What Comes out of Incentivized Collaboration: A Qualitative Analysis of Eight Flemish School Networks

Incentivized collaboration, schools that receive incentives such as public funding or additional resources if they join a network, has become quite popular in Europe and North America (e.g. England, Flanders, United States). We used a comparative case study design to explore why schools would enter such an incentivized network and what role incentives play in the development, operation and sustaining of collaboration. Interviews and focus groups were conducted in eight Flemish (Belgium) school networks. Our analysis showed three key findings. Firstly, all schools entered a network because of the incentives instead of intrinsic motivations. Secondly, in half of the cases the initial negative motivations towards collaboration changed into positive motivations while collaborating. Thirdly, although incentives are useful when initiating a network, they are not sufficient to maintain a solid collaboration. We argue that an incentivized network reaches maturity when there is a common purpose, a degree of collaborative activity, mutual trust and solidarity. Therefore, an incentivized network needs a stable and non-competitive environment and sufficient leadership quality. We also believe that networks that are composed of schools with a common history, few members and small power differences have a better chance at survival.