Secondary school organisation and home–school collaboration: a tale of two systems

Abstract

PurposeThis conceptual paper explores the relationship between school structure, organisation, and home–school collaboration. It argues that the traditional and dominant secondary school model based on same-age organisation acts in ways that constrain home–school collaboration while claiming to value it. The paper proposes an alternative model (vertical tutoring), one that relies on home–school collaboration and developing the capacity to absorb the complexity that collaboration createsDesign/methodology/approachModels of home–school collaboration abstracted from the research literature are set within a framework of organisational studies, complexity science, and systemic thinking, revealing incongruities between claimed values and operational practices. The paper contrasts the frailties endemic to same-age organisation with the advantages claimed by schools that have adopted a vertical tutoring (VT) systemFindingsThe choice of organisational structure is a major influence on a school's capacity to develop the home–school collaboration needed to liberate individual and organisational learning. Same-age organisational structure has a reduced capacity for building the collaborative partnerships needed to engage parents in their child's learning process. Multi-age organisation matches capacity with learning demand, enabling agency and liberating management.Research limitations/implicationsCurrent approaches to modelling rarely consider same-age operative structure and so are destined to restrict rather than enable home–school collaboration. The adoption of VT by schools broadens the scope of organisational analysis, positing a need for multi-disciplinary research able to link the form of school organisation to individual and organisational learning.Originality/valueVT is rarely mentioned in the research literature as an alternative to same-age structuration. This paper addresses this issue and draws upon complexity science, autopoietic theory, and systemic thinking to explain why current models of home–school collaboration are insufficiently situated in organisational practice.