There is a groundswell happening in New Zealand schools. All around the country, schools are connecting up with each other, and with parents, to learn about what works to engage children in learning and to lift achievement.

These networks come under a strategic umbrella called Learning and Change Networks (LCN), and as Jean Annan, an advisor for the programme from the University of Auckland says, “I’ve worked in schools for years, seen hundreds of schools in my job, and I’ve never seen people so excited”.

Meanwhile, in January, John Key announced a $359 million policy package to start in 2015 in which schools would voluntarily cluster as ‘Communities’ of around ten schools and establish a career path for teachers within each Community. In addition to the career path signaling to would-be teachers that teaching is a career of opportunity, it also provides a mechanism to share knowledge across the Community about what works for lifting achievement.

The IES policy puts some proper resource behind the kinds of things that are happening in schools already. It is a more formal and structured version of LCN, which around 10% of schools are part of at the moment. 

But it is essential that the Ministry doesn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The New Zealand Initiative’s report, No School Is An Island: Fostering Collaboration in a Competitive System, to be released next week, profiles the LCN strategy. It identifies the critical elements that need to be present for schools to be able to work well together, and recommends adjustments to the IES policy to ensure these elements are encouraged.

It’s not going to be easy, because schools are competing for student numbers. Competition is a positive; parents can bypass their local school if it is not up to scratch, which puts pressure on schools to sharpen their work.

But competition also has its drawbacks. It has left many schools behind because there is a disincentive to share good practice with a school down the road. In a private market, there would be mergers and acquisitions which do not happen in a public schooling system. So there must be other ways of encouraging schools to share what works.

It is easy to say that schools should just collaborate, but it will take time and patience to build trust between schools. The LCN model has managed to do that, and LCN schools can teach the IES policy a thing or two. The Initiative’s report outlines adjustments to the IES policy based on what can be learnt from LCN.

The IES represents a huge system change. Government needs to ensure the $359 million investment in education is as effective as it can be.