Leading with the Social Brain in Mind Cognition, complexity and collaboration in schools

Leading with the Social Brain in Mind puts relationships front and centre of the important work that educators do. The number and different types of relationships that educators maintain on daily basis can be undervalued and underestimated. Specifically, it challenges system and school leaders to investigate how social brain theory affects the unintended results of collaborative interactions in their own complex organisational environments.

Designing environments for collaboration in schools is a complex task and requires a lot of skill, especially in those where many institutional practices and structures are so widely accepted that they are rarely questioned. This book discusses the importance of collaboration in schools, explores silo mentality and asks educators to reflect on how their decisions are impacted by implementation barriers.

It is an invaluable read for educators who want to understand associations among cognition, complexity and collaboration in leading change initiatives in schools.

Joanne Casey is an education practitioner who works in a range of contexts to support reform agendas that build sustainable practices over time. Her focus remains on improved outcomes for all students. She understands schools are complex environments requiring flexible but research-based approaches to achieve improved outcomes for those they serve.