Are two heads better than one?
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
The old adage ‘two heads are better than one’ has been around for thousands of years because it holds some truth. Working together, collaborating, can produce great results.
The challenge for schools is that collaboration has not been encouraged, in fact external pressures of parental choice, league tables and floor targets have created a competitive educational landscape. This competitive environment can be a real barrier to schools being able to work collaboratively. It becomes divisive rather than harmonising. Schools get into a narrative of comparison rather than commonalities. Comparison can turn colleagues into rivals.
Collaboration, on the other hand, removes barriers. Working together on an issue or project enables us to create connections, identify similarities, and learn about other people’s thinking. We start to see ourselves as partners instead of rivals. We can champion great learning and successful opportunities for all our schools. We start to see ourselves as part of a whole system, rather than disparate parts and that makes us stronger.
This positive and powerful collaboration between school is why the Thinking Academy is facilitating ‘Connected Heads’ across Hampshire and Dorset. Connected Heads are small select working groups of Headteachers and Senior Leaders who want to collaborate to find solutions to common issues.
“Sometimes the most valuable thing you get from a network isn’t an idea but the inspiration and courage to try something new”
Connected Heads meet half-termly for 3 hours in a confidential, non-judgemental space. Colleagues bring their own agendas, so that we can listen, challenge and support each other. Connected Heads Groups are focussed on simple and effective solutions using our collective knowledge and experience.
There are three key reasons why working in a Connected Heads Group will be a powerful catalyst for you and your school.
1. Generate a better self-awareness. Nothing crystallises what you bring to your school when you are forced to articulate what is working well and what challenges you. This openness and honesty can enable you to ask for the help you need and enable you to be bold in offering support to others.
2. Access to greater resources. More effective problem solving happens when you combine resources in talent, experience and knowledge. A professional dialogue focussed on what we can do, helps us see and seize opportunities.
“Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up”
2. Become growth focused. Each time you collaborate you extend your thinking beyond your comfort zone. Meeting half term Lyn creates a level of accountability that encourages change.
Annual subscription to the group, which includes 18 hours of face-to-face meetings, access to useful online resources and inter-meeting email check-ins is only £249+VAT.
If you are a passionate, driven leader working with Connected Heads will enable you get the support, encouragement and solutions to help you and your school excel. Become part of something different. Click on the connected section of our website to join a session local to you.