School Improvement Networks and Collaborative Inquiry: Fostering Systemic Change in Challenging Contexts (Emerald Professional Learning Networks Series)

This book employs the theoretical framework of collaborative inquiry to guide a mixed method study of fifteen in-depth multi-site case studies and descriptive statistical analysis of a questionnaire answered by 400 networks. The analysis provides evidence of the depth and spread of the knowledge and collaborative practices of these networks. Linking with the literature on Professional Learning Networks, this study highlights how school improvement networks can support the professional capital of principals and curriculum coordinators. The findings of this study are discussed around the issue of network sustainability, stressing the importance of network leadership and conditions of system infrastructure to mobilize network knowledge to schools, increasing the potential impact of school networks to transform schools' practices. 

By providing a unique inquiry, into an under researched part of the globe in regards to school networks, this book will prove invaluable for academics and practitioners in the areas of mixed method research, educational leadership and comparative education.

Alvaro González Torres is researcher of the Leadership Centre for Educational Improvement, LIDERES EDUCATIVOS at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile.

Luis Ahumada Figueroa is Professor at the School of Psychology, researcher of the Leadership Centre for Educational Improvement, LIDERES EDUCATIVOS at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile.

Christopher Chapman is Chair of Educational Policy and Practice at the University of Glasgow, Director of Policy Scotland and the Founding Director of the Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change, UK.