owned by others, promoted by others and, in due course, incorporated into the
routine practices and common-sense thinking of others.
For that, we need partnerships and user engagement at every stage. In particular,
projects should have strong user engagement in local sites of research to enhance
relevance, authenticity and validity, combined with strong links and alliances with
national organisations offering high-leverage systems of dissemination and
mechanisms for maximising impact. The latter may, in my opinion, helpfully include
both governmental and more independent agencies.
How might we achieve these things? Processes
If it ‘takes a village to raise a child’, then it takes an educational community, and
more, to create a programme like TLRP and to make it successful. To achieve the
goals of TLRP, I believe that we have to work together more effectively and build
ever-stronger alliances.
Working together starts with respect. The Programme Team have begun to more
strongly affirm the contributions of all the individuals involved in TLRP, without whom
nothing will develop at all. For example, the September 2002 Newsletter contains
profiles of some colleagues and reports on project activities, and other editions will
offer more in due course. We will continue to emphasise the positive, to respect
different academic positions and to work to avoid counter-productive confrontations.
At the same time, we need, at every level and in every forum, to find ways of
managing challenging discussions, for we must not gloss serious issues and points
of difference. Rather, we need to face them, analyse them and talk them through.
RCBN is moving into a very constructive phase of its development. Based around a
new work plan, it is now offering a range of activities and services to support
researchers of teaching and learning. It already has a stimulating journal and a very
useful website. However, full participation from the education community as a whole
is necessary if RCBN is to develop into an authentic, UK-wide network. I urge you to
support, use and build on the work of RCBN.
Working together also requires infrastructures for facilitation and communication. The
creation of a five-person (but 2.9 fte), spatially distributed Directors’ Team with wide
ranging expertise has significantly enhanced the Programme’s capacity to engage
with researchers and users in different sectors. Acting as ‘critical friends’ to project
colleagues is crucial, as is active liaison with sectoral research users. Additionally,
the Programme Office is building a communication infrastructure and integrated data-
base which will be robust enough to bear the weight of more inter-Programme, user
and media activity and much else. The website is part of this too with its diary,
discussion facilities and provision for working papers, etc, clustered around projects,
themes and Programme aims. So also are the Bulletins designed to keep project
colleagues informed of developments elsewhere in the Programme. In due course,
we hope to develop an agreed Publication Strategy for the Programme and we will
invite you to contribute your outputs to it. The Programme Office aims to provide an
increasing range of services, with badging resources, basic website support,
registration of research outputs, impact and media advice, selective event
administration, etc.
Synergies within, across and beyond the Programme are also being strongly
encouraged. Supplementary funding now exists for both for inter-project meetings
and for impact activities with users - you have only to apply! At present we have six