Conceptualising collaboration for educational change: the role of leadership and governance

ABSTRACT

This paper critically examines the concept of collaboration, and how it can be mobilised in policy and practice in the pursuit of educational change in the context of the Scottish education system. Policy analysis and interviews with primary school headteachers highlighted the lack of definitional agreement but common conceptual characteristics of collaboration, and the implications of this for how it is led and governed in the pursuit of change. Highlighted in this paper is the complex interplay between forms of, influences on, and drivers of collaboration and how this results in varied outcomes of it. It is argued that collaboration across systems should be focused, purposeful, and supported with high levels of trust from those involved or enabling it to happen, and meso- and macro-level structures which are flexible to enable diverse forms of collaboration to emerge. This paper presents a framework for collaboration that supports the complex consideration of the interrelated domains of forms, influences, and drivers of collaboration, and the leadership practices and governance arrangements necessary for collaboration to lead to improvement and change.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaboration
• leadership
• governance
• forms
• drivers
• influences

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a Research Bursary from the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS).

Notes on contributors

Paul Campbell

Paul Campbell is a research assistant professor of Education Policy and Leadership at the Education University of Hong Kong. He is the associate programme leader for the Executive Master of Arts in International Educational Leadership and Change. Paul’s research interests are at the intersection of leadership, collaboration, and educational change.