1) to identify the needs of educational leaders in their effort to enhance the culture of collegial support in schools, in order to create a handbook on how to support different forms of collegial support; 2) to enhance the understanding of various support forms and their impact on staff & school development, and to gain practical experience of using the diverse techniques and methods through a cpd course; 3) to share the best practice among consortium partners and deepen their knowledge.
We applied for this project in response to the urgent need for schools to adapt to rapid, constant, and disruptive change. Traditional hierarchical leadership models are no longer effective, and schools must develop a more collaborative culture where staff support one another through peer-based professional development. Our goal was to help schools transition toward a more supportive and responsive environment by introducing and embedding internal collegial support forms such as coaching, mentoring, supervision, and counselling. The needs addressed include the lack of experience and understanding of these methods in schools, the traditionally individualistic school culture, and the resistance to adopting collegial practices. Building on findings from a previous Erasmus+ “Code”project, we aimed to provide school leaders and staff with tools and knowledge to enhance collegiality, promote continuous collaborative learning, and improve school development through everyday, sustainable support practices.