Abstract

Networking collaboration in the educational field can be framed as a way to exercise citizens’ active participation in the governance of public affairs. The first and second part of the article discuss the evolution of the Italian legal framework on school networks and present national data on the spreading of school networks. In addition, some relevant experiences of networking are commented. The third part summarizes the meaning and features of networking in education in the international debate, underlining the strategic perspective for educational change and implementation of school reform processes, and presents an INVALSI project inspired by this perspective. In the last part we highlight that the development of professional collaboration networks in the Italian context is at an early stage. We suggest reinforcing this aspect as an important mechanism of social innovation, especially in times of emergency, through research actions in support of different forms of collaboration, learning and attribution of meaning among stakeholders.