Sharing effective practice between education institutions: Why and how?

One noticeable shift that has been underway for the last few years in education institutions in New Zealand and globally is the increasing awareness of the benefits of sharing effective practice, hand-in-hand with a growing willingness to share. The following are examples of this trend toward sharing, and both cite benefits, but are there any drawbacks, and what could this sharing 'look like' in the future?

To be part of this conversation, first watch  the video and then read Darren Sudlow's blog post "Why Communities of schools?". Next, post your thoughts around what you see as the benefits and barriers to sharing between education institutions.

The description from the site reads: At the First Federation in Devon, four primary schools have formed a hard federation in order to improve standards across the board. This allows them to share good practice by arranging senior leadership meetings, joint staff meetings and even video conferencing to allow schools to link up and increase dialogue. Staff are able to change schools within the federation, which means that their knowledge can be shared further. Meanwhile, at Bishop Stopford School in Kettering, they have joined the Leading Edge Partnership Programme started by the SSAT. They work closely with four schools in their local area to share ideas and make a coherent strategy both at management level and for teaching and learning. The partnership also allows them to team up with local businesses,share lesson starters and brainstorm ideas to improve lessons and make them relevant for the world of work.