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menu itemEffective collaboration in science education
menu itemWhy collaborate?
current itemGetting going
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Getting going

Different kinds of collaboration

Schools can collaborate with many different partners and each kind of collaboration offers different benefits for the partners. It is of course vital to ask whether all the work put into a collaborative project has had the intended impact. The last section of this paper draws on the experience of several schools and indicates the sort of questions that need to be asked when evaluating impact and the information that will help you answer them.   Shortcut to Section 8

  • Schools with each other and industry
    Case study 1 describes how secondary and primary schools in a Local Authority area have worked together with the support of local business on a Science Leader Award to develop students’ leadership potential in science.
  • Schools and Higher Education
    Case study 2 outlines how a school has developed long-term links with a local university to provide enrichment opportunities for students and update placements for teachers. 
  • Business and industry links
    Case studies 3 and 4 show how a school can build strong links with local industry to provide students with opportunities to work on science in commercial contexts.
  • Education Business Partnerships
    Case study 5 may inspire those who want to tap into existing networks and use the resources of organisations such as EBPs to support collaborative ventures.
  • National schemes
    Case study 6 is particularly relevant to those who want an ‘off-the-shelf’ scheme. It describes the Primary Science Enhancement programme which provides materials for scientific investigations set in real industrial contexts.
     
  • Schools working with scientists
    Case studies 7 and 8 provide examples of how schools can work with professional scientists. Case study 7 describes the work of Science and Engineering Ambassadors and Case study 8 describes a school’s strong link with the medical school of a local hospital.
  • Getting the wherewithal
    Case study 9 describes how one school obtained funding from a Partnership Grant Scheme. A requirement of this grant was that the school should collaborate with a professional scientist in a supporting role.

There are many exciting and effective examples of collaboration between school science departments and other organisations concerned with science. Nobody considering such a project need start from scratch. There are, however, some key questions to ask before setting out. In the box below these are cross-referenced to case studies of different kinds of effective collaboration.