and the creation of research partnerships. British Educational Research Journal 2003, 29(3), 383-415.
- Leat D, Kharrufa A, Olivier P. Brains on the table revisited: Digitising innovative formative assessment. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 2013. Submitted.
- Leat D. Exploring yardsticks for analysing teacher coaching practice: resisting disciplinary control. European Journal of Teacher Education 2013. In Preparation.
- Leat D, Thomas U, Reid A. The Epistemological Fog in Realising Learning to Learn in European Curriculum Policies. European Educational Research Journal 2012, 11(3), 400-412.
- Leat D. Working Space: A conceptualisation of teachers’ professional learning in innovation contexts. Professional Development in Education 2013. Submitted.
- Kharrufa A, Leat D, Olivier P. Designing for Reflection: A Case Study with Digital Tabletops and Digital Mysteries. In: Yang, H., Wang, S, ed. Cases on E-Learning Management: Development and Implementation. Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA: Information Science Reference, 2013, pp.268-292.
- Leat D, Lofthouse R, Towler C. Developing professional resilience through analytical dimensions of teacher coaching. Teacher Development 2012.
- Robson S, Leat D, Wall K, Lofthouse R. Feedback or feed forward? Supporting Master’s students through effective assessment to enhance future learning. In: Ryan, J, ed. Cross Cultural Teaching and Learning for Home and International Students: Internationalisation of Pedagogy and Curriculum in Higher Education. London: Routledge, 2013, pp.53-69.
- Leat D, Lofthouse R, Towler C. Improving Coaching by and for School Teachers. In: Fletcher, S; Mullen, C, ed. The SAGE Handbook of Mentoring and Coaching in Education. London: SAGE Publications, 2012, pp.43-58.
- Lofthouse R, Leat D. Outcomes of Coaching. 2012. In Preparation.
- Leat D, Hall I, Clark J. Skype Mediators: Realising the Acquisition and Participation Metaphors?. Technology, Pedagogy and Education 2012. In Preparation.
- Lofthouse R, Towler C, Leat D. The Development of Tools for Teachers to Improve Their Coaching Practice. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education 2012. In Preparation.
- Lofthouse R, Towler C, Leat D. The Development of Tools for Teachers to Improve Their Coaching Practice. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education 2012. In Preparation.
- Leat D, Reid A. Exploring the role of student researchers in the process of curriculum development. Curriculum Journal 2012, 23(2), 189-205.
- Hall E, Leat D. Theorising tools, developing further ideas from dewey and socio-cultural theory. Oxford Review 2012. In Preparation.
- Lofthouse R, Towler C, Leat D. Untitled paper on the clash of cultures in managing coaching, (ECER 2009). 2012. In Preparation.
- Leat D. Working Space article - for Teachers and Teaching – Theory and Practice. 2012. In Preparation.
- Leat D. Exploring Talk in Schools. British Journal of Educational Studies 2009, 57(3), 341-343.
- Higgins S, Baumfield V, Leat D. Thinking Through Primary Teaching. Cambridge: Chris Kington Publishing, 2001.
- Clark J, Laing K, Leat D, Lofthouse R, Thomas U, Tiplady L, Woolner P. Transformation in interdisciplinary research methodology: the importance of shared experiences in landscapes of practice. International Journal of Research and Method in Education 2017, 40(3), 243-256.
- Sarangapani V, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Leat D, Wright P. Virtual.Cultural.Collaboration - Mobile phones, video technology, and cross-cultural learning. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, MobileHCI 2016. 2016, Florence, Italy: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
- Leat D, Lofthouse R, Reid A. Does teacher research fit with school improvement?. Professional Development Today 2015, 17(4), 50-58.
- Heslop P, Preston A, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Leat D, Olivier P. Evaluating Digital Tabletop Collaborative Writing in the Classroom. In: Human-Computer Interaction - INTERACT 2015: 15th IFIP TC 13 International Conference. 2015, Bamberg, Germany: Springer International Publishing.
- Heslop P, Preston A, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Leat D, Olivier P. Evaluating Digital Tabletop Collaborative Writing in the Classroom. In: Human-Computer Interaction–INTERACT 2015: 15th IFIP TC 13 International Conference. 2015, Bamberg, Germany: Springer.
- Leat D, Lofthouse R, Thomas U. Implementing Enquiry and Project Based Learning - Revolution or Evolution?. Education Today 2015, 65(2), 12-17.
- Fan M, Robson S, Leat D. International Postgraduate Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of Peer Assessment in a UK University: A Case Study. In: Slethaug, G; Vinther, J, ed. International Teaching and Learning at Universities: Achieving Equilibrium with Local Culture and Pedagogy. New York, NY, USA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, pp.135-157.
- Leat D, Reid A, Lofthouse R. Teachers’ experiences of engagement with and in educational research: what can be learned from teachers’ views?. Oxford Review of Education 2015, 41(2), 270-286.
- Reid A, Leat D. Impact and Evidence: Using action research to improve classroom teaching (A leadership and training package). 2014. London: Optimus Education.
- Leat D, Thomas U, Lofthouse R. Project based and enquiry based learning- the professional development challenge. Professional Development Today 2014, 16(4), 12-18.
- Leat D, Thomas U, Reid A. Reframing Relationships Between Teachers, Students and Curriculum – The Phenomenon of ‘Hybridisation’ in IBL. In: Inquiry-Based Learning for Faculty and Institutional Development: A Conceptual and Practical Resource for Educators. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2014, pp.101-119.
- Leat D, Lofthouse R, Reid A. Teachers' Views: Perspectives on Research Engagement. London: BERA, 2014. Research and Teacher Education: The BERA-RSA Inquiry.
- Lofthouse R, Leat D. An Activity Theory Perspective on Peer Coaching. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education 2013, 2(1), 8-20.
- Leat D, Livingston K, Priestley M. Curriculum deregulation in England and Scotland - Different directions of travel. In: Wilmad Kuiper & Jan Berkvens, ed. Balancing Curriculum Regulation and Freedom across Europe (CIDREE Yearbook 2013). Enschede, The Netherlands: CIDREE Consortium of Institutions for Development and Research in Education in Europe: SLO, 2013, pp.229-238.
- Leat D, Livingston K, Priestley M. Curriculum deregulation in England and Scotland: Different directions of travel?. In: CIDREE Yearbook 2013. 2013. In Press.
- Heslop P, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Leat D, Dolan P, Olivier P. Learning extended writing: designing for children's collaboration. In: 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC). 2013, New York: ACM Press.
- Dolan P, Leat D, Mazzoli Smith L, Mitra S, Todd L, Wall K. Self-Organised Learning Environments (SOLEs) in an English School: an example of transformative pedagogy?. Online Educational Research Journal 2013, 1-19.
- Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Heslop P, Leat D, Dolan P, Olivier P. Tables in the Wild: Lessons Learned from a Large-Scale Multi-Tabletop Deployment. In: CHI 2013: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris: ACM.
- Leat D, Reid A. Exploring the role of student researchers in the process of curriculum development. Curriculum Journal 2012, 23(2), 189-205.
- Leat D, Thomas U, Reid A. The Epistemological Fog in Realising Learning to Learn in European Curriculum Policies. European Educational Research Journal 2012, 11(3), 400-412.
- Dolan P, Crawley C, Leat D, Mitra S. Nine Year Old Pupils’ Progression in their Use of Websites in Enquiry-Based Learning and Curriculum. In: European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). 2011, Berlin, Germany: European Educational Research Association (EERA).
- Leat D, Crawley E, Wall K, Dolan P, Mitra S. Using observation and pupil feedback to develop a SOLEs (Self Organised Learning Environments) curriculum. In: European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). 2011, Berlin, Germany: European Educational Research Association (EERA).