A new report provides compelling evidence that working together does work to improve student learning, engagement and wellbeing. Jim Griffiths reports.
Evidence from the NSW Department of Education confirms what many teachers already know instinctively: schools that collaborate well, teach better and students learn more as a result.
The What Works Best 2025 -Evidence guide for excellent schools identifies well-planned collaboration as one of eight practices proven to improve student learning, engagement and wellbeing.
High-quality teacher collaboration involves teachers working interdependently towards a shared goal, drawing on evidence-informed practice, collective knowledge and structured problem-solving.
The research is clear on the payoff. Schools that build strong collaborative practices are more likely to lift teaching and learning outcomes, with flow-on benefits for school improvement more broadly.
Collaboration has also been shown to strengthen the shared belief among staff that, by working together, they can genuinely shift outcomes for students which, in turn, is linked to higher student achievement.
Teachers, who collaborate regularly, also report greater job satisfaction, motivation and self-efficacy.
Few schools illustrate these principles as clearly as Ashford Central SchooExternal linkl, a small K–12 school of 121 students on Kwiambal Country, near the Queensland border.
At the heart of the school’s approach is a whole-school, shared decision-making process for setting the strategic directions in its School Excellence Plan.
Rather than directives being handed down, staff, students, families and the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group are all brought into the conversation about where the school should focus its energy.
Principal Alex Wrobel said that kind of shared ownership wasn’t optional if collaboration was going to succeed.
“Collaboration needs to be worked on, planned, and time given to it, to ensure that it works well. It requires trust to ensure all staff are equally contributing to the common goal,” he said.
“I think it’s important to have everyone on board. You need conversation and discussion and agreement, and everyone working towards something.”
The What Works Best guide is clear that collaboration doesn’t happen simply by giving teachers time and hoping for the best.
It’s also about understanding what individual teachers need in order to collaborate effectively – not just setting the expectation that they will.
Effective collaboration rests on a handful of consistent foundations: a supportive school culture built on trust; a shared, specific focus on improving teaching and learning; clear structures and protocols; and knowledgeable staff to facilitate the work.
School leaders play a critical role in establishing all of these conditions, including how the school resources collaboration.
At Ashford Central School, due to its rural setting, Mr Wrobel funded an ongoing temporary role to cover classes so teachers can take part in joint planning, networking days and team-teaching.
“This means collaboration at Ashford isn’t another ask on top of a full teaching load,” Mr Wrobel said.
The results speak for themselves. Structured, facilitated collaboration between the school’s Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction and primary teachers – including co-developed writing assessments, rubrics and consistent teacher judgement sessions – has driven measurable improvements in students’ writing outcomes, with a similar approach now being rolled out in mathematics.
For rural and regional schools, where staff can be geographically isolated, deliberately engineering opportunities for connection – whether through networking days, online platforms or partnerships with neighbouring schools – is essential.
Ashford Central’s experience shows what’s possible when collaboration is intentional and consistent, from strategic planning right down to the timetable.
As the What Works Best evidence guide makes clear, collaboration isn’t a nice-to-have extra, but one of the most reliable levers schools have for lifting both teaching quality and student outcomes.
