One key concern in the regeneration of Birmingham over recent years has been that of creating economic prosperity for residents whilst also creating ‘flourishing neighbourhoods’. These flourishing neighbourhoods are seen as small localities, each with its own distinct sense of place; where people are relatively happy to live; where public and private services are well delivered; where there is a strong
Tales made in Birmingham: a taster selection
As Birmingham’s contribution England’s national Year of Reading a number of very short fictional ‘tales’ were written especially to help promote reading to new readers. These were intended to be distributed as widely as possible to people in Birmingham and beyond. These writings were produced essentially for an adult audience, but have general appeal within that. These are (fictional) stories
Poems made in Birmingham: a taster selection
As Birmingham’s contribution to England’s national Year of Reading a number of new poems were written especially to help promote reading to new readers. These were intended to be distributed as widely as possible to people in Birmingham and beyond. These writings were produced essentially for an adult audience, but have general appeal within that. These were written in deliberate
Work and Wellbeing: some recent UK policy approaches
This article looks at some of the interrelationships between health, wellbeing, disability, employment and support. It is a brief overview of some aspects and, by no means, the definitive summary of all there is to say on these complex issues. It was produced as part-contribution to a conference in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada in May 2011. The paper looks at
Flourishing neighbourhoods: what contribution can learning make?
One key concern in the regeneration of Birmingham over recent years has been that of creating economic prosperity for residents whilst also creating ‘flourishing neighbourhoods’.
These flourishing neighbourhoods are seen as small localities, each with its own distinct sense of place; where people are relatively happy to live; where public and private services are well delivered; where there is a strong network of activity and were residents feel that they have some degree of influence over their lives and there is a sense of hope for a positive future.
A number of managers from different agencies, each with their own differing concern for neighbourhood renewal in Birmingham, explored what a flourishing neighbourhood might look like in terms of learning, and established what data might be needed to substantiate this.
A neighbourhood might be considered to be flourishing, in terms of learning, when:
There are large numbers of families in which children are given an early learning start:
- children have access to high quality learning experiences 0-3, in the home, in the community and in early learning organisations
- there are sufficient pre-school childcare places, including well-resourced, well- nursery places for all children wishing them (age 3-5)
- libraries and other community venues are well equipped and welcoming to families with children 0-5
- additional support is available to specific groups and families (such as those in hostels; refugee/asylum seeking families; those wanting to develop bilingual skills in young children; those in need of parenting support or advice; young children in public care etc)
- children enter school with adequate levels of language, literacy and a sense of number – as well as good emotional, social and behavioural skills.
There is high quality primary and secondary education available to young people who live in the neighbourhood
- there are sufficient school places in, or close to, the locality
- schools are reported as being of high quality, by internal and external reviews
- pupils readily attend school and are happy in schools which are secure, attractive and welcoming
- schools are well staffed, and have good resources and facilities across the curriculum
- schools act as reliable information, access and referral routes to other opportunities and services
- parents are able to support their children’s learning
There are interesting opportunities available out of schools:
- there is a variety of well used youth opportunities re leisure, art, sport, technology, citizenship, culture etc
- specialist 1:1 or small group support services exist for young people
- young people are involved in local decision-making
- libraries, supplementary schools etc are linked to mainstream schools and are well-equipped and well-staffed
- there is good access to ICT facilities in the home and in the community
- there are supported opportunities re mentoring, challenge, taking on community roles – by, and for, young people
There are high levels of skills achievement across all groups (11-25)
- young people have ‘access to significance’, being able to define a valuable set of activities for themselves
- there are no substantial gaps in achievement levels between different groups
- achievement rates at 11, 16, 19 are relatively high
- there are high proportions of people qualified at level 3 and level 4
- young people needing additional support know who to turn to
- young people make the transition from learning at 14 to continuing learning, in work training etc by age 19
- there are high levels of functional literacy, language, numeracy and ICT skills post-16
There are sufficient, appropriate opportunities to continue learning post-16
- libraries and adult learning venues are well staffed and well stocked with appropriate materials
- learning is available via a variety of loosely-linked organisations; in a variety of forms; and via a range if organisations
- ‘next step’ learning is accessible in terms of place, time, by ICT etc
- there are local training opportunities for adults wishing to take on community roles or be involved in community activities
- there are people who are sufficiently motivated about learning, that they act as learning advocates
- there is readily available information about learning opportunities
- there are ways of learning that can happen anywhere/anytime
- there are wide opportunities for families to learn together at a range of community sites
Throughout the neighbourhood there is an environment rich in stimulation and opportunity
- good use is made of media and ICT, for ‘own-time’ learning
- people seek out opportunities for change and improvement; people take responsibility for own learning
- there are openings for creativity and problem solving
- area looks beyond the immediate, tries to get a sense of the bigger picture
- homes and community venues are seen as places that stimulate learning
- there are opportunities (for all ages) to learn to be healthy, to be safe, to be ‘green’, to be involved, to be employable etc
- learning is related to art, sport, culture, spirituality, academic knowledge etc
- organisations in the area link up to support learning
- there is easy local access to the wider sets of social resources
There is a valuing of learning and of the variety of cultures
- there is promotion of ‘learning’ as well as ‘courses, programmes, and groups’
- ‘achievement for all’ is celebrated
- there is an expectation that provision will be high quality
- each learning opportunity is strongly able to create a further desire to learn
- draws on resources within different sectors; reflects a diversity of cultures and traditions
- learning is seen as a valuable tool – as a ‘solution’ not a ‘problem’
- people learn from each other and see themselves as having something to teach others
The above focused on the links between ‘learning’ and ‘flourishing’ at the neighbourhood level. There was acknowledgement that there are other factors associated with Flourishing and that some of the driving influences operate at the broader city or national level. At the same time the development of this potential framework was helpful in a number of ways:
- to feed into discussions about measurement of progress towards flourishing neighbourhoods (not only in terms of contributing to Birmingham as a learning city, but also contributing to the wider considerations of Birmingham as a safe place, an environmentally sustainable place, a healthy place, an economically secure place, and a place with good housing and transport etc).
- to advise local decision-makers about the best investments of local development money
- to feed into local planning mechanisms, in terms of what are the ‘puzzles’ (in terms of learning) for each area and what might the solutions be.
Tales made in Birmingham: a taster selection
As Birmingham’s contribution England’s national Year of Reading a number of very short fictional ‘tales’ were written especially to help promote reading to new readers. These were intended to be distributed as widely as possible to people in Birmingham and beyond. These writings were produced essentially for an adult audience, but have general appeal within that.
These are (fictional) stories told to an imaginary researcher. They capture fragments of the lives of each narrator, told from their own unique perspective. The ‘tales’ are also being brought together as an imagined account of social research under the ‘Sides and Edges’ heading. A selection is offered here as a taster. The full set is available as an e-book at the Amazon kindle site under the title ‘Made in Birmingham: The Tales’ by Geoff Bateson.
The taster collection of Tales can be dowbloaded here: Tales Collection 1
Poems made in Birmingham: a taster selection
As Birmingham’s contribution to England’s national Year of Reading a number of new poems were written especially to help promote reading to new readers. These were intended to be distributed as widely as possible to people in Birmingham and beyond. These writings were produced essentially for an adult audience, but have general appeal within that.
These were written in deliberate attempts to cover a range of lengths and styles. Some are meant to be taken quite lightly; others are meant to be lingered over. A selection of the poems is offered here as a taster. The full set is available as an e-book at the Amazon kindle site under ‘Made in Birmingham: The Poems’ by Geoff Bateson..
The introductory taster selection can be downloaded here: Poems_Collection_1
Work and Wellbeing: some recent UK policy approaches
This article looks at some of the interrelationships between health, wellbeing, disability, employment and support. It is a brief overview of some aspects and, by no means, the definitive summary of all there is to say on these complex issues. It was produced as part-contribution to a conference in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada in May 2011.
The paper looks at some of the positive effects of being in work, some changing perspectives and expectations, some of the context for adults with mental health difficulties, some of the context for adults with learning difficulties/disabilities, some of the things that help adults get (and stay) in work, and ends with a summary of some of the changes to the UK system.
The paper can be downloaded here: Wellbeing and employment
Birmingham: recent development activity relating to reading and writing
This article was produced at the same time as a talk given as part of Birmingham’s Book festival. It provided the audience with a summary overview of the diverse range of ways that Birmingham had been bringing about changes to levels of all-age reading and writing across the city. Most of the activities were whole-city changes to the way mainstream learning and teaching was delivered across Birmingham. Many were initiatives ‘Made in Birmingham’ that subsequently went national (and, in a few cases, international). The momentum behind the developments was created, and driven forward, jointly by the several major public services acting in partnership, since 1995, under the Birmingham Core Skills Development banner. The article can be downloaded here: Birmingham reading and writing developments
Where is all this reading and writing taking us?
This is the text of a talk given to the Birmingham Book Festival. It looks at the development of reading and writing over the ages, and the speed with which things are developing. It projects forward to speculate on what things might look like in the near future. There is a comparison of levels of reading ability and levels of writing ability in Birmingham. There is a brief look at the connections between reading/writing and teaching/learning and the links between those skills and society in general. The full article can be down loaded here: Where is all this reading and writing taking us?
Family Learning: Can it promote resilience in children and young people?
This article summarises the thinking that links family learning, resilience and the closing of educational gaps. It is based on some overview research commissioned by Core Skills Developments in Birmingham (UK). Insights are offered about how children can become motivated individuals. When educational settings actively engage parents directly in the learning and development of their children, and support parental involvement in learning in the home, children and young people are able to achieve greater attainments.
The report – final version can be downloaded here.
History of Castle Vale
Castle Vale is a modern housing area on the north-eastern edge of Birmingham (UK). It is unique in many ways and has gone through distinct sets of changes. The things that most people noticed on their first visit to the area, when it was first built as a housing estate, was the flat and open landscape and the very distinct boundaries which seemed to almost cut Castle Vale off from the rest of the city to make a little island of people. These features have recently been changed, and will continue to change into the future, but each change is dictated by past developments. To understand what an area is like now, it is important to understand its history. The history of the Castle Vale area can be traced backwards, layer by layer and then built up again as a sequential record of those things that made the place what it was at each stage of its development.
The history follows the changing fortunes of this one relatively small area of land from its beginnings as a swampy forest, through the feudal times of battling barons, through the growing industrialisation of Birmingham to the First World War, on through its life as an airfield, finally to the construction of the modern housing estate and the very recent improvements to that area. From time to time little excursions are taken into the wider history of the region but only in order to set the very local events within their wider setting and make them even more interesting than they already are.
The full history can be downloaded as a PDF here: History of Castle Vale
Gallery: a personal approach taken to photography
The pictures that will show in the gallery space, changing slowly from from time to time, were taken across a long period of time starting in the early 1970s. Those from the forty years to 2011 were all taken on film. At least half were taken using a fixed 50mm lens camera, which led to the development of an approach where the photography involved a direct contact with the subject matter – up close even if not personal (Very few are of people).
That was not the age of taking multiple shots and selecting the best one; nor a time of firing off some nearly-right shots and editing them later. There was no in-store do-it-yourself cropping; no same-day reprinting. Those early shots were taken in the awareness that there was a maximum of 36 shots on the film, the film was then processed by sending it off in an envelope and waiting a couple of tense weeks for the prints or slides to arrive back in the post, hoping that there were no wasted exposures. The feeling was that each shot had to be right first time. Composition was paramount; exposure was critical; depth of focus was vital.
The same discipline was applied after I upgraded to a single lens reflex camera with interchangeable lenses that covered the range from macro close-up to telephoto shots of distant objects.
Out of more than a thousand shots no more than six were given any post-development treatment (and these were ‘unwanted’ slides that were then deliberately ‘distressed’ manually). Although the original negatives and slides have been digitised for inclusion on this website, this has been done on an ‘as was’ basis ie with no onscreen manipulation, no use of photoshop or other software, no ‘messing’ with the original.
Photographs from 2011 onwards have tended to be digital but the original approach has remained with me – getting the shot right in the first place; no later manipulation other than some very minor cropping around the edges; and so on. I still feel that my photography needs to involve a close contact with whatever subject matter catches my eye.
Some thoughts on the approach to change
Over the years I have been involved in various larger-scale programmes meant to change the ways that services get provided in a big and complex city. As part of the ongoing evaluation of one of these, the partnership I worked through was challenged to make more explicit its change-model. If it was bringing about system-wide change, how did it think it was it doing it? There seemed to be four interconnecting strands.
Although these applied at the whole-partnership level there may be value in looking at any use the ‘tools’ listed may have in other contexts (eg at the level of a single organisation; within a family, at the personal interactions level) changing the wording slightly to match each context.
1. Making use of factors influencing for change
There was an early recognition that the partnership was being established at a time of rapid change and that it would not be able to work in isolation. It would need to be highly alert to its environment. By its very nature it was driven by, and in turn added momentum to, the planning processes within the several major service provider agencies in the city each of which had its own set of agendas and priorities outside of coming together as partners to focus on one specific set of developments. The partnership arrangements were established at a time of rapid national policy change and was expected to forge a way forward through the national changes that would have impacts across the area. The partners, collectively, needed to be rapidly responsive to (and able to feed back into) shifting national and local developments.
There was a shift to be made in the way that the partner agencies worked. All of them were ‘traditional’ formal, managerial organisations used to fixed annual planning cycles, with budgets allocated annually against predetermined headings. Responding in more agile ways as contexts changed around them would imply a different way of doing things that might not sit easily with their established routines.
Tools used:
- Turning any national and local reviews, reports and evaluations into a checklist of action points re changes to be made within partner agencies’ own activities
- Regularly scanning horizons for changes and updating (e.g. checking internet ‘latest’; ensuring local receipt of key documents; securing appropriate involvement in national and local key groups)
- Reading the ‘waves’; knowing what is coming re changes in local and national arrangements and strategies; interpreting wider trends for the local context, allowing partners to be in the right place when waves of change swept across the area.
- Keeping some capacity for rapid reaction and repositionings of resources; not tying everything up so tightly that agility became impossible
- Covering changed emphases through short term flexible team attachments; having a strong centrally-directed ‘project development’ approach
- Close financial monitoring and continuous redeployment of resources to best effect
- Setting times for outcome/vision focusing, ‘Where was it we were supposed to be getting to?’; identifying ‘distance still to be travelled’
- Target setting, not as tick-box items that might get ‘artificially’ met but as aspirations to be collectively achieved in terms of real changes to services or improvements in outcomes for groups of people; having an approach to action planning that was flexible and adaptable as the year went on
2. Managing change
The reasons the various agencies had agreed to work in partnership was partly driven by the availability of some shared resources (although previous models had seen one agency simply holding all the money and asking the others to join them in a required list of partners but not playing any active role after that), but mostly because of a shared commitment early on that things in the city needed to be changed and that this could only be done in collaboration, if real structural progress was to be made over the long term. There was a moral dimension as well as a pragmatic one.
Some necessary early principles were worked on:
• The need to reiterate a common, consistent, transparent purpose; keeping to the same overall aim of changing the ways that mainstream services operate
• Consistent leadership: pushing for change whilst appreciating the constraints that different agencies were working with
• Repeated messages: establishing a culture of change that all could agree with
• Strategic objectives: identifying a small number of key levers of change and using these as a framework for agreeing development activities year on year
• Steerage: actively engaging particular senior managers from partners, those with the power to immediately change things within their own organisation
• Flexible development team, not seconded to the partnership but continuing to work within their home organisation, but able to be brought together as necessary to focus on specific common issues: people with the ability to directly operationalise change back on the ground
• Retaining sufficient/adequate resources to be able to respond when opportunities arise to push changes through ; includes keeping any central infrastructure/expenditure as small as possible so resources aren’t spent on internal processes
• Ensuring reputation is built up through practice rather than through promotions (More of a ‘Get down to work’ focus than over-concern with high profile launches/publicity)
• Recognising the respective roles both of partners and of the partnership ways of working; working in ways to avoid the development of ‘boundary wars’ between partners by stressing the common cause
Tools used:
- Early agreement of key principles and systems
- Use of key intermediaries from partners, loosely attached as a network of knowledgeable practitioners/developers able to focus on partnership’s objectives from within the day-to-day work of their own organisation
- Annual business planning, in shifting context – identifies the agreed progress to be made each year
- Appraisal of development proposals by someone other than the organisation responsible for delivery
- Partnership represented within key steering groups; planning groups – able to influence things at their early stages of developments
- Communications promote the work of partners (as much as promoting the partnership) keeping a focus on broad developments
- Partnership level reviews undertaken of various aspects re strategic objectives. Partnership mechanisms reviewed annually
- Early ’system compliance’ work done to ensure that partners aren’t distracted by having to constantly do later remedial work
3. Leverage on Partners
The partnership was set up to operate through its partners rather than take on a high-profile role for itself. This was quite different from previous partnership arrangements which had spent energy and resources on having their own building, their own dedicated large team of staff, their own separate structures, and a clear identity that others were expected to subscribe to etc. The partnership referred to here was to remain in the background, to be more of a way of operating rather than a visible structure, yet have powerful leverage on the plans and actions of the varied partners.This required some mechanisms for influencing partner organisations at a number of levels. This would entail leverage on the content of organisational plans; but would also mean exerting some leverage on the style of planning: taking organisations away from fixed annual planning, action charts etc towards looser, more flexible, more uncertain ways of aiming to bring about widespread changes to mainstream Activities.
Through a 3 level matrix of influence with partners (‘strategy’ level;
‘management’ level and ‘doing’ level), the partnership was able to impact on:
• Staffing capacity for change within partners
• Leadership for change within partners
• Culture/language of change within partners
• Inter-relationships between partners
• Quality of planning within partners
• Effectiveness of operational mechanisms within partners
• Use of partners’ own resources for development
• Quality standards in partners’ own provider networks
• Establishing and maintaining the reputation of partners i.e. partners’ capacity to implement change
Tools used:
- Annual agreements between partners re the ‘next steps’ changes and each agency’s contribution to these developments (and how feasible and cost effective these were)
- Quarterly monitoring of progress to keep momentum going; to identify any potential underspend for reallocation
- Tracking back to identify the remaining ‘gap to outcome’ – stress ‘getting there’ re strategic objectives
- Working back from target outcomes – focus on numbers still to be worked with in order to get ‘whole system’ progress; no falling back on small-scale projects when things get difficult
- ‘At the right time’ conversations across sets of people who are the best ones to focus on a specific issue, taking a task-and-finish approach. Few regularly scheduled meetings other than the minimum number needed for good governance.
- Reviews at level of broad developments, each covering a range of developments within different agencies
- ‘Whole system’ querying rather than worrying about small activity detail
- Central structures kept small, and things done right, so that energies can go on ‘futures thinking’
4. Key phrases are used to establish working culture
Most of the agencies’ core role was to ensure the effective delivery of their own programmes (at certain quality standards) for target client groups. ‘Changing the system’’ needed a different way of thinking, and work needed to be done via the Partnership re ‘thinking for change’. This required a ‘language for change’ – in the sense of a set of frequently repeated phrases used between partners to establish a culture:
• being well positioned in shifting landscapes
• keeping stable relationships with each partner, even where relationships between partners are not strong
• the basic operating rules are well known, and complied with
• promoting change as ‘opportunity’ as well as ‘necessity’
• communicating a compelling purpose for change – keeping an eye on ‘what’s it all for?’
• inspiring trust, through behaviours … ‘this is the way we do things, isn’t it…’
• adequate resources, deployed in agreed framework; ensuring that ‘money’ doesn’t become the main discussion. Money (once adequate) is not as important as having properly planned ways forward
Tools used:
- Rehearsing the track record of changes brought about – consolidating the success of ‘how far we have come together’
- Repeated emphasis on work through the partners– it’s not about
the partnership as a separate entity
- Emphasis on getting there – descriptions of ‘how will we know when we’ve got there?’; ‘distance still to go’ – in terms of desired outcomes for groups of people (even if the exact directon and speed of travel remained relatively uncertain).
- Strategies clear yet flexible to use in context – kept to consistently repeated strategic objectives/purposes – not bogged down in fine detail of activity
- ‘Bigger picture’ regularly rehearsed – ‘what was it we were supposed to be doing? How does it all fit together?’
- Support collaboration across agencies; language is that of ‘joint collaborative …’ etc – dampening down ‘fragmented, competitive…’ etc
- Right mix of leadership and management; linkage between bigger ‘directional’ statements and day to day ‘operational’ statements. Not all vague intents.
- Keeping ‘progress’ the topic of discussions/meetings/plans/reports rather than letting agendas become dominated by a focus only on the money.
- Critical friend role – challenge and support; stressing partnership not as an organisation, or as a funding mechanisms – but as a function that supports organisations re change, but also pushes them to do that bit more.
This has outlined the responses when challenged to make more explicit our approach to bringing about system-wide change, across a range of partner agencies’ service deliveries, within a large and complex city through joint working across several years. It tries to capture the approaches taken as well as highlighting some of the specific mechanisms/tools that were consistently applied in order to maintain credible momentum for change.