Our Way

As I consider Te Kowhai's Key Principles and reflect on my own practice I have read the following readings which relate primarily to the 'Our Way' Principle.  As part of 2016 Teacher Only Days some of the Leadership Team (Nicki, Sally and myself) were given the task of finding 3 suitable readings for staff to read.  My readings have to relate to the 'Our Way' Principle, specifically Tony asked to focus on teacher collaboration as this element is currently missing.

This reading, written by Cheryl Doig summarises some of the key thinking and mindsets needed as the 'keys to collaboration'. It briefly discusses the different 'nested layers of collaboration' that appear within and across organisations.  Click here to read this interesting and quick read.

10 Ideas for 21st Century Education - This is an exceptional read that summarises 10 ways in which education could/should change to accommodate the changing environment we live in.  The 10 solutions include:

1. Open up Lessons 
2. Think outside the classroom box
3. Get personal
4. Tap into students' digital expertise
5. Get real with projects
6. Expect (and help) students to be teachers
7. Expect (and help) teachers to be students
8. Measure what matters
9. Work with families, not just children
10. Power to the student

Collaborative Team Teaching: Challenges and Rewards -  a short easy read.  A reflective piece of writing from a teacher with several years experience at collaborative teaching across a range of grade levels.  Points discussed include: 

• What makes a strong partnership
• Benefits of co-teaching
• Common challenges of co-teaching
• Tips to become a strong co-teacher

Collaboration - So Much More Than Parallel Play - interesting read written by Greg Carroll.

Key points for me were the unpacking of the differences between 'connecting', 'cooperating' and 'collaborating'.

Often I think we slip between the three - perhaps.  

This summary encapsulates a caution to be mindful of - are we truly collaborating or just sharing a space?

"In my experience we often see confusion between these three ‘levels’. People often refer to cooperation as collaboration in particular. True collaboration is actually still quite rare I believe.  I have also seen quite a few so called Modern Learning Environments where in fact the teachers are simply cooperating to use the space/s provided. They share the physical spaces and places, and sometimes some of the students, but also are largely ‘the rulers of their own kingdom’ in a series of classrooms without walls in a big open space. This is often what we saw in the days of ‘Open Plan’ in the 70s and 80s."

I need to remember to ask myself are we ... T so inextricably linked that we couldn’t function without each other?

The key thing here is the complete reliance on each other to achieve the shared goals.  No one person could do it on their own.