Chapter Two: The Learning Schools Model (LSM)

The LSM is designed to solve educational problems in situ. Researchers and practitioners work in partnership to co-design research and development that solves shared and urgent problems of practice. As a consequence, research knowledge advances. These are major claims. In this chapter, we explain our thinking which underpins the model. This includes the idea of contextualising effective practice to local contexts through a co-design process. Solutions are developed and located within the local context through collaborative analysis of data in PLCs.

Two case studies are used to illustrate the LSM and its applications across diverse contexts, followed by the rationale for the LSM’s fixed sequence and focus. Practice-embedded research approaches like the LSM are grounded in and shaped by practice. This means that the local context influences the research design and implementation considerably. In the final section, we discuss the contextual enablers and constraints that have shaped the design and theoretical tenets of the LSM and discuss how the LSM is informed by context, but not limited to it.