Do not reinvent the wheel

Context:

Education, the Netherlands (students age 4-12)

Dilemma

School were very much focused on solutions of what they perceived as the main problems. The inspectorate observed that some schools did better than others but at the same time that the solutions found were not sufficiently shared with other schools.

In what ways did you respond to this dilemma?

Communication above school level between teachers and leaders of different schools may at first sight seem to time consuming under the urgent circumstances of the crisis; however in the long run developing a vision and, a strategy and a focused policy on online teaching and learning proved to be more effective that just searching for instant solutions of instant problems

What are the implications for teaching and learning?

The organizational implications are that schools need to build in time and space for mutual learning of all professionals involved (School leaders and teachers). The focus of such meeting will need to be a mix of exchanging tips and tricks and of reflections on the fundamentals of the processes they are facing and the (medium/long-term perspective they wish to accomplish.

Keywords: learning schools, interprofessional learning, peer learning beyond schools.

Erasmus+ Eotvos Lorand University Fontys University of Applied Sciences Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen Leeds Becket University Plato Seminar Tubingen Zavod Republike Slovenije za solstvo University of Aberdeen Universidade Aberta