Leading collaborative educational change: Problematizing conceptualizations of collaboration in the context of educational change

Collaboration has long featured as a critical component of successful processes and leadership of educational change, and as a dominant discursive concept in the field of education (Kaufman, et al, 2020; Author, 2021). Drawing upon interpretive policy analysis, and empirical work with primary school headteachers in Scotland, this paper (1) problematizes how collaboration is understood across domains of research, policy, and practice, and (2) critically explores the role of collaboration in its varied forms, in process of educational change. In doing so, a novel framework for understanding, leading and mobilising collaboration is presented, offering new ways of critically examining, planning for, and evaluating the complex forms, drivers, and influences of collaboration, its leadership, and its role in educational change. Copyright © 2024 AERA.