This paper sets the scene for the symposium. It provides not only an overview of the policy contexts for the origins and development of the Teaching Schools programme, but also detailed analyses of the research base and wider educational debate about the role of collaboration between schools as a means of providing effective continuing professional development to teachers and as a mechanism for improving schools. By bringing together the state-of-the-art literature on education and systemic change, the paper shows that the experience of some of the world’s most successful education systems, as captured in this research and elsewhere, formed a strong policy influence for the Importance of Teaching White Paper, published by the Government in November 2010. The White Paper that ushered in, through the substantial expansion of the academies programme, a fundamental change in the nature of the English education landscape, arguably not seen on such a scale since the 1988 Education Reform Act introduced the Local Management of Schools. Alongside the sizeable increase in the numbers of academies, however, the White Paper was also responsible for a quieter, but potentially no less significant, revolution – the roll out of a national Teaching Schools programme. The paper will then provide an overview of the key areas of development of the Teaching Schools initiative, especially in relation to the spread and reach of the programme over time. In order to achieve a deep understanding and insight into the successes, tensions and challenges that the Teaching School initiative may have experienced over time, the paper will also consider briefly the wider research base on i) initial teacher education, ii) school partnerships as a catalyst for collaborative professional development; iii) school-to-school support as a mechanism for improvement; and iv) system leadership. Taken together, the national and international research evidence sends a clear message that the key to success is strong leadership which is driven by a clear sense of moral purpose, direction and mission and which creates appropriate and responsive structures and cultures for a sustainable approach to growth.

Department for Education (2010) The Importance of Teaching. London: DfE.