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

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 presente l'adaptation australienne d'une approche de soutien a la direction et a l'amelioration des ecoles mise au point par les pedagogues David Townsend et Pam Adams de l'Alberta, au Canada. Connue sous le nom de North Coast Initiative for School Improvement, cette adaptation a implique des leaders scolaires, des universitaires et des representants du gouvernement qui se sont associes pour mettre en œuvre les processus jumeaux d'enquete collaborative et de dialogue generatif dans une soixantaine d'ecoles primaires et secondaires de la region de la cote nord de la Nouvelle-Galles du Sud, en Australie. D'apres tous les rapports, l'initiative semble avoir ete a la fois bien accueillie et tres efficace, notamment en termes d'amelioration des resultats des eleves. Ce numero de l'AJER propose une exploration d'un point de vue australien des principes qui sous-tendent les deux processus. Il presente egalement des etudes de cas d'un contexte australien de l'impact de ces processus sur la direction et l'amelioration des ecoles. Mots cles : enquete collaborative, dialogue generatif, leadership scolaire, amelioration des ecoles, North Coast Initiative for School Improvement