27.01.2006
The LP-model (Learning Environment and Pedagogical Analysis)
The LP-model provides a working method in which the teachers collaborate in groups according to specific principles. The aim is to establish good learning environment which ensures that all students acquire social skills and subject knowledge.The LP-model has a whole-school approach.
Background information
The LP-model (Learning Environment and Pedagogical Analysis
Responsible for the project
- Norwegian Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education
- Lillegaarden Resource Centre, responsible for the development part
- Hedmark University College, responsible for the evaluation part
Project period
2006 - 2008
Number of school participants
Approx. 100 schools each year
Program Approach
Target group
Teachers and headmasters, pedagogical-psychological service (PP-service)
Main goal
The LP-model provides a working method in which the teachers collaborate in groups according to specific principles. The aim is to establish good learning environment which ensures that all students acquire social skills and subject knowledge.
Professional content
Systematic analysis and reflection are keywords. The methodology involves a systematic approach to analysis and reflection, together with the development of appropriate measures and evaluation. The LP-model is a system theoretic analysis model and not a method. The model includes a range of work principles which demonstrate how one should proceed in order to arrive at a decision about what should be done. The teachers themselves evolve the measures which should be used in order to develop good learning environments. The measures which the teachers will implement are developed locally as a result of an analysis of the challenges and conditions in the particular class/group or school.
Implementation
Organization
The LP-model has a whole-school approach. When a school participate there are certain prerequisites:
- Follow-up in the LP-model’s strategy presupposes a signed contract with Lillegaarden Resource Centre.
- The PP-service in the local community acts as the link between the local authority and Lillegaarden Resource Centre.
- The PP-service and the schools agree to utilize the LP-model for at last 2 years
- The PP-service will set aside sufficient time for advising and dealing with the internal follow-up as it is defined in the project contract.The PP-service receives follow-up and training for the PP-advisers from Lillegaarden Resource Centre.
- Teacher groups will be established in each school which has 5-7 participants, so that the whole teaching force within the school will be involved. Each school will set aside time for the teacher-group’s work.
- The LP-schools nominate work-groups and a co-ordinator according to their own guidelines
- Schools that take part in the LP-model receive follow-up and training for the leaders of the teacher groups, fixed training days for all staff at the LP-schools, materials about the model, and access to E-learning (distance learning) through chat rooms/conferences via the LP-model’s web pages.
- Evaluation and recording systems for the LP-schools are an important part of the strategy
- Support of advisers from Lillegaarden Resource Centre throughout the process, with follow-ups within each local authority: network meetings, web-site, conferences for the LP-schools
- Support of Hedmark University College at conferences for the LP-schools
- The local authority will pay an annual charge for each school which is involved in the implementation of the LP-strategy.
Material developed
3 handbooks, brochures (short introduction), one roll-up (short introduction) and web-site for the LP-model
Book 1: A theoretical introduction to the foundation of the model.
Book 2: A description of the use of the LP-model by the teacher groups
Book 3: A guide for the PP-services in their work with the model
Training involved
In addition to information given above about how to organize the work with the implementation of the LP-model there will be different types of contact: Within the local authorities, course days or subject/professional days will be held for all LP-model users.
Evaluation Results
Description of evaluation method
The LP-model will be evaluated by Thomas Nordahl, Hedmark University College. The evaluation of the LP-model is based on the evaluation design for the pilot-project (The LP-project).
From January 2003 until December 2004, the LP-project runned in 14 Norwegian schools. The project had a "bottom-up"-profile, taking 300 teachers in the project schools as its starting point. The teachers organized themselves in groups and focused regularly on important challenges and questions about how to understand and manage problem behaviour and improve the learning environment for all pupils. This project was evaluated by NOVA in 2005. The evaluation was undertaken in the form of a pre-post design study with control groups, and both the subject schools and the control groups were monitored at the start of the project and in the end. Reliable questionnaires, representative of the project’s objectives, have been employed in the study.
Description of main findings
Summary of the NOVA Report 19/05Learning Environment and Pedagogical Analysis. A description and evaluation of the LP-model Author: Thomas Nordahl The project Learning Environment and Pedagogical Analysis (the LP-model) is a study of 14 Norwegian schools during a period of two and a half years. Lillegaarden Resource Centre is responsible for the development part of the project, while NOVA, Norwegian Social Research, has conducted the evaluation part. The evaluation is undertaken in the form of a pre-post design study with control groups, and both the subject schools and the control groups are monitored at the start of the project and in the end. Reliable questionnaires, representative of the project's objectives, have been employed in the study. None of the participating schools have been incurred extra expenses as a result of their participation in the study. The participating schools had only to reorganize the staff's teaching hours such that the study could be conducted at no extra cost. The project has collected the following results:
- Students in the participating schools improved their knowledge and skills in Norwegian, mathematics, English and natural and environmental sciences by an average degree of 0.4 points compared to the students in the control group.
- Students in the participating schools improved their social skills compared to the students in the control group, a fact that resulted in better school behaviour and less tension among the students during the teaching hours.
- The study showed a lesser degree of conflict among the students in the participating schools and a general decline in bullying behaviour was observed.
The teachers in our study had as a starting point the goal to see what the challenges of their teaching work were, trying then in cooperation with other teachers to analyze those challenges. They focus their analysis primarily on the teaching and learning conditions in the schools, and less on the particular student, so that specific measures and strategies, related directly to the particular school, were possible to employ based on reliable research data.
The positive results that the subject schools of our study have thus demonstrated can be related to the teachers' role as more distinct adult figures, having good relationships with their students. Teachers can thus be perceived by the students as authoritative in both being friendly and having good control and structure in the classroom. The study shows that this fact, along with the use of verbal incentives and close cooperation with the parents, contribute to the schools´ improvement as a good learning environment. This improvement shown by our study could be related to the systematic and constant application by the teachers of the LP-model. The LP-model contains no ready-made solutions for the teaching staff; it is solely a means which teachers use to arrive at the correct decision in particular cases. The evaluation shows that when teachers analyze their own work systematically and consciously, becoming thus better leaders in the classroom, it will have a positive effect also on the students' learning skills and on the development of their social skills.
Publication
Relevance or implication
The LP-model facilitates the development of knowledge through the exchange of experiences between the PP-services, schools and local authorities. By organising the work trough groups which meet systematically at regular time intervals, the teachers can develop a culture in which they can, through reflection distance themselves from the complexities and difficulties of daily life. They will learn to be less afraid to speak out, they will develop together and they will learn to trust one another. The teacher will become a participant who can argue and stand by what he/she says, and who dares to come forward instead of feeling a victim of the pupils "bad manners".