Collaborative Inquiry and School Leadership Growth: An Australian Adaptation of an Albertan Approach

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v67i3.69958

Abstract

This article introduces an Australian adaptation of an approach to supporting school leadership and improvement pioneered by educationalists David Townsend and Pam Adams, from Alberta, Canada. Referred to as the North Coast Initiative for School Improvement, the adaptation involved school leaders, academics, and government officials who combined to implement the twin processes of collaborative inquiry and generative dialogue at about sixty primary and secondary schools across the North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The initiative appears from all reports to have been both well received and highly impactful, including in terms of improved student performance. This issue of the AJER offers an exploration from an Australian perspective of the principles underpinning the two processes. It also presents case studies from an Australian setting of the impact of these processes on school leadership and improvement.

Key words: collaborative inquiry, generative dialogue, North Coast Initiative for School Improvement, school leadership, school improvement

Cet article présente l'adaptation australienne d'une approche de soutien à la direction et à l'amélioration des écoles mise au point par les pédagogues David Townsend et Pam Adams de l'Alberta, au Canada. Connue sous le nom de North Coast Initiative for School Improvement, cette adaptation a impliqué des leaders scolaires, des universitaires et des représentants du gouvernement qui se sont associés pour mettre en œuvre les processus jumeaux d'enquête collaborative et de dialogue génératif dans une soixantaine d'écoles primaires et secondaires de la région de la côte nord de la Nouvelle-Galles du Sud, en Australie. D'après tous les rapports, l'initiative semble avoir été à la fois bien accueillie et très efficace, notamment en termes d'amélioration des résultats des élèves. Ce numéro de l'AJER propose une exploration d'un point de vue australien des principes qui sous-tendent les deux processus. Il présente également des études de cas d'un contexte australien de l'impact de ces processus sur la direction et l'amélioration des écoles.

Mots clés : enquête collaborative, dialogue génératif, leadership scolaire, amélioration des écoles, North Coast Initiative for School Improvement

Author Biographies

William Edgar Boyd, Southern Cross University

Bill Boyd is an Emeritus Professor at Southern Cross University. He is a founding member of the North Coast Initiative for School Improvement. His involvement has been as an active research member of the team, and a mentor for other team members. He advises the project on research design and ethics. He has long engaged teaching and learning research and has been an active academic mentor for educators.

Martin Hayden, Southern Cross University

Martin Hayden is an Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at Southern Cross University and a founding member of the North Coast Initiative for School Improvement. He was Head of the School of Education when David Townsend first came to visit Southern Cross University. In that capacity, he provided foundational support for the establishment of the North Coast Initiative.

Downloads

Published

2021-09-10

How to Cite

Boyd, W. E., & Hayden, M. (2021). Collaborative Inquiry and School Leadership Growth: An Australian Adaptation of an Albertan Approach. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 67(3), 262–272. https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v67i3.69958

Issue

Vol. 67 No. 3 (2021): Fall: Theme Issue

Section

ARTICLES

License

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA COPYRIGHT LICENSE AND PUBLICATION AGREEMENT

If accepted, authors will be asked to sign a copyright agreement with the following points:

A. Where there is any inconsistency between this Copyright License and Publication Agreement and any other document or agreement in relation to the same subject matter, the terms of this Agreement shall govern.

B. This document sets out the rights you are granting in relation to publication of your article, book review, or research note entitled (the “Article”) through inclusion in the academic journal titled Alberta Journal of Educational Research (the “Journal”) published through the Faculty of Education, representing the Governors of the University of Alberta (the “Journal Editor”).

C. There will be no payment to you for this publication and grant of rights. In consideration of the agreement to publish the Article in the Journal:

1. You are warranting that:

  1. the content of the Article is your original work, and its content does not contain any material infringing the copyright of others; or, where the Article is not entirely your original work, you have obtained all necessary permissions in writing to grant the rights you are giving in this agreement;
  2. the content of the Article does not contain any material that is defamatory of, or violates the privacy rights of, or discloses the confidential information of, any other person;
  3. the Article has not been published elsewhere in whole or in part, and you will not allow publication of the Article elsewhere without the consent of the Journal Editor;
  4. the names of all co-authors and contributors to the Article are:

2. You agree to license the copyright in the Article to the Journal Editor, on a worldwide, perpetual, royalty free basis; and to the extent required by the terms of this agreement. You shall retain the right at all times to be acknowledged as the/an author of the Article.

3. You further agree that the Journal Editor has the entitlement to deal with the Article as the Journal Editor sees fit, and including in the following manner;

  1. The right to print, publish, market, communicate and distribute the Article and the Journal, in this and any subsequent editions, in all media (including electronic media), in all languages, and in all territories, ing the full term of copyright, and including any form of the Article separated from the Journal, such as in a database, abstract, offprint, translation or otherwise, and to authorize third parties to do so;
  2. The right to register copyright of the Journal;
  3. The right to edit the Article, to conform to editorial policy as the Journal Editor sees fit.

4. If any co-author or contributor to the Article does not sign this agreement, the Journal Editor reserves the right to refuse to publish the Article.