‘Good practice’ school advisors in Greek education: the difficulty in linking collaborative networks, communities of practice and quality culture

Abstract

Quality in education is considered to be a central aim as far as the formation and the implementation of educational policy worldwide is concerned. The basic prerequisite for it, though, is quality culture. Collaborative networks between school advisors and primary school teachers are examined to reveal how they can affect the formation of communities of practice and then a quality culture. The technical tools of grounded theory and semi-structured interviews are used for the investigation of collaborative networks and their connection to communities of practice. School advisors and primary school teachers who worked together in forming collaborative networks displayed common characteristics such as a belief in the value of constant effort for improvement, the importance of introspection, common reading material, and a sense of trust. Individuals with shared goals and visions can form communities of practice which will then work as fashioners and multipliers of a quality culture.

Keywords:

• collaborative networks
• communities of practice
• quality culture
• quality in education
• primary education

Notes

1. There are also other projects in other areas such as Australia’s Quality Action Project, which is concerned with the upgrading of the health service.

2. http://valueseducation.edu.au/values/val_vasp_about,25452.html. Accessed 31 July 2012.

3. http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/super/history.html. Accessed 31 July 2012.

4. In fact, in Law 2986/2002 Article 5 paragraph 6, the following reference is made: ‘the purpose of teacher evaluation is to ascertain the need for in-service training and determine the content of that training’. In addition, in article 5, paragraph 2 this reference is made: ‘the teacher is evaluated by the head of the school unit (the headmaster) and by the appropriate School Advisor’.

5. The term ‘flexible zone’ refers to pioneering steps taken for the reform of the school year and for the cultivation of an innovative, collaborative and cross-curricular approach to learning.

6. The CDAS is the Centre for Diagnosis, Assessment and Support. It is a department of the Ministry of Education and it makes provision for the diagnosis, assessment and support of pupils and in particular those with special educational needs.