In this episode of Changing Conversations, I am joined by Kathleen Johnston - Education Manager, doctoral student and former Quality Improvement Manager for the Northern Alliance. Together, we explore what it really means to collaborate in education and what gets in the way.

From the promise and challenges of the Regional Improvement Collaboratives to the tension between policy intention and system reality, this is a conversation that opens up the complexity of working together in meaningful ways. Kathleen reflects on what she’s learned from both practice and research and how schools, leaders and systems can better create the conditions for collaborative improvement.

In this episode:

• The evolution and aims of the RICs in Scotland

• What meaningful collaboration looks and feels like

• The structures and relational dynamics that enable or inhibit it

• The role of research and reflection in understanding what works

• Why time, trust, and process matter

• Leading with bravery and clarity in busy, demanding systems

• What we can all learn by “unravelling collaboration” in our own contexts
  

Referenced in this conversation:

• Viviane Robinson – theories of action and engaged vs bypass models. Listen to an earlier conversation with Viviane here. 

• Jenny Donohoo – collective efficacy. Jenny also joined us for a conversation on this topic back in September 2020.