Collaboration: the big new idea for school improvement?

Abstract

This paper traces the trajectory of New Labour education policy since the formation of the first New Labour government in 1997. During that time the policy discourse has moved from a position of individualized school improvement through competition, to one where there is an emphasis on 'partnership' and 'collaboration' as key mechanisms for improvement. We note, however, that 'specialism', 'diversity' and 'choice' are still key components of policy and that 'partnership' often denotes a deficit model, with more successful schools supporting (or in some cases taking over) less successful ones. Although there are the beginnings of a recognition that social class and social deprivation are factors which make achievement at school more problematic, generally New Labour policy has not attempted to alleviate the tendency to social polarization which has emerged as a result of school choice policies

An analysis of the rhetoric and practice of educational partnerships in the UK: an arena of complexities, tensions and power

“…Several authors recognize that the arrival of New Labour was accompanied by a discursive shift towards collaboration (Clarence & Painter, 1998;Kirkpatrick, 1999;Huxham, 2000;Balloch & Taylor, 2001;Powell & Glendinning, 2002;Evans et al, 2003). This collaborative discourse is at the heart of the concept partnerships: partnerships seem to embody cooperative practices not only between different actors, institutions and sectors but also between the political and civil society.…”

Partnership in Integrated Early Childhood Services: An Analysis of Policy Framings in Education and Human Services

“…A similar phenomenon was noted in Gereluk's (2005) analysis of the negative impact of accountability demands on teacher collaboration, even when the latter was promoted by policy. Evans et al (2005) have traced the trajectory of education policy since the formation of the New Labour government in 1997 in the United Kingdom. During that time, the policy discourse has moved from a position of individualised school improvement through competition, to one where there is an emphasis on 'partnership' and 'collaboration' as key mechanisms for improvement of children's educational outcomes.…”

Learning to ‘become somebody well’: Challenges for educational policy

“…Health promotion programs in schools actively promote the acceptance of individual responsibility for broad social health issues, such as obesity, lack of physical activity and anxiety disorders (Wright & Burrows 2004) and of wellbeing as the exercise of self-responsible agency (Rose 1999, Sointu 2005. Others have pointed out that the encouragement of schools to enter 'partnerships' is linked to a 'marketisation agenda' in which partnerships between schools and between •47 LEARNING TO 'BECOME SOMEBODY WELL' schools and other agencies are seen as offering educational consumers wider choice (Evans et al 2005).…”