In Search of Collaboration: How Can

School-to-School CollaborationRespond to Foundational Learning Crisis in a Developing Country Context

autonomy for schools have become the central themes of policy papers.

School-to-school Collaboration

Why should schools in such a context choose to collaborate?

A look at the Armenian context

In the aftermath of the global pandemic and war with Azerbaijan in 2020, the old cracks of inequity in Armenia’s education system are becoming ever more visible. According to various sources, there is 35 to 44.5% foundational reading illiteracy among primary and middle school students mostly living in rural underprivileged areas (World Bank, 2019; NBER Working Papers, 2022). The constant waves of displacement and school closure due to the conflict cause interruptions in the cycle of learning. This situation challenges educational leaders across the country to create safe learning environments for all when life is so chaotic outside schools.

Additionally, the education policy landscape has been changing rapidly. Result-based management, decentralisation of school governance in a context of community amalgamation, and more

School-to-school collaboration (S2SC) is defined as a joint action between two or more schools in which they work on a shared goal (Armstrong et al., 2021; Vangrieken et al., 2015; Wu et., al, 2021) in a reciprocal manner (Wu et al., 2021). studies in several countries suggest that S2SC positively influences the exchange of ideas and resources, provides opportunities for critical friendship, and supports innovation in schools and professional development (Wu et al., 2021).

Multiple purposes of S2SC can be identified:

• As a vehicle for facilitating educational reforms

• A way to devise locally responsive education policies at the regional level

• A way of giving agency to school practitioners in the process of managing change in leadership or pedagogical processes.

• As an alternative to traditional continuous professional development