“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” ~ Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company
Collaboration. The word I suspect we are hearing most at the events and meetings we attend, in the books and articles we read, and in the conversations we have. There are very few people who would argue against collaboration and the critical role it plays if we are to deliver on the ultimate ambition for education – to ensure that all children and young people have access to a high quality, inclusive education. Whether it’s collaborating internally within our trusts and schools or externally with other trusts and organisations, the principle of collaborating is one that most across the sector (and beyond it) fully buy into and support. We all recognise that during times of severe financial constraint, limited resources and the introduction of new stakeholders (such as RISE teams) and the expansion of new technologies (such as AI) that collaboration is the only way that we can navigate this landscape effectively.
Yet, how many times have we heard the words ‘we must collaborate’, ‘I’m committed to collaborating’ or something similar and those words haven’t then been translated into action? Or the work together has gotten off to a good start, but the momentum dissipates and the work around collaboration drops down the priority list when other, more urgent work arises. So what gets in the way of meaningful, sustainable collaboration? And what role can trust leaders play in supporting its development, particularly within a world and context that is much-changed from where it was a decade ago?
To start unpicking this, we must begin by reflecting on some of the important work and thinking that has gone before this and build on the thinking from there. Here is a short precis below to remind us of some examples of great work in this space over the last decade (and more).
