In this blogpost, we shall be describing the various examples of teacher collaboration. We will also be mentioning the benefits of teacher collaboration and its challenges. In addition, we will be detailing in brief the different strategies for effective teacher collaboration. Teacher collaboration can benefit both teachers and students and greatly enrich the learning process.

What are examples of teacher collaboration?

A few examples of teacher collaboration are explained below:

Teachers sharing best practices with each other

Different students and classrooms require different methodologies and approaches by the teachers. There might be many techniques that instructors can learn from others who have used it successfully before. When teachers share information with each other, it can lead to new perspectives and a better method of instruction in the classroom.

Collaborating through professional learning communities

Professional learning communities are groups of teachers or instructors who collaborate closely in order to learn from each other. These communities meet regularly and share information as well as resources with each other. These communities also strengthen bonds between educators through healthy relationships, helping them to teach and learn at the same time.

Joint Practice Development

In JPD, the knowledge is not only shared, but educators learn to apply them in the right manner. This is a bilateral approach which is highly interactive and thus leads to better knowledge retention. JPD also allows more innovation and creativity in its process and is therefore highly preferred in the teaching community.

Benefits of teacher collaboration

Teacher collaboration can greatly benefit not just the students and their learning, but even the community from a broader perspective. The various benefits of teacher collaboration are:

There is more learning

Through teacher collaboration, there is more learning happening in the classroom. The various instructors who are collaborating to teach a certain topic, can actively drive the information forward in a much more thorough manner. When the teachers are on the same page with each other, they can instruct better, leading to more knowledge retention and information retrieval.

Assessments become better

Through proper student data, teachers can also perform assessment in a better manner. They may also come up with new ways of performance assessment which gives more importance to the individuality of the students. Through collaborative teaching, instructors can acknowledge accomplishments better and also bridge skill gaps along the way.

Teachers feel supported

Through collaborative teaching, instructors now have a community where they feel valued and supported. They can also share their feelings and vent to one another. They may also view the community as a knowledge bank which they can tap into for any problem or issue. In this manner, teachers feel supported and less isolated.

Classes become more interesting

When teachers share information and work together, they can come up with new strategies and creative lesson plans for the classroom. They can implement new ideas that other educators might have used or can come up with innovative ones using the information shared in the group. In this manner, the students are not bored and pay more attention to the classes.

Challenges of teacher collaboration

Teacher collaboration is highly useful for instructors to gain knowledge and improve the environment in classrooms. But, it also faces many challenges which hamper its growth. Some of the challenges are discussed here:

Insufficient time and resources

Teachers usually have their hands full. Between preparing lesson plans, grading papers and creating quizzes, they hardly have any time left for their personal lives, let alone teacher collaboration. This is the biggest challenge that teachers face today in the process of collaboration. It is not only the lack of time but also fewer resources which are to blame.

There is no proper learning community

For teacher collaboration to be efficient and effective, there needs to be a proper learning community. Professional learning communities allow teachers to share information and learn in a smoother manner. However, there is no true professional learning community which brings standard and quality teacher collaborative practices.

Conflicts between teachers

Conflicts and clashes between teachers can also be a challenge for teacher collaboration. Many teacher collaboration communities dwindle in membership when their residents fight with each other over personal issues. The conflicts can also occur due to clashes in personality and values that different teachers might have.

Strategies for effective teacher collaboration

In order to implement effective teacher collaboration, educational leaders and managers can implement the following strategies:

Creating opportunities for collaboration in the school

In order to foster teacher collaboration, the leaders should create more opportunities within the school. This can be in the form of teacher meetings, CPDs, seminars and workshops. It can also be in the form of group lunches and other informal get-togethers. This can greatly strengthen the cohesion and bonding between the different teachers.

Encouraging external collaboration

For the collaboration to be effective, it should be both internal and external. Encouraging teachers to collaborate external through national conferences and training workshops can also bring about positive changes in the institute. External collaboration can bring new resources and knowledge to the entire team of teachers.

Allowing time for collaboration

Since time is a major constraint for teacher collaboration, leaders should make sure that the instructors have ample time to collaborate with each other. This can be done by providing substitute teachers to take care of classes while the main instructors are involved in team collaboration.

Create a clear goal

If the collaboration does not have a goal, then all the teachers will not actively participate in the process. They might also discourage others from participating in it. While implementing teacher collaboration, leaders need to make the various members understand the goal of the process and also the individual roles they are going to play in it.

Encourage building relationships

Teacher collaboration is not only about learning and sharing information. It is also about creating mutual trust and encouraging positivity and support, creating a strong sense of community overall. Teachers need to be encouraged to build healthy relationships with their peers, both inside and outside of the work environment.

Use best practices

The best practices that have worked for the group before or are working for some other group presently can be instituted in order to ensure efficient teacher collaboration. This however requires a strong team bond, letting go of ego and a desire to put the team’s goals ahead of one’s individual goals.

Use conflicts positively

Conflicts can occur at any time. However, a team of teachers who are collaborating efficiently with each other need not be afraid of conflicts. Instead, they can use conflicts in a positive and constructive manner. Through conflicts, teams can become stronger as units and also learn more about each other, thus strengthening the team bonds.

Conclusion

In this blogpost, we have described the various examples of teacher collaboration. We have also mentioned the benefits of teacher collaboration and its challenges. Additionally, we have detailed in brief the different strategies for effective teacher collaboration.

Frequently asked questions: (What are examples of teacher collaboration?)

Why do teachers need collaboration?

Teachers require collaboration with other educators and instructors in order to learn new skills and share information. The collaboration also brings a sense of community to them, giving them support and guidance so that they don’t feel isolated in their profession. Teacher collaboration has been known to improve the learning process and facilitate knowledge retention in students.

What is the role of a teacher in collaborative learning?

In a collaborative classroom, the teacher simply guides the students in the process of collaboration. They give instructions and clarify doubts as the students collaborate with each other and learn new concepts and skills. The teacher also might teach new skills in order to help the students work together better as a team.

How can collaborative learning be used in the classroom?

Teachers and instructors can bring collaborative learning into their classrooms using the following strategies:

Set clear goals for the class

In order to facilitate collaboration in the classroom, the entire group needs to be aware of the goals they have to achieve. If there is no specific goal for the collaboration, the students might not be willing to participate actively and may lose their motivation. The teacher can help set smart shared goals as well as individual goals.

Establish group norms

Every process or project needs to have a value system or a set of ground rules that help in guiding the process. The classroom needs to have a set of group norms that can act as a guide in various group processes such as communication, decision-making, conflict-resolution, etc. These group norms can be flexible in order to adapt to different situations.

Encourage open communication

Teachers can encourage open and honest communication between the students in order to bring about effective collaboration. Before embarking on this, teachers need to ensure that the right training is provided for all students in terms of communication skills. This can avoid misunderstandings and conflicts between the group members.

Create groups of the right size

For group tasks, the teacher or educator should ensure the group sizes are right. If the group size is too large and has many members in it, it can hamper individual participation. All the group members may not get a chance to speak. However, if it is too small, the amount of ideas generated might be less and groupthink may occur more often.

Use various learning techniques

In order to foster collaborative learning, teachers can use many learning techniques available like the jigsaw technique, the think-pair-share technique, brainwriting, etc. While choosing the learning technique, it is important to consider the personalities of the students involved and the main aim of the learning process.

Give time to relax and destress

Classrooms can become stressful and frustrating while dealing with difficult concepts. Allowing students to destress and support each other can help in reducing anxiety. Students can also be given time and space to relax and destress with the help of each other or on their own. This can contribute highly to the positive environment of the classroom.

Bring technology into the learning

Online learning tools are becoming increasingly common and can help students learn in a fun and engaging manner. Using technology for learning can be a great way to induce collaboration in the classroom. Online collaboration tools like digital whiteboards can also be quite useful for shy or introverted students to post their ideas and suggestions.

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Citations

https://www.aft.org/ae/summer2017/vincente#:~:text=Being%20able%20to%20visit%20a,are%20all%20examples%20of%20structures

https://www.schoology.com/blog/teacher-collaboration

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X18315579

Teacher Collaboration

https://blog.irisconnect.com/uk/sharing-and-collaboration-in-schools

Teacher collaboration in challenging learning environments

Building Teacher Collaboration School-wide

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-collaboration-strategies-ben-johnson

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2019.00085/full

https://www.aft.org/ae/summer2017/vincente