I could write reams about the value of collaboration over competition, but I’d be preaching to the choir - teachers and school leaders know that the best advice comes from others who have tackled the same challenges.
Inter-school cooperation is written into policy in national schools commissioner Sir David Carter’s vision of a system-led collaborative culture, but it’s already happening across the country. But it’s not enough to collaborate - we must collaborate effectively.
Collaborations based on enthusiasm and goodwill alone can be ill-defined. When leaders jump into working together without discussing what they want and what will make it work, students benefit less.
Having a hard conversation at the start can help create a collaboration with greater impact.
Here are five foundations that will set a collaboration up for success.
1. Purpose: be clear on why you are collaborating and what you are going to get from it. I have found three common types: one-way support; two-way mutual learning and co-creation. All are valid and important, but clarity on purpose means both parties have a clear understanding of their role and the benefits. Be clear about who owns the work and how it will be used.
2. Time and resource: every collaboration requires an investment of time, and potentially money, so plan for this. Write collaborations into performance objectives, and allocate time and budget. Discussing and agreeing up front will ensure both parties feel their investment is recognised further down the line.
3. Evidence: if you are going to another school to see a particular piece of practice, make sure you know that it has had an impact on pupils. Too much sharing of practice occurs without clarity on this point. Sharing what has not worked can be just as useful, but you need to know where this is the case. In addition, time out of school is time away from your pupils, so you must articulate and measure how the collaboration is going to benefit them.
4. Risks and governance: don’t be afraid to talk about what might go wrong, as it’s better to have these discussions up front.
5. Leadership: recognise that collaboration requires new leadership skills. You are likely to be working as peers, without any formal line management, so you are going to have to listen actively, observe more, ask questions and reach collective decisions. None of this is easy, but it can be a learning opportunity.
I said I wouldn’t preach to the choir, but forgive me if I do so just a little: effective collaborations are vital for our education system to improve. School leadership is hard, but with support it can also be immensely rewarding. We need to make sure that every teacher, middle or senior leader, headteacher, executive headteacher and multi-academy trust chief executive has the support they need to make a positive impact on students.
Where competition is rife, someone always loses out. We cannot afford for children to fail, least of all those who are most disadvantaged. But where leaders support each other effectively, everyone in schools benefits.
James Toop is chief executive designate of the Future Leaders Trust and Teaching Leaders
