Leading educational partnerships What’s new? What’s difficult? What’s the reward? Professor Ann Briggs Newcastle University

What’s new? Partnership working is currently an anchor-point for Government policy in many public-sector areas, including education ‘The term covers a range of working arrangements, which involve multiple organisations, agencies, groups and individuals working collaboratively of co—operatively to achieve common goals or purposes’ Audit Commission, 1998 Educational partnerships have been seen as ‘the indefinable in pursuit of the unachievable’ Powell and Dowling, 2006

Educational partnerships  Extended schools  Children’s Centres  Federations  School improvement partnerships  Knowledge transfer partnerships  Multi-agency working  Networked learning communities  partnerships

Nature of leadership Single-organisation leadership: the organisation is at the heart of a cluster of providers, working for the benefit of learners in a single institution Collaboration between single organisations: may be of mutual benefit, but each institution is led separately Collaborative leadership: leaders have joint responsibility and accountability for a range of learner outcomes Collaborative leadership is not simply a ‘bigger model’ of single-organisation leadership

The nature of collaboration Degree of strategic vision Degree of group identity / area identity Enduring organisational structure of collaboration Significant professional collaborative activity Penetration below senior leader level Strategic innovation Normalisation of collaboration as part of the culture Adapted from Woods et al (2006)

Research base for this paper The baseline study for education in England, funded by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in ‘Leading partnerships for education:’ research funded by the Centre for Excellence in Leadership in Interim and final evaluations of the Flexible Curriculum Programme in Tyne and Wear, funded through Gateshead Borough Council in 2007 and 2008

What’s difficult? Government policy encourages single-organisation accountability and competition between providers Leaders who have largely developed their professional experience in single-institution models of leadership may find it hard to adapt to strongly collaborative ways of working Leaders at all levels of the organisation have to understand and adapt to collaboration, not just senior leaders The effect of difference between the cultures of collaborating organisations should not be underestimated

English Educational Partnerships Learning and Skills Councils Training agencies Employers Local Authorities Universities SchoolsColleges Connexions Service Charities

Tensions barriers ambiguities Ambivalence and fear of risk Resource issues Level of workforce development Time to build partnership activity Power issues Contradictory Government policies Level of trust between partners Multiple agendas Differing cultures Logistical issues Communication issues Single-institution models of strategy and operation

What’s the reward? No one organisation can provide for all the complex needs of learners Collaborative working brings benefits to the partner organisations and their communities, to staff and – most importantly – to learners Collaborating under conditions of mutual and joint accountability opens up new ways of conceptualising and enacting leadership

Benefits to organisations and staff Partners learn from one another and share best practice Opportunity for collective planning, increasing the strengths of each partner Cost-effective and coherent curriculum and systems of underpinning support Wider staff development opportunities and career structures Improved senior and middle leadership Adapted from Arnold, 2006

Potential benefits for learners Variety of types of provision Specialist facilities Mix with other learners Individualised provision Difference of learning culture Increased autonomy Increased curriculum range Focus on the learner not the organisation

Potential benefits for learners Mix with other learners Individualised provision Increased learner autonomy Improved self- image Increased independence Social benefits of learning Improved teacher / learner relationship Increased stimulation Increased aspiration Variety of specialist facilities and learning locations Range of learning cultures Increased curriculum range Increased chance of relevance Better match of learner to provision Improved engagement Improved achievement

Collaborative leadership Mutual trust Understanding partner organisations Common purpose Accepting others’ leadership Government policy & resource Compatible cultures Flexible systems Shared expertise Partnership energy Collective responsibility Individual partner benefit

Collaborative leadership Mutual trust Mutual understanding of partner organisations Focus on common purpose Accepting others’ leadership Government policy and resource Compatible cultures Flexible systems Shared expertise Partnership energy Collective responsibility Benefit to individual partners Collective responsiveness Organisations Leaders and staff Aligned organisational goals Inclusive, collective decision-making

New models of leadership  Multi-faceted, not generic  Based on mutual trust and experience of partnership working at all levels of leadership  Democratic and facilitative, not competitive and hierarchical  Focus on equity, mutuality and shared purpose