The Fundamentals of Collaboration--Attributes

Earlier this summer, I read a fascinating book about leadership in schools called Reframing the Path to School Leadership: A Guide for Teachers (Bolman & Deal 2010). The focus of the book was about how to consciously size up situations encountered by school professionals from different points of view.  However, a compelling case for the collaboration style of interaction between education professionals as a powerful tool for educational success was presented.  The examples in this book came to mind repeatedly as I read my current assignments on collaboration.
     
In their chapter entitled The Fundamentals of Collaboration, Friend & Cook (2010), present some defining characteristics that really seem to be symbiotic to one another.  The first characteristic--collaboration is voluntary--was interesting to contemplate.  As I tried to imagine being forced to collaborate, I imagined many tangles and scuffles I had as a child when forced to "collaborate" with my sister.  Unless we were both willing, it didn't happen.  "It is not possible to force people to use a particular style in their interactions with others"(p.8).  For five years, I was part of a volunteer teaching organization where co-teachers were assigned to a different class every year.  Each year the co-teacher pairing was different.  We each agreed to work together collaboratively to plan and implement the various elements of each lesson.  I learned that "collaborate" means different things to different people.  Though we volunteered to be co-teachers, not all had volunteered to use a  collaborative style of interacting.       
   
 The next requirement for collaboration--parity among participants--involves each participant laying aside his/her rank and/or seniority during a collaborative task.  Working with someone to find solutions is most successful when both parties have equal value in input and decision making.  In the volunteer teaching situation mentioned previously, many of the longer serving teachers had difficulty accepting input from those who were not as experienced.  The teaching atmosphere was usually strained and new teachers whose ideas were not valued did not return the following year.
       
 Collaboration is based on commitment to a clear mutual goal.  With a strong goal on which to focus, participants input is not weighed based on who they are, but on how well it supports the mutual goal which contributes to parity.  Problems can arise when the mutual goal is ambiguous or multidimensional allowing participants' personal preferences to come into play.      
      
The last three requirements are dependent upon sharing.  Participants must share responsibility for participation and decision making , share resources, and share responsibility for outcomes.  Participants who are fully committed to collaborating, willing to meet as equals, and focus on a common goal are also committed to accepting responsibility for the implementation of agreed course of action.  Individual resources may be scarce, but when pooled with other resources can achieve a collaborative goal.  Friend & Cook(2010) point out that if professionals cannot contribute a specific resource, their commitment may be questioned by the rest of the group and parity may be difficult to establish.  The outcome of a collaborative effort reflects on all participants of the group.  All of the participants are responsible and accountable for the outcome whether it is a success or a fail.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog of pondering, encounters, and reflections concerning Education in America's schools. As I travel through the wonderland that is graduate school on a quest to attain a M.Ed in Reading and ESL, I will be exploring topics of relevance and interest for those who venture to teach.