Collaborative Approaches to 14-19 Provision - Communities and ...

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEARsince only five pathfinders reported having achieved this. As will be clear from the casestudies the extent of institutional inclusivity reflects particular local circumstances, but theoverall pattern is perhaps also indicative of the capacity for collaborative activity within theresources and time offered by pathfinder. Among the case studies the two pathfinders whichreported the greatest degree of inclusivity (weak collaboration with two groups, strongcollaboration with four groups) were Coventry and South Gloucestershire. In these casestudies our assessments of the strength of collaboration coincided with those of thecoordinators. In both cases it was significant that collaboration between schools andcolleges had been strongly established for a long period of time. Pathfinder built on thiscollaboration, enabled new partners to be brought in and collaboration extended into otherareas. This highlights findings from the wider literature that time and money, both to developand sustain collaboration, is an enormously important resource (Audit Commission, 1998).Levels of collaboration85. The levels at which collaboration takes place are crucial in influencing the formswhich it takes and, more importantly, the outcomes which result. Our literature reviewsuggested that this was important not just in education but across social policy fields (Balloch& Taylor, 2001; Glendinning, Powell & Rummery, 2002). These levels range from therelatively abstract policy and strategic planning level to the classroom, workshop orworkplace. Intermediate levels representing different depths of collaboration might includepathfinder steering groups; the joint institutional planning of course provision,; thedevelopment of common course information; the provision of coordinated courses; jointcourse provision; shared facilities and formal, joint governance. To put it another way, thedepth of collaboration was a significant variation and was likely to be different for differentpartners within individual pathfinders. The point can be further clarified through someexamples.86. Employer involvement took place at a variety of levels. All pathfinders had employerrepresentation at strategic levels (although this might be in wider 14-19 strategic groupsrather than in groups specifically steering the pathfinder) but in some pathfinders employerinvolvement was largely limited to the strategic level (where the intensity of theirinvolvement might also vary). However, in some pathfinders employer involvement wentmuch deeper. In the Knowsley pathfinder, for example, Jaguar are represented on the29