‘New Perspectives…’ offers the opportunity to engage, personally and over time, with an experienced, innovative consultant, reflecting, and working, on priorities set by the school and the individuals concerned. While Tony Eaude leads most of the ‘New Perspectives …’ programmes and courses himself, other professionals may also be involved, especially where a focus on inter-agency working and complex change in organisations is required. In particular, Jude Egan, an experienced Social Work Manager and Family Therapist, can offer insight into the specific needs of vulnerable children and working with different support agencies.
INTRODUCING TONY EAUDE
Dr. Tony Eaude has worked in three different LEAs during a career of over twenty-five years as a teacher and headteacher. From 1989 to 1998, he was headteacher of SS. Mary and John First School in the City of Oxford, a Church school serving a multi-ethnic community. During that time he served as Chair of Oxford City Primary and Nursery Headteachers and on several other local groups supporting work in relation to the needs of bilingual children, the role of teaching assistants and the role of action research in schools. In 1991-2, he was part of an inter-LEA project developing materials in relation to personal and professional development. Tony Eaude’s experience as a headteacher provides a valuable perspective on issues such as staff development, curriculum breadth and balance, school development and resource planning and working with governors and parents.
Tony Eaude moved from headship in 1998 to take an M.Sc. in Educational Research Methodology, and then a D.Phil. at the Department of Educational Studies, University of Oxford which looked at how teachers of young children understand spiritual development. Since completing his doctorate, he has been associated with the same department. For some five years between 1998 and 2004, he worked part-time as Regional Coordinator of the National Primary Centre, leading and managing collaborative action research projects through to publication. The two most substantial were ‘Learning Leaders and Leading Learners’ for nineteen experienced headteachers and a project for eleven middle leaders in primary schools, both funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Charitable Foundation. He trained as an Ofsted Team Inspector and has conducted several Section 23 inspections of collective worship in Church schools. Until 2015, he taught part-time in a local primary school.
Tony Eaude is passionate about bridging the gap between the insights of research and the day to day complexity of the classroom. He has written and published for a wide range of audiences. Tony Eaude’s publications are listed on this website. These range from his doctoral thesis and associated academic articles to brief reviews and articles for teachers in publications such as Primary Practice and the Education Review and publications for teachers, several resulting from collaborative action research projects. He is a member of the executive committee of the International Association of Children’s Spirituality and is the Books Review Editor for the International Journal of Children’s Spirituality. In November 2014, he visited Tehran, Iran to work with teachers and headteachers. During 2015, he chaired, and spoken at, four conferences on British Values, following the new expectation on schools to promote Fundamental British Values. In June 2017, he was the 2017 lecturer for the Philosophy for Educational Renewal Group. In 2018, he gave the Christian Schiller lecture and did so again at the NAPE conference on March 8th 2021. This was on the theme of ‘Why a balanced and broadly-based curriculum matters –particularly for young children and those from disadvantaged backgrounds’. The text and a video of the lecture and other presentations at the conference can be seen on https://www.nape.org.uk/post-conference-slides A summary was published in Primary First and the full text can be accessed by contacting him at tony@edperspectives.org.uk. In December 2019, he consulted to Arigatou International on children’s spirituality and what this might entail in relation to their work on the reduction of violence to children.
WHAT ‘NEW PERSPECTIVES…’ OFFERS
‘New Perspectives…’ offers a range of courses and programmes which link personal and professional development with school improvement priorities. Some are appropriate for individual schools. However, several, especially the programmes, are likely to be of particular interest to LEAs, Education Action Zones and other bodies and local partnerships charged with school improvement across a range of schools. Building on his experience leading projects encouraging heads and teachers to set up, and evaluate the impact of, developmental initiatives, Tony Eaude offers support in such projects. Emphasising the link between teachers’ personal and professional development and school improvement, he offers a range of strategies to help schools create and develop themselves as learning communities, combining systematic and rigorous planning and evaluation with sensitivity to the school’s own context and stage of development. Given that school improvement happens primarily in the ‘space between’ external interventions, the programmes are offered over a sustained period, of up to a year, allowing time for reflection and action, in the school context, with the consultant offering only ‘light-touch’ support. Recognising the variety of stages of development and the constraints on resources, in terms both of money and time, the courses can all be tailored to the particular needs of an area or a school. Personal contact can be supplemented, where required, by support by email and phone.
Two main sorts of course are offered, both of which can be customised to your requirements:
Thinking Through Pedagogy which consist of several linked sessions; and
New Perspectives on … which are one-off courses, on a set theme, of which thirteen are currently on offer.
There are also two programmes of up to one-year’s duration, called:
New Perspectives on…
The rationale, audience, timescale and commitment required and intended outcomes are outlined on the appropriate page. A summary of more general consultancy services available is available by following Consultancy.
To discuss any of these, and how they can be most useful in your own context, please feel free to contact ‘New Perspectives…’, Dr Tony Eaude, 6 Long Wall, Littlemore, Oxford, OX4 4PG on 01865 711135 (phone/fax) or tony@edperspectives.org.uk
