It is important to develop a culture where all staff feel confident sharing ideas and practice. This does not only rely on having structures and processes to do so, but also a confidence amongst staff.
- One way to build this is to encourage newer or beginning members of staff to contribute and show that all contributions are valued.
- It is also powerful when leaders model this behaviour and show that they are prepared to be vulnerable and open to critique.
Once this culture is in place, it is then important to build beyond sharing.
- Staff should begin to feel comfortable criticising one another in a productive way (e.g. challenging the evidence-base etc.)
- The risk of sharing practice is that it never gets beyond being shared and isn’t embedded or refined – build in follow up reflective practices to ensure that there is an impact on pupil learning.
Blog, David Weston: Teach Meet Collaborate
Blog, David Weston: Should schools be required to schedule staff collaboration time?