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Purpose-The purpose of this paper is two fold. First, it is to reflect on the development of professional capital in a three three-year collaborative school improvement initiative that used collaborative inquiry within, between and beyond schools in an attempt to close the gap in outcomes for students from less well off backgrounds and their wealthier counterparts. Second, this paper will reflect more broadly on the initiative as a whole. Design/methodology/approach-This research and development initiative involved the research team working in a nested setting as second order action researchers, consultants and critical friends with a range of actors across the system. The findings are based on mixed methods data collected from eight case study school partnerships. The partnerships involved over 50 schools across 14 school districts in Scotland. Social network analysis was also used in one of the school districts to map and quantify professional relationships across schools. Findings-Over time, relationships within the partnerships developed and deepened. This occurred within individual schools, across schools within the partnerships and beyond the school partnerships. At the same time as these networks expanded, participants reported increases in human, social and decisional capital, not only among teachers, but also among other stakeholders. In addition, through their collaborative inquiries schools reported increased evidence of impact on positive outcomes for disadvantaged students. Originality/Value-The professional capital of individuals and organisations across and beyond schools is demonstrated as an important consideration in the pursuit of both quality and equity in education.

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This research is supported by the YOUNG_ADULLT Project 'Policies Supporting Young People in their Life Course. A Comparative Perspective of Lifelong Learning and Inclusion in Education and Work in Europe', funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 693167. The authors thank the Consortium members of the project and the members of the National Advisory Board in Scotland for comments on preliminary ideas presented in this article.

The contemporary attempts to tackle poverty and child poverty in the United Kingdom have been seriously hindered by the effects of the economic crisis (Hirsch, 2008a; Mooney, 2011). The prevailing discourses of the recession and intergenerational poverty can lead to a view that the effects of child poverty and the consequent detrimental impact on school education and future prospects for some young people are intractable (Sinclair & McKendrick, 2009). There can be insufficient emphasis on the successful attempts, however fragile, to intervene in the cycle of deprivation. This article reports on research conducted in two contrasting groups of secondary schools in the city of Glasgow, located in areas of deprivation, as they work to secure initial positive school leaver destinations for young people. This small-scale case study highlights the importance of a strong leadership vision committed to initial positive school leaver destinations, but complemented by distributed leadership and support from external partners to enable sustained successes. It also highlights the importance of individual attention to all young people to support and motivate them and the effectiveness of intervention at an early stage.

In the Spring of 2002, The SCRE Centre at the University of Glasgow was commissioned to conduct focus group research on behalf of the the Education, Culture, and Sport Committee at the Scottish Parliament. The study, which was conducted over a 3 month period, was intended to inform the Committee's inquiry into the purposes of education. Inquiries of this type are a common feature of the working practices of the Scottish Parliament. The aim of this particular one was to promote 'an in-depth discussion on key issues on the future direction of education'. The main theme of this paper is the dissonance between those who framed the inquiry and those who participated in the focus group study. The meanings of that dissonance are explored-as, briefly, are the conditions under which the research was conducted. The factors that contribute to mismatch in intention or meaning are also discussed. This study also comments on the continuing dominance of academic education in Scotland, and the consequences for those who see themselves as failures while subscribing to the centrality of education.

One of the aims of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) in Scotland is greater inclusion of interdisciplinary learning and teaching in school education. There is, arguably, a limited amount of guidance in the CfE literature to advise and support secondary teachers in the practical implications of the planning, preparation and implementation of interdisciplinary learning and teaching. This paper examines this guidance and insights from research literature and presents the findings from a research project, Searching for Meaning, which focused on science and religious education teachers collaborating in planned interdisciplinary learning and teaching in secondary schools. The paper identifies some of the key factors for effective interdisciplinary learning and teaching between science and religious education. These include: support from the school leadership; openness to interdisciplinary work and willingness to learn about other disciplines; teamwork, dialogue and joint planning and the need for time and support for teachers. These findings are potentially significant for other forms of interdisciplinary learning and teaching.