Networking across schools and between teachers is not new. From a tentative dipping of the professional toe into the waters of collaboration during the 1990s networking has burgeoned. This is particularly the case for the purposes of professional learning, the sharing and development of good practice, and the beneficial impact this can have upon student learning.
So, for instance, in the early years of this century Temperley and Goddard proclaimed: “The purpose of having a network of schools, its raison d’étre, is to improve pupil learning… Changing thinking and practice is the key to securing impact for pupils. Networks have the potential to create the conditions for this to occur.”[i]
Indeed, others, like David Hargraves, saw education networks as a sort of new creative frontier, the rich fertile ground from which advances and improvement will flourish: “Today, most innovation is the activity of networked teams, not individuals. Teachers need to share good practice and transfer it rapidly. Lateral networks do this more effectively than top-down hierarchies.”[ii]
Hargreaves’ reflection here also indicates that the proliferation of networking moved hand in hand with another growing movement - that of increasing school autonomy.[iii] As the new millennium progressed so did the growth in expectation that educational organisations working together in strategic partnerships and practical networks, would be central to future improvement in the whole system: “The pattern of education in England is shifting. Schools that once were islands are becoming connected. Indeed, it is increasingly rare to find outstanding schools that do not have a web of links with other schools. Competition remains, but now co-exists with collaboration and the creation of formal alliances through federations and chains.”[iv] But, crucially, alongside this, the Government at the time (and since) was keen to stress that this movement should be accompanied by increasing autonomy and diversity of schools and indeed with teachers themselves at the helm. [v]
Interestingly this was not just restricted to the UK but was an international phenomenon. A major finding of the Mckinsey report some years ago found that good headteachers across the world were using their increasing autonomy to help each other establish networks and clusters, which they then use for learning and development.[vi]