Stage1_Proposal_text

Stage 1: Proposal
The tasks described below should be worked through in advance of any formal scoping process. The aim at this stage is to establish the need for a local, regional or special interest community, to identify the schools that might be a part of it, and to work toward a commitment from those schools to proceed to the scoping stage.

Develop a philosophical context
The reason for establishing an LCO should be grounded in sound educational thinking, and should have as its goal improved learning outcomes for the students involved. A statement that reflects this philosophical context should be developed and shared among potential cluster participants as part of the ‘buy-in’ process, so that there is a clear, shared understanding that underpins the establishment of the LCO. Consider the following as you develop this statement:

What are your shared beliefs about teaching and learning? How are these beliefs affected when considering: o education at a distance, o providers ‘untested’ by your school or student body, o them as a long-term and sustainable approach to education provision?

How do you see an LCO model benefiting your school, staff and students? What are the advantages of sharing staff expertise, resources, rolls etc over a wider campus than just one school? What are barriers to achieving this? Is there currently ‘competition’ between any of the schools that may raise issues?

Is your proposal based primarily on meeting the needs of students, or is it opportunistic in terms of the availability of the technology, staffing? (ie. What is really driving this proposal?)

What do you see as possible benefits to staff from the establishment of this LCO (eg. virtual staffrooms, staff support networks, professional development opportunities, resource sharing and moderation, team teaching opportunities, access to expertise and ‘outside the classroom’ experiences to enhance classroom programmes, increased skill/capability, shared intranets and/or infrastructure etc)

How might the establishment of an LCO infrastructure be used to benefit groups throughout your wider community (eg. Farmer/interest groups, medical centres, local industry groups, early and continuing education centres incl libraries, councils and administrative bodies etc)

What are the opportunities for LCO relationships to be used to foster learning opportunities for learners at all levels of the school (eg. early childhood/junior classes, adult education programmes, staff professional development and higher education, careers / life education / vocational and EOTC programmes)

Identify community of interest
Careful thought must be given to the grouping of schools that might participate in an LCO. A key factor likely to ensure the long term life of cluster, and therefore the level of ongoing commitment are the points of commonality that makes these schools natural allies. This may be as a result of existing networking relationships, for instance, membership of a local principals' association. Such clusters are considered to represent a geographic community of interest. Alternatively, the cluster may reflect special character networks or educational philosophy, such as schools that teach in Te Reo, Catholic schools, Montessori schools.

The size of the cluster is also important. Too many schools will make it logistically difficult to manage, while too few may not provide the necessary economy of scale to achieve the breadth of opportunity that is expected. Experience would suggest that 6 to 10 would be an ideal range, especially in the first few years, although as the clusters develop and mature this may of course change/ evolve.

Establish purpose Like the philosophical context, a clear articulation of the purpose of the LCO needs tobe given. This should clearly place the needs of students first, reflecting how the establishment of the LCO will provide better educational opportunities for these students while they remain in their local school. Considerations here include:
 * Is there a particular group of students/teachers as the benefit target (e.g. year12/13, disadvantaged, poor literacy, gifted/extension, ICT in the classroom)?
 * Is there a long-term need, or is this only a short-term solution?
 * How might the community develop beyond the immediate goals?
 * How will the establishment of this LCO contribute to the charter goals of the participating schools?

Set goals and principles
Once the above aspects have been considered, a succinct list of goals and principles for the cluster should be established. These may be altered or added to during future planning phases, but will serve to provide the basis upon which the members of the proposed LCO may proceed. This list will also serve as a key point of communication with the various school staffs, BOTs and other stakeholders. Goals:** - Who is this intended to benefit? How? - Will the benefits be only school or community based? - Economies of scale to provide what individual schools find difficult - Quality, expanded and flexible education provision, - learner-centred pedagogy - professional collaboration, - access to technology, resources and expertise, - enhancement to classroom programmes - building community … of lifelong learners - Development of strategies & resources to enhance & enrichment underpinning values & beliefs
 * Considerations here include:
 * Principles:**

What will be the priority if funding is limited? What happens if too many/too few schools want to participate? What happens if key personnel leave /are over committed?
 * Key questions:**

Agree membership
A clear understanding of who will participate is now important, so that a commitment to proceed to the next stage can be made. Once participating schools are agreed, key contacts within each school should be identified, and a regular, reliable & effective communication method established between those contacts. In addition to identifying the schools and school contacts, it may be possible that other groups or organizations within the community might benefit from the establishment of this network eg. Community groups, medical centres, local industry groups, early and continuing education institutions. A comprehensive canvassing of potential ‘partners’ in this initiative is advised at this stage, including both educational and noneducational. It is important that an open process of consultation is considered, as a closed approach may lead to the alienation of groups or individuals who are potentially critical partners in the venture.

Explore potential funding sources
The establishment of a Learning Community Online will require the commitment of additional funding to provide for both the initial scoping, start-up costs (installation of hardware, software, etc.) and the ongoing/maintenance costs (ISP and telecommunications charges, cluster coordination/management, staff professional development/student support etc.). Although too early in the process to make any formal commitments, it is advisable that potential sources of funding are explored at this stage, as this is likely to be one of the key questions that come up when schools are invited to make a commitment to proceed with the proposal.

Outcome: Commitment to proceed
Once the groundwork has been done, and agreement reached on the goals and principals as outlined above, potential participants need to make a formal commitment to proceed to the next stage - a full scoping of how your Learning Community Online might operate. This agreement is not a commitment to the full establishment of an LCO. That occurs at the end of the scoping stage and is a more formal and binding commitment. In making a commitment to proceed, schools may need to place a small amount of money in a common pool to enable those representing them to carry out the range of activities included in the scoping phase. This pool of money may be used to meet the costs of toll calls, visits to existing clusters, or bringing in people to speak to the local participants, and may pay for the time cost to collect and collate data and information to inform decision-making.