Summary of the impact

This research addresses the long-recognised need for the development of collaborative research to develop shared understandings across professional groupings in local authorities. It has had major impact on policy and decision making at strategic and operational levels on the development and management of inter-professional partnerships in local authorities and public service agencies in the North West of England. It has also enabled substantial financial savings by improving decision making through developing inter-professional management strategies, and led to the growth of an international network of scholars through a Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the development of two research scholarships in conjunction with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and two Academy Schools in Cheshire and Merseyside.

Underpinning research

2.1 This case study examines the impact of the work of Hulme (Professor, University of Chester, 2006-present), particularly via the Research Unit for Trans-professionalism, and that of Garratt (Reader later Professor, University of Chester, 2010-present) and McKay (Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer, University of Chester, 2010-present) on the organisation and content of professional education for teachers, social workers, sports coaches, fire fighters and other public service professionals. The work of the Unit was developed strategically in order to maximise impact through drawing on inter-disciplinary expertise and the University's capacities for knowledge mobilisation across institutional and professional boundaries. This interdisciplinary work demonstrates that the University has a distinctive contribution to make in building and sustaining partnerships for public service across the diverse communities it serves.

2.2 Our work provides evidence that the most effective policy initiatives in public service provision are locally owned, stakeholder-led and collaborative. For systems-level change within organisations there needs to be alignment between policy priorities, professional development and self-evaluation.

2.3 Our work has contributed to the general understanding and local implementation of decision making in the development of integrated working in local authorities and public service agencies particularly local authorities in the North West of England and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.

2.4 The outputs draw upon a series of inter-related research projects between 2008 and 2013. All of which utilised qualitative methodologies, including a series of in depth interviews with significant decision makers. Specifically:

• 12 of the 24 Directors of Children's Services in the North West of England - six of whom were interviewed in 2008 and again in 2012 and 50-60 practitioners including managers and leaders in services ranging in social services and schools including `Master class' workshops at the North of England Education Conference in 2009
• 50 interviews with sports coaches (representing a range of age, experience, performance levels, employment status and gender), and a further 10 with PE teachers from a range of contexts and at different stages of their career. There were also 3 group interviews as well as further discursive interviews conducted with managers, administrators, and policy makers responsible for both specific sports and sporting provision more generally, including oversight of child protection and safeguarding.

2.5 The research offers insights from commonly constructed professional knowledge on CPD programmes, and bespoke events managed in conjunction with local authorities and associated service partners to specifically address the need to create multi-professional teams. The strategy involved implementing inter-professional working, as required of local authorities, through Every Child Matters (2003), and to evaluate the impact of inclusive strategies in education, most specifically in partnership with Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.

2.6 The policy theory underpinning the cited work has been established through the development and dissemination of newly created international networks at the AERA 2009-13 and ISEC 2010, at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry 2011, Radical Foucault: An International Conference, British Educational Research Conference symposium 2012, International Conference of Discourse, Power, Resistance 13 - Discourses of Inclusion and Exclusion.

2.7 The team's on-going research has given rise to and is supported by the EU FP 7 Population Alert project (EU 608030), ESRC funded projects (RES-000-22-4156) and HEIF Knowledge transfer funding in association with partners. These include local government, the voluntary sector, public service management agencies, such as the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, and collaborations with research partners in other universities in the UK, Europe and North America

References to the research

The work of Garratt cited above is published in a range of international calibre journals, with high impact factor ratings of 1.172 (Sport, Education and Society) and 1.217 (Journal of Education Policy). In the former case of Sport, Education and Society, the two pieces were published from the findings of a recently completed ESRC funded project and further disseminated as part of a special edition of the journal. The work of Hulme, McKay and Cracknell (Education Management and Leadership -impact factor 0.398 and Journal al of Education Action Research) was supported by grants from the Society of Education Studies (£3,000) and the ESRC: Teaching and Learning Research Project (RES-069-25-0008), (£5,000) with two further ESRC Higher Education Innovation Fund Knowledge Transfer awards totalling £46.000. The Hulme, Cracknell and Owens article has been embedded on training programmes co-constructed with the authors in local authorities across the North West of England and on multi-professional training programmes in Canada and cited by scholars in Holland, Japan, Finland, Spain, Australia and the USA.

Details of the impact

4.1 Decision making in local authorities and public agencies

4.1.1 One of the most significant applications of applied policy work of this type has been on decision making in local authorities. This has ranged from assisting local authorities and associated agencies in developing approaches to constructing and maintaining multi-disciplinary teams to respond to the requirements of ECM or to cultivate new ways of working for teachers, sports coaches or fire-fighters. As such, it has offered a perspective for decision makers in areas where there is a lack of precedent. Developing new ways of working in environments external to the authority can help to save time and money and to break down blockages and delays in embedding policy.

4.1.2 Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service — The research team's partnership work with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and a series of HEIF Knowledge Transfer projects totalling £80,000 between 2008 and 2013, was instrumental in the University of Chester's invitation to be involved in the EU Framework 7 FP7 Population Alert Project. The project, involving 8 European partners which will commit £1.4 million over three years to investigate inter-professional and inter-cultural responses to major crises. CFRS have seconded a Senior Research and Development Officer to work collaboratively with Hulme and McKay in developing the research and embedding its outcomes in a review of management systems.

4.1.3 Developing Knowledge for Policy Implementation on Multi-professional Working the work of Hulme and Cracknell was instrumental in the University of Chester hosting the North of England Education Conference in 2009, which was addressed by the then Secretary of State for Children Families and Schools, Ed Balls. The conference featured master classes in decision making for Directors of Children's Services. 10 DCS from across England took part.

• HEIF KT funded projects workshops on developing policy responses for multi professional working in 2011/12, addressed by Maggie Atkinson, Children's Commissioner for England and Professor Helen Gunter, University of Manchester. The Commissioner acknowledged the importance of our event in the co-constructed knowledge in preparing the children's workforce.
• The Unit's work with local authorities attracted a workshop within the ESRC Area Based Initiatives. Addressed by Professors Mel Ainscow and Alan Dyson, Manchester, the focal point was the co-ordination of local authority and agency work in developing effective urban policy.

4.2 Professional Training / CPD

4.2.1 A further area of significant impact is on professional training, particularly where there is a need to enhance professional knowledge. Hulme focused on working across boundaries, Garratt's work on safeguarding is responding to significant areas of policy change. The work of the team has impacted on the structure and content of training for teachers and social workers at the University via the following events/research trajectories:

4.2.2 Learn Together Partnership 2008-9 with Wirral MBC, featuring collaboratively designed training for multi-professional leaders in building multi-professional teams.

4.2.3 Two ESRC TERN funded workshops, in 2009 and 2010, on embedding multi-professional working in teacher education. These featured contributions from Michael Eraut, Jean Murray and others. The latter featured work developed by Hulme in conjunction with teacher educators at the University of Chester. This work influenced the shape of research training in post graduate teacher education at Chester

4.2.4 A further two HEIF funded workshops (in 2012 and March 2013) on multi -disciplinary work with children and Young People — with a focus on hybridity in coaching and mentoring roles in training in teacher education and social work were addressed by Prof Nick Frost and Professor Marion Jones.

4.2.5 `Looking Beneath the Surface' — A Multi-Professional Safeguarding Conference in May 2013 to provide opportunities for delegates to explore inter-disciplinary/inter-professional practice.

4.2.6 The University has developed five successful Professional Doctorate pathways, with a multi-professional focus attracting health, social work and education professionals. The focus has been on embedding collaborative professional enquiry to develop the creation of new knowledge for professional enquiry

4.3 International Impact

Hulme has contributed to the construction of international perspectives on embedding multi-professional working. His leadership of the Education Health and Human Services SIG at the American Educational Research Association (to which he offered a keynote paper at the AERA Conference in Denver in 2010) has brought the opportunity to work with senior scholars including Hal Lawson at OISE Toronto in exploring the relationship between local and regional policy structures and multi-professional training which has impacted on the content of training for teachers and health workers in Canada.

Sources to corroborate the impact

5.1 Statement from the Director of Children's Services, Stockport and Chair of the Association of Directors of Children's Services
Refers to the work underpinning the Hulme, McKay and Cracknell article in the Journal of Educational Management. Administration and Leadership, (3.3) specifically the importance of developing and sharing `practice wisdom' for decision making amongst DCS. (4.1)

5.2 Statement from the Director of Children's Services, Bury Metropolitan Authority 2004-2012 DCS Southport 2013
Refers to the work underpinning the Hulme, McKay and Cracknell article in the Journal of Educational Management. Administration and Leadership, and the Education Action Research Journal. (3.2 and 3.3) The Director has played a full part in the co-constructed training programmes and the funded workshops referred to above. (2.4 and 2.5)

5.3 Statement from the Head of Research and Development, CFRS
Refers to all the work cited on multi-professional team building and organisational change and our jointly managed PhD studentship supervised by Hulme and Garratt (2.3, 2.6, 4.1)

5.4 Statement from the Lead member Wirral MBC (with supporting Wirral MBC cabinet minutes)
Refers to the work of Garratt and McKay on special needs policy implementation and the work of McKay PMLD evaluation work. (2.5,3.4, 4.1,4.2)

5.5 Statement from SIG Chair, American Educational Research Association
Refers to the embedding of the work of Hulme (3.2 and 3.3) on programmes in Canada and impact provided by his leadership of the Education, Health and Human Services Linkages SIG at the AERA. (4.3)