Professional Relationships among Teachers
Three indicators make up this theme.
2.3 Teachers Staff: Teachers and Staff Collaborate to Remove Barriers to Student Learning
This indicator measures the extent of cooperation among teachers across grade levels and course content to solve problems affecting student learning. This indicator also measures if teachers feel prepared to address individual student differences and use faculty meetings to collectively solve problems. It does not address issues of collaboration among teachers and other staff in the school and issue. That issue might be examined by looking at whether staff and faculty agree on key survey items.
Note that one of the items in this indicator does not deal directly with collaboration. Question 6F asks whether teachers are prepared to deal with individual student differences. Responses to this question might well be examined when looking at responses of Indicators dealing with Curriculum and Instruction (6.5 & 6.6) and those dealing with shared goals (especially, 1.4). Teachers (and everyone else) understandably avoid commitments to tasks they do not feel they can do well and this may affect their willingness to work with others on such concerns.
2.5 Teachers Discuss: Teachers Discuss Standards and Approaches for Curriculum and Instruction
The indicator documents whether discussion occurs among teachers (defined here generally as “school staff”) related to changes in curricula and developing new curricula. The indicator also measures how often teachers and staff discuss student the implementation of standards dealing with assessment, curriculum, and student performance.
It would be difficult to know what to make of responses to these items without knowing whether the discussions involved focused on grievances (which might well be justified) or ways to enhance student learning. Indicators 2.3 and 2.9 maintain the focus on collaboration related to student learning.
2.9 Teachers Communicate: Teachers Communicate Regularly with Each Other about Effective Teaching and Learning Strategies
The indicator documents how frequently teachers communicate with each other about teaching and what helps students learn best. The indicator also measures whether instruction is the focus of discussions in the teacher’s lounge and faculty meetings. Research is clear that the level of teacher discourse about how teaching might be improved and how otherwise to reach students is highly related to school effectiveness.
As noted in earlier Steps, meaningful collaboration requires that teachers have regularly scheduled time to learn from and work with one another. Indicator 4.6 addresses this issue. It is not only that teachers must have time to work and learn together, the time they have must be extensive enough to engage in serious work (a class period is better than nothing but probably inadequate given logistics) and must be used well. Easier said than done, of course. There are numerous ways that time can be found in each week and throughout the school year to facilitate collaboration but these invariably involve tradeoffs and, some times, challenges by parents. To justify the allocation of this time for collaborative teacher learning and action, it is useful to be able to show that specific actions that can improve student performance are the product of such common action.
Research and Commentary
Current research suggests that a set of skills and conditions is necessary to develop and sustain collaborative dispositions, norms and processes in a school. These include:
• A system of inquiry or problem solving structures
• Shared values related to priority outcomes for students
• Good communication skills, especially how to listen to one another
• Effective use of structures such as teams and committees
• A climate of trust
• Time to collaborate on teaching and learning
Sometimes, teachers and administrators confuse congeniality with collaboration. “Getting along”, even enjoying social interactions on and off the job, does not necessarily lead to evidence-based collaborative problem solving. The latter can be stressful and time-consuming and collective problem solving may, in fact, be unproductive if concerns about social relationships cause teachers and administrators to avoid tough decisions.
It also seems useful to distinguish between cooperation and collaboration. Cooperation involves agreements to coordinate or to avoid conflict and can be accomplished by setting guidelines, formal or informal, about who is to do what, when and how to accomplish a shared goal. Collaboration is more demanding and involves working together and sharing responsibility for the same tasks. Cooperation is a necessary but insufficient condition to foster productive professional learning communities.
• J.W.Little, Professional Communication and Collaboration, (2007). This reading is Chapter 4 in The Keys to Effective Schools book. In this chapter, Professor Little identifies some of the challenges —formal and informal — that confront efforts to foster more collegial and collaborative teacher behavior in schools. Other chapters in The Keys to Effective School book deal with conditions that support collaborative decision making, including those by Frank Newmann and Kenneth Liethwood.
• P. Grossman, S. Wineburg, & S. Woolworth (2000, December). What Makes Teacher Community Different from a Gathering of Teachers? Available at whatmakesteachercommuntiy.pdf. This paper distinguishes between professional collaboration focused on student learning and less demanding forms of teacher interaction suggesting the characteristics of the former.
• Learning Communities and Team Skills. Available at http://www.nsdc.org/library/communities.cfm
• For ideas about team building and collaboration look at two brief articles by R. DuFour at http://www.nsdc.org/library/authors/dufour.cfm. Summer 2004 and Fall 2003. See other helpful information on collaboration from the national staff Development Council at http://www.nsdc.org/library/communities/teamwork.cfm
• School cultures have a significant impact on professional learning. See K. Peterson, Culture-Positive or Negative, Journal of Staff Development, Summer 2002. www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/peterson233.cfm.
• Building a collaborative culture is one of the fundamental roles of school leaders. On the importance of this role see K. Leithwood, K. Seashore, S. Anderson & K. Wahlstrom, (PDF) How Leadership Influences Student Learning . The Executive Summary and the full report are available at www.wallacefoundation.org. On the first page of the site, click on Education Leadership and go to the report issued in September 2004.
If collaboration were easy, there would be more of it. On the challenges involved see, WCER Research Highlights, Power, Conflict and Community in a High School Interdisciplinary Team. Fall 2003. At http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/Publications/highlights/v15n3.swf
For several examples of ways to restructure time in schools, go to the website of NCREL (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory) (www.ncrel.org/pd/time.htm) and K. Cushman (1995), Using Time Well: Schedules in Essential Schools. http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ces_res/15
Video Commentary
Lorna Earl: Professor of Education, University of Toronto. Lorna Earl shares her perspective on finding new ways to use time. She is not suggesting that time does not need to be restructured in most schools but that a culture of collaboration can lead to continuing search for ways to improve student performance.
2.3 Teachers Staff: Teachers and Staff Collaborate to Remove Barriers to Student Learning
This indicator measures the extent of cooperation among teachers across grade levels and course content to solve problems affecting student learning. This indicator also measures if teachers feel prepared to address individual student differences and use faculty meetings to collectively solve problems. It does not address issues of collaboration among teachers and other staff in the school and issue. That issue might be examined by looking at whether staff and faculty agree on key survey items.
Note that one of the items in this indicator does not deal directly with collaboration. Question 6F asks whether teachers are prepared to deal with individual student differences. Responses to this question might well be examined when looking at responses of Indicators dealing with Curriculum and Instruction (6.5 & 6.6) and those dealing with shared goals (especially, 1.4). Teachers (and everyone else) understandably avoid commitments to tasks they do not feel they can do well and this may affect their willingness to work with others on such concerns.
2.5 Teachers Discuss: Teachers Discuss Standards and Approaches for Curriculum and Instruction
The indicator documents whether discussion occurs among teachers (defined here generally as “school staff”) related to changes in curricula and developing new curricula. The indicator also measures how often teachers and staff discuss student the implementation of standards dealing with assessment, curriculum, and student performance.
It would be difficult to know what to make of responses to these items without knowing whether the discussions involved focused on grievances (which might well be justified) or ways to enhance student learning. Indicators 2.3 and 2.9 maintain the focus on collaboration related to student learning.
2.9 Teachers Communicate: Teachers Communicate Regularly with Each Other about Effective Teaching and Learning Strategies
The indicator documents how frequently teachers communicate with each other about teaching and what helps students learn best. The indicator also measures whether instruction is the focus of discussions in the teacher’s lounge and faculty meetings. Research is clear that the level of teacher discourse about how teaching might be improved and how otherwise to reach students is highly related to school effectiveness.
As noted in earlier Steps, meaningful collaboration requires that teachers have regularly scheduled time to learn from and work with one another. Indicator 4.6 addresses this issue. It is not only that teachers must have time to work and learn together, the time they have must be extensive enough to engage in serious work (a class period is better than nothing but probably inadequate given logistics) and must be used well. Easier said than done, of course. There are numerous ways that time can be found in each week and throughout the school year to facilitate collaboration but these invariably involve tradeoffs and, some times, challenges by parents. To justify the allocation of this time for collaborative teacher learning and action, it is useful to be able to show that specific actions that can improve student performance are the product of such common action.
Research and Commentary
Current research suggests that a set of skills and conditions is necessary to develop and sustain collaborative dispositions, norms and processes in a school. These include:
• A system of inquiry or problem solving structures
• Shared values related to priority outcomes for students
• Good communication skills, especially how to listen to one another
• Effective use of structures such as teams and committees
• A climate of trust
• Time to collaborate on teaching and learning
Sometimes, teachers and administrators confuse congeniality with collaboration. “Getting along”, even enjoying social interactions on and off the job, does not necessarily lead to evidence-based collaborative problem solving. The latter can be stressful and time-consuming and collective problem solving may, in fact, be unproductive if concerns about social relationships cause teachers and administrators to avoid tough decisions.
It also seems useful to distinguish between cooperation and collaboration. Cooperation involves agreements to coordinate or to avoid conflict and can be accomplished by setting guidelines, formal or informal, about who is to do what, when and how to accomplish a shared goal. Collaboration is more demanding and involves working together and sharing responsibility for the same tasks. Cooperation is a necessary but insufficient condition to foster productive professional learning communities.
• J.W.Little, Professional Communication and Collaboration, (2007). This reading is Chapter 4 in The Keys to Effective Schools book. In this chapter, Professor Little identifies some of the challenges —formal and informal — that confront efforts to foster more collegial and collaborative teacher behavior in schools. Other chapters in The Keys to Effective School book deal with conditions that support collaborative decision making, including those by Frank Newmann and Kenneth Liethwood.
• P. Grossman, S. Wineburg, & S. Woolworth (2000, December). What Makes Teacher Community Different from a Gathering of Teachers? Available at whatmakesteachercommuntiy.pdf. This paper distinguishes between professional collaboration focused on student learning and less demanding forms of teacher interaction suggesting the characteristics of the former.
• Learning Communities and Team Skills. Available at http://www.nsdc.org/library/communities.cfm
• For ideas about team building and collaboration look at two brief articles by R. DuFour at http://www.nsdc.org/library/authors/dufour.cfm. Summer 2004 and Fall 2003. See other helpful information on collaboration from the national staff Development Council at http://www.nsdc.org/library/communities/teamwork.cfm
• School cultures have a significant impact on professional learning. See K. Peterson, Culture-Positive or Negative, Journal of Staff Development, Summer 2002. www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/peterson233.cfm.
• Building a collaborative culture is one of the fundamental roles of school leaders. On the importance of this role see K. Leithwood, K. Seashore, S. Anderson & K. Wahlstrom, (PDF) How Leadership Influences Student Learning . The Executive Summary and the full report are available at www.wallacefoundation.org. On the first page of the site, click on Education Leadership and go to the report issued in September 2004.
If collaboration were easy, there would be more of it. On the challenges involved see, WCER Research Highlights, Power, Conflict and Community in a High School Interdisciplinary Team. Fall 2003. At http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/Publications/highlights/v15n3.swf
For several examples of ways to restructure time in schools, go to the website of NCREL (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory) (www.ncrel.org/pd/time.htm) and K. Cushman (1995), Using Time Well: Schedules in Essential Schools. http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ces_res/15
Video Commentary
Lorna Earl: Professor of Education, University of Toronto. Lorna Earl shares her perspective on finding new ways to use time. She is not suggesting that time does not need to be restructured in most schools but that a culture of collaboration can lead to continuing search for ways to improve student performance.