Teacher Professional Learning

5. Ambition Four: Create an ecosystem for collective learning and sharing to ensure opportunities for excellence for all

Abstract

This chapter presents the fourth and final ambition that have orientated this report. It focusses on the question of ensuring that rich professional learning characterises an entire system. To this end, the chapter considers how collaborative inquiry can stretch across schools, fostering rich, quality research engagement, and some of the ways that new knowledge can be collectively developed, systematised and disseminated by schools. In discussing these, the chapter presents key design considerations from research literature, insights on implementation, and examples from systems around the world.

Fostering an ecosystem of collective learning and sharing can help drive excellence across a system. Schools are communities of dynamic interaction between a multitude of unique individuals. This is an environment that presents unforeseen opportunities and challenges, and an inquiry stance can help schools navigate these. But schools also share many similar objectives and accompanying barriers. The connections of an ecosystem can help build greater efficiency in overcoming these barriers to realise objectives.

Moreover, these objectives are not necessarily static. Schools do not exist in a vacuum but are shaped by the wider forces of change in the world. Schools also have to adapt, learn and build new knowledge in step with the evolving needs of societies. An ecosystem of learning can also help build robust school systems that can respond to new challenges long into the future.

Underlying this is a recognition of the expertise that exists in the teaching profession. As the OECD Teaching Compass notes, a sense of agency and ownership for teachers will only become increasingly important in education systems (OECD, 2025[1]). Not only is it motivating and empowering for the profession, but essential for the quality and relevance of its work (Suarez and McGrath, 2022[2]).

Key highlights

This ambition focusses on the goals of encouraging inquisitive and reflective practitioners; nurturing a culture of evidence-informed work; and ensuring the identification of and learning from best practices. Some of the considerations it draws particular attention to include how:

• Fostering a culture of collaborative inquiry can nurture the types of informal interactions of teachers that are important for sharing and building knowledge around their day-to-day work in that particular context.

• Initially, developing these inquisitive, growth-orientated cultures in schools typically hinges upon clear structures, anchored around tangible problems of practice in the local context. These structures can allow the routines and habits of inquiry to become more embedded and, eventually, self-sustaining as a culture.

• Bespoke resources may be needed for collaboration, such as capacity building in terms of leaders’ or facilitators’ collaborative skills; providing dedicated time and financial support; or furnishing resources such as data.

• Collaboration may look outwards too, with external actors in the community or beyond offering additional expertise.

• There should be trusted sources or avenues for accessing quality, relevant research, coupled with developing practitioners’ skills for engaging with and using this research effectively in their context.

• A key feature of an ecosystem of learning is the accessibility to knowledge it presents to all. Technology can be a crucial tool for supporting schools’ accessibility to codified knowledge, and allowing knowledge-development to be driven from the bottom-up too.

Lever 10: A culture of collaborative inquiry within and across schools

While the provision of structured formal learning opportunities is an important means of supporting strategic teacher growth, the complexity of teachers’ work means that the informal exchanges and networks of support within a school remain essential. These more informal interactions of teachers are important for sharing and building knowledge around their day-to-day work in that particular context (Akinyemi, Rembe and Nkonki, 2020[3]). According to the OECD’s latest Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) teachers who report collaborating more tend to be more likely to fulfil their lesson aims, and teachers who collaborate more frequently tend to be in the top quartile of self-efficacy in their country (OECD, 2025[4]).

Working together can take many forms, varying greatly in intensity and frequency. One area of particular interest has been around cultures of collaborative inquiry that focus on instructional improvement and fostering collective learning in a school. Such cultures appear particularly significant when considering how challenging it is to change behaviours in teaching and schools, as reflected in the ineffectiveness of much formal professional learning when it comes to changing teachers’ actual day-to-day practice (Copur-Gencturk and Papakonstantinou, 2016[5]; Webb and Sheeran, 2006[6]). The work of teachers and schools is, quite simply, very demanding and accordingly routines and habits are important to its effective functioning. When it comes to enacting changes, the culture within a school can help sustain attention on and provide support with new initiatives or approaches. Growing research on implementation science has suggested that change in schools, and more broadly, requires not only careful planning and preparation, but ongoing attention and dynamic refinement (Education Endowment Foundation, 2024[7]).

Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that, as the OECD Teaching Compass highlights, teachers’ own well-being is essential to the effectiveness of their work (OECD, 2025[1]). A supportive and collaborative community may be particularly significant here too. Indeed, some research has suggested that opportunities to collaborate and build professional relationships could be linked to teacher well-being (Soini, Pyhältö and Pietarinen, 2010[8]).

Developing these inquisitive, growth-orientated cultures in schools typically hinges upon clear structures that allow the routines and habits of inquiry to become more embedded and, eventually, self-sustaining. They also demand investment of time from all participants, and orientation around clear goals with a shared purpose (OECD, 2025[4]).

Promote tangible and specific focusses

Collaboration is not an end in itself but a means to achieving a particular goal. Thus, the ultimate goal is promoting collaboration among colleagues about a particular problem of practice. The processes of identifying the problem of practice are thus vital.

• One aspect is that collaboration focusses on problems of practice that are highly relevant. This is significant for the motivation and investment from teachers.

• It may be that participatory processes of identifying problems of practice, or a degree of autonomy exists within a school for teachers to pursue issues they see as highly relevant.

• A second aspect is ensuring that the problem is concrete and feasible to maximise success. One challenge when it comes to implementing changes that address specific problems is a focus on too many things that may divide attention and lead to inefficiency (Education Endowment Foundation, 2024[7]). Strategic prioritisation may be of value.

• For instance, one way of keeping collaboration concrete and results-driven comes from promising initiatives to support collaboration around school data (Poortman and Schildkamp, 2016[9]). Data can help schools identify particular areas in need of attention. With this, schools can develop hypothesis for addressing the problem of practice and then use data to monitor its effectiveness (see Box 5.1).

• The provision of relevant data and supporting capacity to engage in decision-making with data may be particularly impactful.

Delineate clear structures and roles

Connected to the challenge of time is ensuring efficiency and coordination across multiple participants. Most often, collaborative opportunities seem to emerge systematically though specific structures within schools (OECD, 2019[10]; Kools and Stoll, 2016[11]), such as subject committees and teams, or specific groups united by broader transversal themes.

Part of the question of structuring is the question of who is responsible for what in collaboration.

• Specific roles and responsibilities relating to collaboration can be an effective means of ensuring that collaboration does occur and is facilitated.

• Moreover, these roles can provide a means of oversight with a dedicated person responsible for how collaboration unfolds and any agreed outputs.

• There may be multiple roles, with tasks split between several members of staff, or they may be more centralised around specific individuals within a school or across schools.

• This may relate to the extent that collaboration is a relatively new process or not; more directed collaboration may be necessary if a particular culture of collaborative inquiry has not developed.

These roles may also be reflected as a specific responsibility of a certain part of the career structure. For instance, in Singapore and Shanghai (China) the engagement of the teacher in their school and their fostering of horizontal collaboration is significant in its evaluation process (Schleicher, 2016[12]).

Alternatively, signals may be sent by the system with regard to the value of collaboration; schools in the French Community of Belgium are expected to develop strategies for collaborative work as part of their school development plans (OECD, 2019[10]).

Dedicate resources to support collaboration

Connected to the idea of providing data to support collaboration is that of providing the means that can enable effective collaboration.

• While collaboration depends on there being a sense of shared ownership, it nevertheless faces the challenge that collaboration demands coordinated time for it to occur.

• Scheduling dedicated time for collaboration is a common feature in a range of systems (e.g. Chile, Austria). For instance, the weekly working time for teachers in Portugal includes dedicated time for collaboration (OECD, 2019[10]).

• An additional challenge is the physical or human resources that inquiry processes may demand. For instance, in New Zealand, the Teacher-led Innovation Fund is an initiative of the Ministry of Education that provides teachers not only with time in their schedules but also additional expert support and the ability to apply for specific funds (OECD, 2019[10]).

• Resources may range from direct sources of funding to bespoke resources that facilitate collaboration to external expertise.

Create structures for school-to-school collaboration

Notably, collaborative inquiry may stretch beyond the walls of an individual school.

• Much like the role of external input in supporting effective professional learning opportunities, school-to-school collaboration can also be a means of fostering fresh perspectives and challenging established orthodoxies.

• It can also be a means of developing more localised knowledge that may be of particular relevance to specific communities and contexts, as the Finnish system has focussed on in particular with its Lighthouse network (see Box 5.1).

This demands careful consideration of the design principles that underpin within school collaboration afresh.

• Identifying a specific, concrete shared focus that is of meaning to multiple schools may be challenging, running the risk of becoming more abstract as it seeks to accommodate multiple perspectives and problems of practice.

• Roles and structures become particularly important too when coordinating multiple actors that are not in a shared physical location.

• Creating specific structures to start such collaboration may be particularly significant. This may take the form of more direct pairing. For instance, in Portugal clusters unite between 2 and 29 schools under a single administrative team, enabling a certain degree of knowledge sharing.

• Alternatively, it may be approached through the creation of intermediary actors; in Denmark, a national body of learning consultants support schools in their improvement efforts but also facilitate peer exchange through this.

• It may also draw upon digital connections. In Austria, a virtual networking and learning space allows leaders to connect among new secondary schools in its Centre for Learning Schools.

Tap into the role of additional actors

Collaboration may also stretch beyond schools to include other actors that can bring relevant expertise. Indeed, there has been considerable increase in recent years in the number and type of actors engaged in the education space (OECD, 2022[13]).

• This may include local actors that school leaders identify as being able to support the school and the learning of its students (e.g. local museums, art galleries, sports facilities).

• It may also include wider national actors with more formal structures established to provide support and input to schools. For instance, higher education institutions may function as satellite institutions that can coordinate and convene different schools (OECD, 2023[14]) (see Lever 11: Developing engagement with research too).

Box 5.1. International examples of nurturing a culture of collaborative inquiry

Finland

A range of networks support knowledge-building and sharing in Finland. For instance, the National Agency for Education oversees the “Lighthouse network of leadership” to support school-to-school collaboration. It includes typically monthly webinars, including a presentation and subsequent discussion, as well as occasional in-person events or seminars. Numerous similar examples could be included, such as the National Network for Bilingual Education (“Kaksari”), coordinated by the City of Helsinki and funded by the National Agency for Education, or the Early Childhood Education Development Network (“Loisto”), coordinated by the Finnish National Agency for Education.

Indeed, an orientation towards collaborative inquiry permeates the entire system.

• An example of this can be seen in the National Teacher Education Forum, which seeks to meet the new needs of teacher education in the context of the 2020s through broad cooperation based on research and knowledge. It brings together all higher education institutions responsible of providing teacher education, as well as all other relevant stakeholders (e.g. representatives of teachers, leaders, students, municipalities etc.). There is also a small international advisory board.

• The Forum was first coordinated by the Ministry for Education and Culture (2016-2023), with the University of Helsinki since responsible with the Ministry participating and financing the Forum.

• Notable outputs include research-based development projects and reports, the collaboratively developed national guidance (“The Teacher Education Development Programme”), and a range of seminars and workshops. In particular, in March 2025, the Forum launched the Teacher Education 2050 vision, the first time such a vision has been created in Finland.

• Since 2013, the “LUMA Centre Network” has operated in Finland. This is a network of 11 universities and which focusses on the subjects of science, maths, technology and environmental studies (“LUMA” subjects), and in particular approaching them in a multi-disciplinary way. It aims to foster a high level of knowledge in these subjects, as well as a high number of professionals across Finland in fields associated with these subjects. To this end, it works to:

  • Develop research-based solutions for teaching LUMA subjects.

  • Support the work of teachers and their continuous professional learning.

  • Inspire children and youth towards studying these fields and having them as hobbies.

• The LUMA Centre Network has built a collaborative ‘ecosystem’ around these goals, including ranging from museums and libraries to the business sector and science centres. During 2021 and 2024, some 185 000 people participated in its activities each year and the network provided in-service training to some 4 600 professionals.

Estonia

Lifelong learning has a strong historical importance in Estonia. The Estonian Education Strategy 2021-2035 emphasises the development of principals and teachers to prepare the population for a changing world.

This emphasis on learning is also coupled with high levels of agency. Estonian schools have considerable autonomy. School leaders and teachers are seen as key agents of change at the classroom and school level, as well as local and national level.

A series of initiatives supported at the national level are in place to support teachers to develop communities of practice focussed on student learning and well-being. This ranges from:

• The availability of specific training on principles of professional learning communities for potential leaders of communities or training to teams in schools on leading innovation and school improvement.

• The ability to apply for financing for initiatives that focus on improving teaching, such as engagement in seminars, training sessions or international conferences.

• Regional and national subject associations with a strong focus on leveraging networks to enhance student learning at greater scale.

Notes: Finland shared insights in the organised peer-learning event of 13-14 May 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine for the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science that have informed this box.

Source: (Crehan, 2016[15]), Exploring the impact of career models on teacher motivation, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002462/246252e.pdf (accessed 21 February 2025); (Cordingley et al., 2022[16]); Recommendations for the Professional Development of Teachers and School Leaders in Estonia, https://www.britishcouncil.ee/sites/default/files/policy_recommendations_for_the_professional_development_of_teachers_and_school_leaders_in_estonia_eng.pdf (accessed 15 February 2025); (OECD, 2019[10]), Working and Learning Together: Rethinking Human Resource Policies for Schools, https://doi.org/10.1787/b7aaf050-en

Lever 11: Developing engagement with research

One important source of information that teachers can draw upon to inform their practice is scientific research. There has been considerable growth in the quantity of research in recent decades (Torres and Steponavičius, 2022[17]). While challenges remain (see (OECD, 2025[18]) for a summary), this wealth of research is a valuable source of information for teachers. Moreover, building the infrastructure for engagement is not only a case of enabling this research to impact classrooms, but for classrooms to also potentially inform and strengthen the wider world of research going forward (OECD, 2024[19]).

Supply high-quality, relevant and accessible research

Quality research is a foundation of its effective use. What counts as quality has long been contested, but in recent years there has been a movement towards more plurality in handling evidence to reflect that there is no single best method or type of evidence. Rather the most appropriate methodological approach depends on the question that is being investigated (Nutley, Powell and Davies, 2013[20]).

This invites consideration of access to and engaging with this research:

• There should be trusted sources or avenues for accessing quality research. For instance, centralised hubs, such as those developed by many knowledge brokers, may act as gatekeepers for ensuring research is of a sufficiently rigorous nature.

• Research should also be relevant to teachers and their particular needs. Teachers are busy and research that does not speak to their own experience may reduce their engagement with research. The co-development of research agendas may be significant in this respect.

• This supply from trusted sources may also be supported by a process of translation to ensure research is accessible. For instance, summaries of key findings can still retain rigour and communicate transparently the nuances of research while making it digestible for often busy teachers.

Underlying consideration of quality and relevancy is the question of context: quality, relevant evidence for who? Building generalisable knowledge in education that works across contexts is very challenging. Certain methodologies are better at enabling this type of inference, but they are expensive and time-intensive (e.g. randomised control trials). Even then, contexts can be highly variable and there has accordingly been a range of efforts in recent years to better contextualise findings from one context to particular national or regional contexts (e.g. the Laboratory of Education Research and Innovation for Latin America and the Caribbean [SUMMA], Leerpunt) (OECD, 2023[21]).

Build research engagement skills

Supporting engagement with research is also about building the skills and capacity of teachers to engage with research. As mentioned, a degree of translation is necessary in terms of applying the insights from scientific research to a particular localised context, and this is why research skills are necessary too.

However, this remains a challenge for many systems; in 2021, the OECD Strengthening the Impact of Education Research policy survey found that just over half (53%) of surveyed education systems reported that “low levels of skills and capacity to use research” were a barrier to the use of research in school practice (OECD, 2022[13]).

Opportunities to develop research engagement skills can be significant here.

• This can relate to both developing the knowledge with which to interpret certain methodologies and their associated findings, as well as knowledge of how to conduct research such as through collaborative research projects.

• For instance, there has been particular attention in action research models, which can allow teachers to address challenges in specific contexts, by questioning their own practices, exploring relevant theory, trialling new approaches, and generating new knowledge (McKenney and Reeves, 2020[22]).

• This may also extend to explicit opportunities for teachers to step formally into research roles. For instance, since 2010 in the Netherlands, the Dutch Research Council has been organising calls for their Doctoral Grant for Teachers programme. This is aimed at teachers in primary, secondary, vocational, higher vocational and special education, with some 500 projects having been awarded. Significantly, the grant seeks to serve as an enabler by including the costs of a replacement teacher up to the equivalent of a maximum of 0.4 full time for a maximum of five years (OECD, 2022[23]).

• Notably, there is an important connection with initial teacher education (ITE) here (see Chapter 2). Some systems have started to build the development of research skills into ITE programmes with a view to this hopefully fostering longer term engagement with research (see Box 5.2).

Create system-supported approaches for research engagement

In recent years it has become clearer that active efforts are needed to develop the structures and cultures for effective research use. System leaders play an important role in building particular connections, with it helpful to think of a research ‘ecosystem’ being fostered (OECD, 2023[21]).

• For instance, this may be the development of brokerage agencies that can offer a centralised place to access research (e.g. the Education Endowment Foundation in England (United Kingdom) – see Box 5.2). Such agencies may be created without any initial foundations, or they may draw upon existing infrastructure and organisations by expanding their responsibilities (e.g. Higher Education Institutions or research institutions).

• Alternatively, it may be the establishment of partnerships between specific universities and schools (e.g. Netherlands Initiative for Education Research [NRO] in the Netherlands). Overall, such brokerage agencies and partnerships may also coordinate research efforts and identify particular gaps to inform research agendas, as is the case of the aforementioned NRO in the Netherlands.

• Alternatively, it may overlap with aforementioned approaches to connecting schools and fostering collaborative research networks (Rickinson et al., 2023[24]).

• This may be coupled with bespoke resources such as the provision of funding for collaborative research projects that require multi-stakeholder engagement.

There may also be particular incentives. For instance, engagement with research may be rewarded through specific roles or as part of career progression. Alternatively, there may be expectations around research engagement that are communicated. Evaluation mechanisms could draw upon evidence of research engagement, though this still invites consideration of the potential unforeseen perversion of certain measures as set out above.

Box 5.2. International examples of developing engagement with research

Education Endowment Foundation in England (United Kingdom)

In 2011, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) was established as the ‘what works’ centre for education by the Sutton Trust, with an endowment from the UK Department for Education. It was set up as an independent charity with the primary aim of closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. The EEF was created to promote the use of evidence-based approaches in education, by funding and evaluating research into effective teaching and learning strategies – what is known as evidence generation – and to synthesise available research evidence and to mobilise the use of evidence to the sector.

One key output is its Teaching Learning and Toolkit. The Toolkit is an online resource developed in collaboration with academic researchers. It provides accessible summaries of educational research to help teachers and school leaders make evidence-informed decisions about how to improve learning outcomes, especially for disadvantaged pupils.

The Toolkit presents strategies and interventions (e.g. feedback, homework, small group tuition, and metacognition) providing evidence on three key factors:

• Impact on pupil attainment (measured in months of additional progress)

• Strength of the supporting evidence

• Cost to implement

It is designed to be practical and easy-to-use, offering a quick way to compare different approaches and understand more about their effectiveness. The Toolkit is regularly updated with new research findings.

The EEF has also funded a range of empirical research studies, in particular randomised control trials. It has experienced considerable growth from its original primary focus on randomised control trials and meta-analyses, such as in relation to its extensive funding of qualitative research too.

To better support schools to access, understand and use evidence, the EEF set up a partner network (“Research Schools Network (RSN)”) in 2016. The RSN has grown to a collaboration of 33 schools across seven regions in England. Research schools serve as evidence advocates in their local and regional networks and develop strategic partnerships through a blend of training, exemplification and school-to-school support.

The RSN has collectively engaged with more than 40% schools across England and provided training to over 6 000 schools, with its role in fostering stronger cultures of evidence-use reflected in the wider fact that 70% of senior leaders in England cite use of the EEF’s Toolkit when making decisions about school spending.

As outlined above (see Chapter 3) the content of the frameworks for National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) in England (United Kingdom) and the supporting evidence are independently assessed and endorsed by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) too.

Ireland

The Teaching Council in Ireland is the professional standards body for teachers in Ireland. It was established on 28 March 2006 on a statutory, and it is governed by the Teaching Council Acts. ​The Council is funded by the teaching profession and has an independent regulatory function.​ It also has a mandate to promote the teaching profession.

The Teaching Council provides a range of resources to support teachers and schools to engage in and with research.

• Online Library: The Teaching Council provides all registered teachers with free access to an online library of research journals and articles and a collection of eBooks.

• Teachers Research Exchange (T-REX): T-REX is an online network for teachers and other educational researchers in accessing and sharing research. It supports conversations, collaborations and stronger connections between research policy, practice and between schools and higher education institutions. It also actively supports the development of research skills.

• Research Support Framework: The John Coolahan Research Support Framework offers support to teachers and others conducting new research, or exploring existing research in their practice, either independently or in collaboration with others.

• Commissioned Research: The Teaching Council also commissions research. For instance, a recent study commissioned and jointly funded by the Teaching Council and the Department of Education is a longitudinal study exploring teachers’ early career experiences.

Connected to this but also overlapping with efforts to foster collaborative professional learning is the Félite Bursary Scheme. This provides bursaries of 2 000, 3 000 or 5 000 EUR with the goal of supporting collaboration between schools and across sectors (e.g. colleges of further education, universities, education support centres) to enhance teachers’ professional learning.

• Some of the types of activities supported include forming professional learning communities, hosting workshops or events, inviting speakers and organising a lesson study.

• Some of the themes that have been considered by projects include outdoor learning, artificial intelligence, anti-bullying and well-being, and English as an Additional Language.

In 2024, the Félite Bursary Scheme saw a total value of 100 000 EUR awarded in bursaries, with 27 projects consisting of 98 collaborating schools. Digital assets are created by each project for dissemination, such as video clips.

Norway

Norway has developed an infrastructure to foster effective research engagement. A specific special unit – the ‘Section for Policy Analysis’ – has been developed in the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research with a mandate to provide educational research and data to support policymaking. It cooperates with all departments of the Ministry, serving as a bridging knowledge broker by disseminating relevant research as well as by offering analytical support to the departments and to the political and ministry leaders.

The section also endeavours to support evidence production; it works to develop and increase the evidence base across education levels, from kindergarten to schools to higher education. To this end, it follows international research and facilitates strategic discussions in the field of education research. It also coordinates research initiatives across a range of different stakeholders, with one task being the allocation of budget means to educational research being one of these tasks.

A further actor is the Norwegian Knowledge Centre. This is funded by the Ministry but is an autonomous institution, and in 2019 it moved from Oslo to the University of Stavanger as part of a more general decentralisation effort by the government of Norway.

The Programme for Research and Innovation in the Educational Sector (FINNUT) has sought to support high-quality research aimed at spurring innovation and informing practice and policy development at all levels of the education sector. Running from 2014 to 2023, it was carried out by the Research Council of Norway and provided funding for research projects across the education sector focussed on four main areas: teaching and learning; professional education and practice; management, leadership and organisation; and education and work. Notably, the Programme attended to monitoring the impact of the projects, as well as supporting their targeted dissemination to particular target groups through communication and dissemination plans.

Present alongside the infrastructure for effective research engagement are also important initiatives to foster a complementary culture too. Hence, it is worth noting that efforts to encourage research engagement starts early too; initial teacher preparation in Norway includes an academic dimension that sees teachers learning about research disciplines and carrying out action research.

Notes: England (United Kingdom) and Ireland shared insights in the organised peer-learning event of 13-14 May 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine for the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science that have informed this box.

Source: (OECD, 2022[13]), Who Cares about Using Education Research in Policy and Practice?: Strengthening Research Engagement, https://doi.org/10.1787/d7ff793d-en; (OECD, 2012[25]), Lessons from PISA for Japan, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264118539-en; (OECD, 2019[10]), Working and Learning Together: Rethinking Human Resource Policies for Schools, https://doi.org/10.1787/b7aaf050-en

Lever 12: Systematising and disseminating knowledge

As teachers and leaders engage in different types of professional learning, they are also potentially generating new knowledge, in relation to their particular context and ways of working. Similarly, as the array of system actors engage in their work of supporting professional learning – such as around knowledge mobilisation – they too may be developing relevant insights on their way of working and what can best maximise their impact and effectiveness.

Codifying the knowledge that schools and systems develop is a critical step of an effective system of professional learning. It can help improve efficiency and quality; for instance, it may mean that ineffective processes or initiatives are not adopted, or that those that are highly effective are adopted at greater scale without teachers needing to invest considerable resources again. Sharing can reduce duplication and the efficient allocation of resources (OECD, 2025[26]).

Codifying knowledge can also help the more systematic building of new knowledge. A codified knowledge base can be carefully built upon with outstanding questions specifically targeted and addressed.

It has proven challenging to develop coherent approaches to codification, despite calls from both practitioners and researchers (Goldstein, 2012[27]; Kane, 2018[28]). There has been remarkably less attention on the processes of learning in schools, or the perspective and insights of schools (OECD, 2025[18]). The relevance of this codification is particularly relevant in an era of high teacher turnover which may reduce the degree of ‘institutional wisdom’ being held inside a system or schools.

Capture new knowledge in systematic, coherent ways

One key consideration is the type of knowledge from schools that is shared. Generalisable knowledge is often understood through the lens of more expensive and intensive causal research designs. These lie beyond the capacity and resources of many schools and systems. Systems may attend to how they draw upon other sources of knowledge:

• More intermediate levels of evidence may be gathered through processes such as collective insights across multiple teachers or schools on the effectiveness of particular strategies and approaches. These may make use of teacher self-reported data on particular approaches.

• Alternative approaches include that of detailed case studies. Researchers have long argued for the benefits of ‘case studies’ with their rich description of particular contextualised learning as yielding a different type of generalisation that relies on the user as a critical reader (Merriam and Tisdell, 2016[29]).

• Case studies do not provide generalised knowledge in the statistical probabilistic sense, but rather detailed accounts from a specific setting, which the user can then reflect on and evaluate for themselves. Sometimes referred to as ‘hypothesis testing’, this approach essentially sees the user test their own context-specific needs against the knowledge such case studies share.

• Such case studies may capture the complexity of processes of change and learning which can be particularly valuable for leaders or teachers considering similar changes themselves.

In both cases, the establishment of more standardised and consistent ways of capturing knowledge from schools, and wider actors, is a significant question for a system.

• For instance, shared templates for case studies of practice or an agreed set of items for self-reported data can help to facilitate comparison between different sources of knowledge that are collected.

• Moreover, transparency and detail tend to be essential; because the knowledge has not been generated through a causal design, it may be that multiple methods are particularly valuable – such as that of parents, students, leaders and teachers.

• It also means that transparent communication of limitations can be valuable, particularly for the process of understanding if such a case study may apply to one’s own situation.

Curate new emerging knowledge

Knowledge needs to be well-organised and accessible to be useable. It has been argued that one of the challenges teachers and schools face today is the sheer quantity of information that they are presented with in the digital age (Trust and Horrocks, 2016[30]). This sits in tension with the fact that diverse sources of information can be also relevant for responding to diverse challenges, sparking inspiration, and teachers’ process of critically interpreting how information is relevant to their context.

One particular consideration is what is prioritised.

• Knowledge may be curated to focus on particular goals and objectives, such as the priority objectives of a system (e.g. fostering engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), social-emotional learning).

• Alternatively, teachers may have more agency to browse different knowledges. These can still be enabled through comprehensive systems such as digital platforms that use tagging systems for schools to find the knowledge they seek.

A second consideration is how trust is built.

• Transparency on both the success and the limitations or challenges of particular approaches, acknowledging that so-called ‘silver bullets’ in education do not exist, can support teachers’ critical engagement with knowledge.

• Similarly, clarity on the contexts that knowledge comes from may be relevant here too and the process of interpretation.

Ensure effective tools for dissemination at scale

A key feature of an ecosystem is the accessibility to knowledge it presents to all. Technology can be a crucial tool for supporting schools’ accessibility to codified knowledge.

• Digital platforms and digital networks can be a means of teachers and schools in more rural settings of having access to the same knowledge as those that exist in more physically-connected geographies (Minea-Pic, 2020[31]). Of course, this is dependent on the digital infrastructure that exists.

• Digital also holds promise insofar as helping to bring the tangible nature of teaching to life. Lesson resources and materials are essential features of many initiatives and the day-to-day action of classrooms. Digital tools can provide access to these at greater scale.

• Furthermore, videos of practice may help illustrate new approaches from teachers more concretely than purely descriptive accounts (Fischer and Neumann, 2012[32]).

Box 5.3. International examples of systematising and disseminating knowledge

Singapore

Singapore has sought to create an infrastructure that can better allow for networked learning. This seeks to support the co-construction and production of new knowledge as a community.

Singapore’s One Portal All Learners platform allows teachers to set up online collaboration groups, facilitating asynchronous knowledge construction that complements face-to-face interactions. A series of tools are also available for the knowledge-building processes:

• Blogs and forums allow for the sharing of resources (e.g. artefacts, literature reviews) and commenting or discussion around these.

• A chat feature allows for real-time synchronous conversations or quick exchanges, while more formal webinars can also be hosted for virtual convenings.

• Multi-media such as audio and video clips can be shared through podcast and vodcast features.

• Wiki features allow for collaborative creation and co-editing.

• Survey/poll features allow for surveys to be created to facilitate data collection.

While the digital realm is essential in is function, it is also worth noting the importance of simplicity too. Users appreciate the platform’s compatibility with mobile technologies and its unified log-in with existing email systems (Lee et al., 2020[33]). Researchers have also found that facilitation of collaboration in the digital space, potentially drawing upon assigned roles for members, may be essential to successful collaborative knowledge-building (Lee et al., 2020[33]).

Shanghai (China)

Shanghai has developed a sophisticated digital platform to share lesson plans that draws upon the wisdom of the crowd for curation through reputational metrics. The more other teachers download, or critique or improve lessons, the greater the reputation of the teacher who had shared them.

This, in turns, feeds into the wider professional progression of the teacher. Hence, the ability to work collaboratively is one of the expectations of the system. In evaluations of staff, school leaders can enquire into the contribution of the teacher to improving the teaching profession and the wider education system.

In this respect, Shanghai (China) has sought to tap into teachers’ desire of people to contribute, collaborate and be recognised for their efforts. It has helped to nurture creativity and quality control simultaneously through its giant open-source community.

Source: (Lee et al., 2020[33]), The development of an implementation framework to support knowledge construction in online networked learning, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19415257.2020.1763430; (Campbell, Lieberman and Yaskina, 2013[34]), Teacher Learning & Leadership Programme, https://www.otffeo.on.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/09/tllp_full_report-.pdf (accessed 20 February 2025); (OECD, 2023[35]), Teaching for the Future: Global Engagement, Sustainability and Digital Skills, https://doi.org/10.1787/d6b3d234-en

Key implementation considerations

• Supporting leaders: School leaders are key actors in fostering collaboration. As mentioned, this may mean appreciating that nurturing collaboration demands a particular skillset and building this capacity. Leaders’ time can be limited for engaging in more instructional work with colleagues (OECD, 2019[36]), and thus this time constraint for any skill development as well as enacting such practices demands consideration too.

• Identifying ‘earlier adopters’: To support the steady, targeted development of new initiatives, identifying those in schools that can serve as ‘champions’ and serve as the first adopters of the new approaches the initiative proposes can be valuable (Education Endowment Foundation, 2024[7]). For instance, these may be relevant for the use of new digital tools (OECD, 2024[19]). Such champions may help to mobilise others and provide them with sustained support. Of particular relevance is the question of fostering truly ‘whole’ school cultures; with TALIS 2018 results suggesting that teachers tend to collaborate with only a few colleagues, while others in the same school may not collaborate at all. A key implementation consideration may be how early adopters with the support of school leaders steadily build wider connections for more inclusive collaborative cultures.

• Appreciating the time needed for new cultures to embed: Moving to more collaborative ways of working may take time. In particular, it may be jarring when transitioning from cultures of competition. The skills that underpin collaboration need steady nurturing within the structures that enable these to manifest, so that they become more habitual and refined. Indeed, this type of sustained support may be particularly vital in the earlier phases where resistance may be most likely.

• Attend to reform fatigue across actors: Connected to the previous point about patience is also the need to be mindful of the negative effects of constant change (OECD, 2025[26]). Reform or change fatigue can be demotivating and lose buy-in, particularly if there are frequent U-turns or overhauls in the approach. Similarly, too many changes may be overwhelming, and a more gradual, targeted approach may avoid this sensation of fatigue among stakeholders.

• Celebrate success: One way of navigating potential feelings of fatigue or uncertainty can be clear monitoring of the change process and, in particular, highlighting its progress. The positive identification of successes – however small – can help to highlight the steps being achieved and may support engagement (OECD, 2025[26]). Indeed, much like positive praise from teachers to students in the classroom, this too can be important for the adults in the system as well.

Box 5.4. Key reflection questions for system leaders

To create an ecosystem for collective learning and sharing to ensure opportunities for excellence for all, system leaders may consider the following:

A culture of collaborative inquiry within and across schools

• How can structures (e.g. networks) and roles (e.g. facilitators) be used to support collaborative inquiry within and across schools?

• What resources can be provided to support collaborative inquiry within and across schools? (e.g. time, physical resources [e.g. videos, digital tools], capacity-building)

• How can practitioners enact agency over defining tangible focusses for collaboration?

• What role can data, research and artefacts play in grounding collaboration?

• How can additional actors be drawn upon to enhance collaborative processes?

• How could best practice around collaboration be more widely shared?

Developing engagement with research

• What mechanisms can support access to high-quality, relevant research?

• How could teachers and school leaders be supported to develop their research literacy?

• What system-level infrastructure would enable a culture of effective, sustainable research engagement?

• What role could teachers and school leaders play in shaping the research agenda?

Systematising and disseminating knowledge

• How could new knowledge from school-level actors be coherently and systematically captured?

• What could be the role of different actors in generating and curating new knowledge?

• What tools could enable an evolving knowledge base to be accessible to a wide range of actors?

Implementation considerations

• How can leaders be supported to become enablers of strong collaborative cultures in their school and more widely?

• What could be the potential of identifying and supporting early adopters when implementing change?

• What might be the role of patience and incremental steps in the face of a time-consuming process of changing cultures?

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