Creating the future of improving teaching quality and student wellbeing through the dynamic approach to school improvement

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This project aims to consolidate the impact of my PhD through producing publications, developing networks, formulating funding proposals, and improving my research and professional skills.The purposes of my PhD work are to identify levels of teaching quality based on the dynamic approach to school improvement (DASI) (Creemers, Kyriakides, & Antoniou, 2013), and to identify contextual factors that may be relevant to Taiwan to investigate teachers' authentic needs, and to provide tailored professional development programmes for teachers. Another purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between teaching quality, teacher background characteristics and perceptions, student background characteristics, and student achievement.To maximise the impact of my PhD research, I have designed a comprehensive communication, outreach and impact strategy that will engage a wide range of stakeholders. During the project I will submit at least two articles to influential journals, helping to establish a track record for my future career in academia. I will also give presentations at national and international conferences. Attending conferences will not only disseminate my work, but also provide the opportunity to network with academics and practitioners in similar fields or conducting related projects. In addition, I propose to deliver talks at the Cambridge Faculty of Education, Darwin College and the Cambridge Festival of Education, creating opportunities for me to meet practitioners and academics from different fields, bringing different approaches which can build into something greater and broaden my way of thinking in my field of study. As is demonstrated by a review of recent literature, DASI has been applied to reducing bullying (e.g., Kyriakides & Creemers, 2013), but this model has not been used in preventing wellbeing problems and promoting wellbeing. Since bullying is cross-related to wellbeing, it can be argued that significant positive results could be produced through the use of DASI. In the next step of my PhD, I will conduct a pilot with primary school teachers in Cambridge to adapt strategies for promoting pupil's wellbeing according to DASI. The results of this pilot will be applied in my future British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships project. I will deliver talks associated with my pilot to primary schools and the Blue Smile charity, disseminating my results and furthering their impact and encouraging future collaboration. I will also engage directly with the public during the project by participating in public events such as the Cambridge Science Festival. Social media such as blogs or magazines will be used to promote both my PhD research and the pilot to the public.Furthermore, I plan to have a meeting with Dr Michelle Jayman at the University of West London to meet other internationally leading school wellbeing research teams. Through meeting them, I will have an opportunity to network with school wellbeing experts for future collaboration. This will also provide an opportunity for me to test my ideas regarding using DASI in improving student wellbeing.I will also attend a number of quantitative and qualitative skills training courses and professional development training within the period of ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships. These training courses will help me extend my expertise in quantitative and qualitative skills, and build the competence necessary to ensure my work has maximal impact. During the fellowship, I will also broaden my teaching and supervising experiences to prepare for my future career in academia. When the project is completed, I will collect statistics and feedback forms from all the initiatives to produce a synthesised report on the impact of my research for presentation to the ESRC. Carrying out this project will greatly enhance my capabilities and academic career prospects, particularly regarding applying for grants or obtaining a position at a top UK university