Inspired by the results of the 2013 TALIS study and building on the insights of the LINPILCARE project, we set to work on the theme of Collaborative leadership in learning. It is a misconception that professionalizing employees must always cost money; the only constant investment is time. Scott Albon, employee of Barnwood Arts College in Gloucester, UK, showed us that things can be done differently.

“KISSC: Keep it short, simple and cheap”. By focusing on internal networks that focus on the continuous professional development of all those involved, you create a positive impact on the quality of the education you offer. A good mix of learning walks by managers, peer coaching by colleagues and learners, working with learning teams, the use of protocols, implementing quality principles such as www (What went well), EBI (Even better if), WALT (We are learning to) and WILF (What I'm looking for) and collegial class visits where the visitor focuses on the strength of the colleague that is being visited, you can install a learning culture in your organization that is focused on learning from the learner and you can continuously improve the quality of the education that you offer.

Together with 14 Centres of Adult Education (CAE) affiliated with Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen we studied the underlying theories and some good examples of practice. Together we wrote a KA2-ERASMUS-plus project for a consortium; the project was given the working title “Collaborative leadership in learning”. During a closing two-day event on 16 and 17 May, the participants of the European project shared their findings with some 70 colleagues from the field under the expert guidance of Scott Albon. This event was aimed specifically at middle management of the 'new scale' adult education centres (CAE’s). Within the scaled-up CAE’s, they form an important link in the monitoring and further optimisation of the quality in general and the quality of the educational processes in particular.

As pedagogical guidance, we want to strengthen their educational leadership and we want to learn together with and from them on the basis of the principle of collaborative leadership in learning.

Inspired by the story of Scott Albon, the participants set to work with a number of protocols on the further optimisation of teamwork within their own organisation. We also zoomed in on the added value of (joint) practical research as a methodology for continuous professional development to improve the quality of the education offered.

If you are also interested in exploring these principles and want to work with them in your own organisation, do not hesitate to contact us: tim.vanaken@katholiekonderwijs.vlaanderen  (pedagogical advisor, team post-initial education). Here you can find some pictures of this event.