Educational research has increasingly shown that collaborative work between teachers is of considerable importance: collaboration can help to build up trust and social capital in schools. As education systems deviate from top-down prescriptive models, it is believed that schools can only 'improve themselves' if they are encouraged to share and circulate efficient practice among teachers, with the support of school leaders (Brown, 2017). In the context of school improvement, “school leadership is broadly acknowledged to be the lynchpin for school success. Yet, amongst the countless demands that school leaders face, making wise leadership choices is increasingly challenging” (Supovitz et al., 2019, p.7). In French speaking countries, numerous studies on school improvement (Ria, 2019) and educational change (Dupriez, 2015) come to similar conclusions. Collaboration between teachers is thought to constitute a powerful form of professional learning that enables the unlearning of old assumptions and habits, the development of new understandings and practices, and the possibility to solve collective problems. Collaborative work is thus increasingly encouraged at multiple levels as well as in the social, political and economic fields (Darbellay, et al., 2019). However, “while the benefits of collaborative cultures in schools are widely recognised, there is still limited knowledge regarding the policy frameworks that best support them. Attempts to impose professional collaboration may be counter-productive” (OECD, 2019). Recent studies emphasize that school leaders as well as teacher leaders within schools have the capacity to influence the attitudes and behaviour of other teachers, not only in a formal but also in an informal way (see Dutercq et al., 2015).

Regarding the latter, collaborative work is often realized through the implementation of so-called “professional social networks”. For instance, professional learning communities (PLCs) are increasingly being used to advance collaboration within school organizations. These PLCs refer to “social learning processes when people with common interests collaborate together” and engage collectively “in order to continuously improve students’ academic performance” (Isabelle et al., 2013). Within these social networks, school leaders and teachers collaborate professionally (for instance to introduce new pedagogical approaches such as interdisciplinary activities), thus promoting innovation and school improvement. Social interactions within (but also between) schools therefore can play a critical role in improving educational practice (Daly, 2010). More specifically, these interactions can act as channels for circulating resources derived from “social capital” or professional expertise that can be used by teachers to improve their practices and student learning.

In this context, this symposium aims to explore collaborative work within school organizations, using an international perspective. More specifically, we will present results from empirical studies that deal with two types of problematics. In the first part, we will present studies discussing the role of school leaders and teacher leaders in enabling collaborative work. In the second part, the papers will focus on understanding the emergence of collaborative (infra)structures within the school as workplace. In particular, this symposium seeks to address the following questions:

1. How can we define collaborative work?
2. What kind of challenges are (teacher) leaders facing within the context of collaborative work and how can they cope with it?
3. How does the collaborative relationship between (teacher) leaders and teachers influence improvement in teaching and learning?
4. What are the conditions that enable or constrain collaborative work at all levels in the school as workplace?
5. What kind of infrastructure could encourage and support collaborative work within schools?

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