Rafael:

This is a very interesting question, and one I have not researched, but was curious enough to look it up in RG. Here's the available literature I found:

https://www.researchgate.net/publicliterature.PublicLiterature.search.html?type=keyword&search-keyword=models+of+schools&search-abstract=&search-journal=&search=Search

Hope this helps!

Debra

Hi Rafael

There is some interesting stuff on this in China: the full references in the following para. can be found if you download from ResearchGate my article on 'Progressive teaching in China'.

Regards

Gerard

'All these classroom findings are framed by an institutionalised group culture in which formalistic teaching is a highly developed professional form. Cortazzi and Jin (2001, pp.121-125) reported that the school system provided incentives for teachers to learn from each other, act as mentors, and model practices within a school-teacher culture of collective support. According to Tsui and Wong (2009), use of schools as the prime site for teacher development derived from a Soviet pedagogic model adopted in the 1950’s. Formal qualifications in teacher education from normal universities were a beginning; after graduation much INSET occurred as daily practice within schools. Standard approaches included “lesson research” (which included collective lesson preparation, lesson observation and post-observation conferencing), demonstration lessons, and one-on-one mentoring. Their own case study used interviews with participants in a Shanghai programme that was recognised as an outstanding success and modelled elsewhere in China. In a number of schools, teacher professional development was organised systematically, including subject groups working on collective lesson preparation. The approach to INSET was based on an apprenticeship model that initially gave light loads to inexperienced teachers. They were assigned mentors, whom they observed and who provided feedback on subject knowledge and instructional strategies from classroom observation. Collective lesson preparation was used to develop ‘virtuoso lessons’ (Paine 1990) that were carefully planned, critiqued, refined into a standard piece, and rehearsed and repeated – perhaps for decades with standard material. Teaching demonstrations (also held at district, province and national levels) were open to critique from large audiences. The key proponent of this programme was guided by Confucian thinking on the integration of teaching, learning and doing, within which any Western influences were applied (Tsui & Wong 2009, pp.290-304). '

'

Dear Rafael,

Models, both still and working, provide an environment for interactive student engagement. Working with models  enhance systems thinking skills and quantitative skills of learners.

Please see some useful links related your query. Hope that these articles are useful for you.

http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/models/HowToUse.html

http://scienceonline.tki.org.nz/Teaching-science/Teaching-Strategies/Teaching-with-models

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/papers/modeltch.html

https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/smg/Website/UCP/classroom/modeling.html

http://teachinglearningresources.pbworks.com/w/page/19919560/Instructional%20Approaches

Dear Rafael,

I guess most of the countries, at least the ones that are active in improving their education system through reforms propose model schools with model curriculum, model methods, model teachers and so on. Model are often fine tuned in experimental settings before being introduced to the other schools; hence chances of their success is high.

Although models might be useful, still a thorough understanding of the context should be made and necessary adjustments to suit the context should be carried out to ensure its success.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275684442_Community_Involvement_in_School_Management_in_Portugal

Article Community Involvement in School Management in Portugal

Hello Rafael, Thank you for your question. At the institution level you might be interested in:

Maxwell, T.W. & Namgay 2014. A Bhutanese tertiary education consultancy case study: Introducing the institutional zone of proximal development: International Journal for Educational Development 37, 32-39. http://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S073805931400011X

At the systems level you might look ap the phrase "policy borrowing". That might help too.

Tom