Networking with other Christian schools.
“Networking” is a buzz-word heard in many different professional fields, and education is one of them. But what does it actually involve and why would a Christian school invest time and energy in it?
Another, perhaps more helpful, word is “strategic partnership”. By forming connections at various levels (leadership, teachers, students) with other schools that share your goals and values you have the opportunity to share your expertise and resources to benefit your partner school/s, and to grow by learning from their expertise and experience.
ACSI Europe seeks to facilitate opportunities for Christian schools to network across cultural and geographic boundaries, through conferences and online courses. However, forming strategic partnerships can not be accomplished by an outside organization! The hard work necessarily comes from the schools involved.
What is your experience with networking/strategic partnerships?
If you have been involved in a strategic partnership with another school, please share your experience in a comment below. It would be helpful if you could comment on…
– Why you decided to be involved in a partnership.
– What steps you took to establish the partnership.
– The blessings you have been able to give and receive through the partnership.
Comments
Laci Demeter
AuthorNetworking may begin with meeting a colleague at a professional conference and exchanging email addresses, or by entering an online course with ACSI Europe where Christian teachers are learning and sharing together from several countries. Either way, networking opens the door to sharing best practices with each other, and learning together.
The EU Erasmus Program provides a wide range of financial support for partnership projects of schools joining together from several countries of Europe. The various services and events offered by ACSI Europe promote such partnerships among Christian schools for the benefit of the global Christian school movement.