Episode 88: Navigating Disruption through Collaboration

With Chad Tew

Available April 21, 2026

It’s no secret that independent schools face ongoing challenges, from enrollment to governance to changing norms and social pressures. The schools that continue to thrive are generally the ones that adapt and innovate without losing their sense of tradition and identity. But that’s certainly easier said than done, especially when solutions like mergers enter the picture. Chad Tew, “Chief Disruption Navigator” for LearnCollab, joins host Morva McDonald to talk about his views on the market and landscape for independent schools, why he thinks of merging as more of a unification process, and how different levels of collaboration can shore up school communities in disruptive times.

Guest: Chad Tew

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “One thing that is a challenge for schools, I think, is their governance model, and boards that are focused on kind of like, stability. And we're here to just kind of hold the mission for the future, which is true. And at the same time, sometimes that means that you're so focused on stability that you don't see the flip side of homeostasis, which is kind of apostasis. It's that idea that kind of like programmed, regulated cell death is what the real definition is, where any multicellular organism eliminates either damaged or unwanted or aged cells so that you can maintain a healthy balance. That's a challenge for independent schools.” (5:30)
• “I think every school should be thinking about a merger or some kind of collaboration. And sometimes some of the most exciting school collaborations come out of a strong school looking at opportunities where they can expand, by kind of helping out or absorbing or merging with another school. The word merger is something that can be scary to people. I like unification better, unifying two schools, unifying two faculties, two student bodies, two cultures, and how do you unify? So you think about it as like, you know, when two families come together, you know, as a result of a marriage, kind of. You want to try and set it up for success by thinking about unification instead of an up-down thing.” (20:28)

Related Episodes: 86; 74; 57; 38

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.