Collaborative Practice, Collective Efficacy and the Ancient Greeks.

Collaborative Practice and collective efficacy are two prominent themes in education currently. Both aimed at enabling educators to be as effective as possible and raise the opportunities for the students in their care. Whilst the research around collective efficacy has been around for some decades (Albert Bandura) it has re-emerged as an important impact on student learning. John Hattie (https://visible-learning.org/2018/03/collective-teacher-efficacy-hattie/) has been at the forefront of this when discussing the impact of various practices on student learning. Collaborative practice aimed at developing staff capacity has a positive impact on the culture of the school.

So what do the Ancient Greeks have to do with collaborative practice and collective efficacy. The Greeks identified four levels of happiness, three of which are readily obvious, the fourth being a high level of attainment. Level One, known as “laetus” is happiness attained from what we have, the new toy or car. The second level, “felix” relates to happiness gained in comparison to others, specifically by being better than others. Neither of these levels is of great benefit to the improvement of a school. Staff who cannot get past these levels of happiness will make school improvement difficult as they are happy in themselves but are not outward looking.

The third level- “Beatitudo”- is the level of happiness that comes from seeing the good in others and doing good for others. This level of happiness in a school should see staff supporting each other and building on each other’s strengths, allowing for growth in the school. Beatitudo would be a positive level for staff and schools to aim for in developing their culture. It would create a culture where staff are supportive of each other’s growth and proud of each other’s achievements.

The fourth level the Greeks identified was “sublime beatitudo” which is the highest plane of happiness. In schools we know this as holidays.

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