Governing roles? Integrating philanthropic foundations with governance boards in German educational collaborative networks

Educational collaborative networks (ECNs), as instruments for achieving educational goals through the integration of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), have become frequent elements of public education worldwide. Despite their contribution of additional resources to the education enterprise, the roles of philanthropic foundations in ECNs are particularly controversial. Research suggests that leaders of ECNs such as policy makers, administrators, and school principals design and coordinate governance structures to guide participants’ behaviour. However, the importance of governance design and coordination in ECNs for governing philanthropic roles is yet to be systematically analysed. This article centres on the relationship between the design and coordination of governance boards and role-related participation of philanthropic foundations. A mixed methods design is implemented based on secondary analysis of a German large-scale standardised survey and an in-depth case study conducted in a south German municipality. Results confirm that leaders of ECNs impact philanthropic engagement via the design and coordination of governance boards. Participation in ECNs can take on diverse roles of representing particular interests, pursuing innovation, or providing services and are explained by underlying governance-related mechanisms. Identified associations within governance boards and role-related participation of philanthropic foundations in ECNs offer valuable insights for leadership in education.

Networked leadership in Educational Collaborative Networks

Educational Collaborative Networks (ECNs) aim to achieve educational goals at the community level and base their actions on collaborative partnering between schools and community organizations. These approaches are an emergent and innovative leadership and policy strategy being used increasingly across the globe, given the interconnected and pervasive nature of issues facing education. The enthusiasm and promise of such community-based initiatives are accompanied by concerns related to its leadership. This paper describes the insights of networked leadership as a driver, which facilitates ECN outcome achievement. This article examines the experience of leaders involved in the current leadership of 18 high-performing ECNs in Barcelona (Spain). The results stress that networked leadership may become a key driver of change in educational contexts, capable of building a collaborative culture to optimize the educational performance in every specific community.

Implementación de una actividad educativa en modo colaborativo con apoyo de smartphones: una experiencia universitaria

El sector educativo se ha convertido en un campo fértil para explorar el potencial de aplicación de los dispositivos portátiles como apoyo al aprendizaje. El objetivo de este artículo es presentar los resultados de la implementación de una actividad educativa en modo colaborativo mediante el uso de smartphones. El artículo identifica los elementos clave que apoyan la interacción y comunicación ubicua de grupos de estudiantes universitarios en un contexto que requiere de un intenso nivel de interacción para la entrega de tareas a corto plazo.Implementation of an educational collaborative activity with smartphones support: a university experienceAbstractThe educational sector has become fertile ground for exploring the potential application of mobile handheld devices to support learning. The aim of this paper is to present the results of the implementation of an educational activity in a collaborative way using smartphones. This article identifies the key elements that support ubiquitous communication and interaction of groups of university students in a context that requires an intense level of interaction for the delivery of short-term assignments.