Teamwork. Collaborative Culture. Two heads are better than one. Everywhere we turn in education, we find people shouting the benefits of working in teams. But I contend that working in a team or even organizing and keeping teams focused is easier said than done.
How do we do this business we call school in an effective, efficient way for teachers and students? Research is telling us that making our practice public and learning from each other is one of the major foundational pieces that we must have in place. We are rich in professional development from the outside of our schools. How do we help all of our educators apply that knowledge in working with each other and with the students? In the next few blogs, we will look at different aspects and structures of how we can develop strong instructional teams to Build Clear and Collaborative Relationships.
I recently found an article by the Teachers of Hoover Middle School. They had worked with a local university on building collaborative teams in their school. Below is an excerpt of what they found that I thought may be food for thought as we work through the idea of collaboration.
Tips on teacher collaboration around student work
Is your teacher group ready to put lessons and projects on the table and listen to tough questions about them? Are you ready to share the work products of your students with your colleagues and ask, “Am I getting good enough work?” Hoover Middle School history department chair Mary Massich and CSULB professor and coach Linda Whitney offer a few tips for teachers who are thinking about taking the plunge:
* YOU MUST COMMIT THE TIME AND ENERGY TO DO THIS WORK. Our team spends about two hours a week meeting together to discuss teacher lessons (task analysis) and the products of our lessons (student work). So far, we’ve been able to use grant money or school funds earmarked for professional development to pay teacher stipends for this work. Obviously, there’s also some preparation time before the meetings and some follow-up time afterwards. We find food is a good energizer during these afternoon sessions!
* WE ALL IMPROVE WITH REFLECTION. This is a core belief of anyone committed to this kind of collaborative work. You must view teaching and learning as processes that improve with reflection. We are all so busy, so rushed to meet the demands of the daily routine, that we seldom give ourselves the luxury of time to reflect. But when we do, the insights can be startling. Yes, they sometimes mean we have to work a little harder, but more often reflection helps us see how we can work smarter - getting better results for our kids for the same investment of time. And isn’t that what we all dream of?
* YOU MUST BE OPEN TO CRITICAL FEEDBACK. If everyone insists on being nice all the time, the examination of teacher and student work will not improve your teaching. Are you open to critical feedback from your colleagues? Are you willing to be a “critical friend,” even when you see your fellow teacher is smarting a little from the criticism, however constructive? You will want to start slow; it takes time to learn to put your ego on hold. But remember, everybody must give and everybody must take some criticism. It helps to have a coach — someone who’s not a daily member of the team — to keep us focused on the work and not on ourselves.
* YOU WILL HAVE TO CHANGE YOUR TEACHING. No one can go through this process without changing their teaching. We all believed we were good teachers before we began this work. But we’ve learned so much about how we can be better. Maybe we think we’ve developed a good lesson, but the review of student work tells us that it’s just not helping enough kids meet standards. So we have to change, to experiment, to try something else. Often we’ll get ideas about how to do that from others in our group, or from our coach, or from our outside research. But we accept, up front, that developing alternative teaching strategies are part and parcel of this work.
* YOU WILL NEED TO DEVELOP SOME STRUCTURE. Our early conversations about teacher and student work were lively and interesting but tended to wander and lose focus. With the help of our coach, we identified some model instruments that teachers can use to guide their discussions. We’ve adapted them to our own use, and we’ll be glad to share them with anyone who’s interested. Look us up at Carpe Diem!
* TEAM SPIRIT CAN CARRY YOU THROUGH TOUGH TIMES. Sometimes you’re too tired; sometimes egos get bruised;, sometimes the work just seems too hard. When you dig deeply into your teaching, you begin to see so much more that you could be doing, and that can be frustrating. But a strong team that believes in and supports every member will see you through. As this work continues and your confidence in your teaching grows, your team spirit will spread and become a real force in your school.
