£8.50 + p&p 96 pp
ISBN 978 1 903080 14 6 (2010)

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The Human Scale Schools project, which ran for three years, set out ‘to build a solid core of human scale schools that can stand up as effective examples of human scale principles in practice’. Launched in 2006 by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in partnership with the educational charity Human Scale Education, the project encouraged secondary schools to develop their own schemes for creating more human scale schools in ethos and practice. These included the setting up of small-scale learning communities, cross-disciplinary curriculum projects, more holistic pastoral structures and greater student participation in learning. Grants were offered to 39 schools across the country to enable them to design and implement these innovations. LC Research Associates was commissioned to evaluate the changes and effects of the developments supported by the Human Scale Schools project in six schools from February 2007 to December 2009. This report presents that analysis.

John Harland is a freelance researcher and director of LC Research Associates, an independent research network that conducts policy-oriented studies in the education sector. He has completed and published many research projects, mainly in the areas of teachers’ continuing professional development, pupils’ experiences of the curriculum and the arts in education. Previously, he worked for the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and before that he was a secondary school teacher.

Barbara Mason is a freelance researcher who worked for NFER after some years in teaching. Her research interests include the experiences and achievements of students with learning difficulties and disabilities, and the curriculum and qualifications systems for 14–19 year olds. As an independent researcher she investigates issues within a wide range of educational policy and practice areas.