Staff Room Reads
Reviewed by Professionals for Professionals
SAfE’s School Improvement Advisor, Jane Evans, shares her thoughts on Jeanie Davies’ book, The Trust Revolution in Schools: How to Create a High Performance and Collaborative Culture.
School leaders can build a collaborative culture by fostering trust, empowering staff, and modelling openness—principles examined in Jeanie Davies’ book The Trust Revolution in Schools.
Creating a collaborative culture in schools isn’t just a leadership aspiration—it’s a key way to support and develop thriving learning communities. When staff feel safe, valued, and connected, they’re more likely to innovate, support one another, and stay committed to the school’s mission. But how can leaders make this happen?
At the heart of collaboration lies trust. In The Trust Revolution in Schools, Jeanie Davies argues the importance of leaders talking time to build this with and across their teams. Often driven by accountability pressures and the accompanying workload, schools can sometimes loose this thread. Her book offers suggested strategies for developing a strong level of trust, enabling genuine collaboration.
To begin, leaders should model openness and transparency. This means sharing their own learning journeys, admitting mistakes, and inviting feedback. When leaders show these human traits staff are more likely to do the same. Davies emphasizes that “teachers are some of the kindest, most altruistic and smartest people on the planet,” If leaders can retain a focus on building collaboration it will support school improvement through both the difficult and smoother times.
Empowering staff voice is another cornerstone. Collaborative cultures thrive when teachers are involved in decision-making, curriculum design, and school improvement planning. This doesn’t mean consensus on everything—but it does mean creating structures for dialogue, listening, and shared ownership. Staff councils, peer coaching, and open forums can help embed this ethos.
Professional development should also be collaborative. Instead of isolated training days, schools can foster learning communities where teachers observe each other, co-plan lessons, and reflect together. This builds not only skills but relationships. Davies’ work highlights how coaching and peer support can leak through the “walls of a school’s culture” when trust is present.
Celebrating success and learning from failure together is vital. Leaders should create rituals and routines that honour team achievements—whether it’s a successful intervention, a creative lesson, or a breakthrough with a pupil. Equally, when things go wrong, collaborative cultures treat these moments as opportunities for growth, not blame.
Finally, leaders must protect time and space for collaboration. This means scheduling regular team meetings, safeguarding planning time, and resisting the temptation to overload staff. Collaboration isn’t an add-on—it’s the engine of school improvement.
In summary, building a collaborative culture requires intentional leadership. By fostering trust, empowering staff, and embedding shared learning, school leaders can transform their schools into places where everyone thrives.
