As we move deeper into the third decade of the 21st Century, the need to re-design the process by which schools are supported and enabled to improve has become increasingly important. In 2016, a meeting was held in the Department for Education headquarters in London. Key national school and college representative organisations were present. All agreed that there was a need to quality assure and develop the quality of advice and support that schools receive. Following an intensive research and development programme it was decided to establish the Association of Education Advisers (AoEA), which is independent of national and local government. It was also decided that the AoEA should provide an accredited international standard which would be relevant to all schools, colleges and education providers across the UK, and ultimately, throughout the world. The AoEA has a vision that every school and college no matter their size or designation, has access to high-quality support, advice and challenge, which is independent and focused on improving outcomes for children and young people, their schools, their colleges and their communities.There are 36,000 schools across the UK alone. The core message from those who support and advise on school improvement to those who lead and inspect is that we should ‘professionalise’ the role of the adviser. A major part of the work of the AoEA has been in developing the professional community within the UK and internationally for those who support and advise schools, colleges, and other education providers.This accredited national and international community of advisers is increasing by the day. We believe that we are at the very beginning of our journey and, that at the outset, we seriously underestimated the potential of an international community of Education Advisers. We don’t now! We believe that those who lead, inspect and advise schools should have access to accredited standards and continuous professional learning. The three points of this triangular relationships are all necessary. If one part is weakened then the system becomes weak and unsustainable. Advising and supporting colleagues within schools and colleges over which you may not have direct power and control, requires a unique set of skills and knowledge. The hundreds of educationalists who have achieved the AoEA accredited standard tell us that they value highly the independent nature of the AoEA, the opportunity to reflect on their work through a rigorous accreditation process and associated professional learning. They tell us that the AoEA process,provides:• an opportunity to reflect on their own practice through external eyes, condense and showcase their contribution to organisational improvement.• a valuable opportunity to receive external affirmation and feedback, whilst also having signposted opportunities for further learning.helps them to:• validate their ability to advise others.• understand their own skills and expertise in relation to how they can support others.• develop further and hone their skills and expertise in supporting others.• make others aware of their knowledge, skills and experience, thereby strengthening the educational advisory network and potential for increased learning and support from one another.In harnessing the strengths of our growing membership, this series of books entitled ‘The Education Adviser’ will provide some of the most up to date thinking and examples of good practice from across the UK and internationally. If you provide advice and support or lead a school and college, the aim of this series of books is to provide some essential reading. The AoEA has selected contributors from the 400 plus accredited AoEA Associates and partners together with well-known experts from across the UK and beyond. All contributors have mastery in their specific area, whether it is in how to demonstrate professional credibility, understanding what causes a school’s success or failure, developing a school improvement strategy, supporting major change programmes or using quality improvement tools such as Kaizen.The books in the series are as follows:1. The Role of the Education Adviser2. Advising on School improvement3. Advising on Governance in Education4. Advising on Organisational development in Education5. Advising on Change management in Education6. Advising on Implementing Quality systems in EducationRead more about this authorRead less about this author