"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives." ~ Robert John Meehan
Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives." ~ Robert John Meehan
Useful Resources and Readings
The Politics of Collaborative Expertise by John Hattie (June 2015)
In this paper John Hattie sets out how we can achieve the goal of every student making a year's progress with a year's input, irrespective of starting point. At the heart of this is the notion of collaborative expertise, involving collaboration horizontally (from teacher to teacher, from school to school) & vertically (from teacher to school leader to policy-makers). We must stop teachers allowing teachers to work alone, behind closed doors and in isolation, and instead shift to a professional ethic that emphasises collaboration.
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Teachhub - Co-teaching Strategies
An overview of the various co-teaching strategies including similarities, differences and potential barriers |
Understanding Co-teaching
A great summary of co-teaching strategies, styles and tips |
Les TREICHEL: CO-OPERATIVE TEACHING - VIEWS, ADVICE AND PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
A great short read with tips and considerations for effective collaborative teaching |
The Effects of Teacher-Student Relationships: Social and Academic Outcomes of Low-Income Middle and High School Students
An interesting read highlighting the importance of strong teacher:student relationships (which is a real positive of learners having more than one teacher) Snippets: Teachers who support students in the learning environment can positively impact their social and academic outcomes, which is important for the long-term trajectory of school and eventually employment. Through this secure relationship, students learn about socially appropriate behaviors as well as academic expectations and how to achieve these expectations. Students in low-income schools can especially benefit from positive relationships with teachers Low-income students who have strong teacher-student relationships have higher academic achievement and have more positive social-emotional adjustment than their peers who do not have a positive relationship with a teacher. |
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Are Two Heads Better Than One?
Contains quick read about the different models of co-teaching, effects of co-teaching, and strengthening the co-teaching relationship. |
Team Teaching:
A great read about the why/how of team teaching. It also includes useful tips for selecting teams, pre-planning in teams, evaluating progress, maintaining continuity, and avoiding pitfalls. |
Steve Mouldey - Emergent Reflections of a Secondary Teacher
A great blog with many tips and reflections about developing collaborative teaching
A great blog with many tips and reflections about developing collaborative teaching
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50 Ways to Keep Your Co-Teacher
An American resource with strategies for Before, During, and After Co-Teaching. |
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The Importance of the Teacher/Student Relationship for Maori and Pasifika Students
Snippet: The research clearly demonstrated that when a positive relationship exists, students are more motivated to learn, more actively participate in their learning and the learning is likely to be more effective. |
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Learning is the Work by Michael Fullan
Snippets: Learning on the job, day after day, is the work. My colleague Richard Elmore (2004) nailed the problem of superficial school reform when he notes that “improvement is more a function of learning to do the right thing in the setting in which you work”. He elaborates: “The problem [is that] there is almost no opportunity for teachers to engage in continuous and substantial learning about their practice... observing and being observed by their colleagues in their own classrooms and classrooms of other teachers in schools confronting similar problems of practice”. Fortunately there is new work underway that is building new collaborative cultures within and across schools in order to build the individual and especially collective capacity to improve instruction linked to student needs and achievement. The research has been clear and consistent for over 30 years—collaborative cultures in which teachers focus on improving their teaching practice, learn from each other, and are well led and supported by school principals result in better learning for students. |
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Putting Faces on the Data - What Great Leaders Do! by Lyn Sharrat & Michael Fullan
Snippet: Data are required, but they must be generated and displayed in a way that makes the child come alive in the minds and actions of teachers. We and our colleagues have learned a great deal about how to move beyond a faceless glut of data to specific data that put FACES on the learner. |
Adopting a Co-Teaching Model of Student Teaching
This article explores the benefits of a Co-teaching model with student teachers, which has implications for our own development of beginning teachers. A collaborative teaching environment is an ideal situation for beginning teachers and tutor teachers to work closely together and ensure that BTs receive all of the advice and support they may need.
Snippets:
Cumulative student achievement data gathered from 2003-2007 at St. Cloud State University found statistically significant gains in reading and math proficiency when 35,000 P-12 students were compared in Co-Taught and Not Co-Taught student teaching settings.
Patterned after the social constructivist learning theory of Vygotsky (1978), collaboration is a social process in which teachers construct meaning from discussions among peers. A social constructionist view in co-teaching envisions new ways for student teachers and the collaborating teacher, as well as in-service teachers to extend learning through interactions with others.
Findings from the qualitative case study design suggest that student teachers and cooperating teachers who participated in the co-teaching model develop stronger relationships with their co-teachers, greater impact on students, efficacy in their readiness to teach, and gains in collaborative skills.
This article explores the benefits of a Co-teaching model with student teachers, which has implications for our own development of beginning teachers. A collaborative teaching environment is an ideal situation for beginning teachers and tutor teachers to work closely together and ensure that BTs receive all of the advice and support they may need.
Snippets:
Cumulative student achievement data gathered from 2003-2007 at St. Cloud State University found statistically significant gains in reading and math proficiency when 35,000 P-12 students were compared in Co-Taught and Not Co-Taught student teaching settings.
Patterned after the social constructivist learning theory of Vygotsky (1978), collaboration is a social process in which teachers construct meaning from discussions among peers. A social constructionist view in co-teaching envisions new ways for student teachers and the collaborating teacher, as well as in-service teachers to extend learning through interactions with others.
Findings from the qualitative case study design suggest that student teachers and cooperating teachers who participated in the co-teaching model develop stronger relationships with their co-teachers, greater impact on students, efficacy in their readiness to teach, and gains in collaborative skills.
adopting_a_co-teaching_model_of_student_teaching_.docx | |
File Size: | 166 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Sarah Whiting - Core Education: Podcasts
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Collaborative teaching: Advantages and challenges - North West Cluster LCCP Christchurch
A short overview of the challenges and opportunities of collaborative teaching, and what collaborative teaching might look like. It also looks at the role of the library and 1970s Open Plan NZ Schools.
A short overview of the challenges and opportunities of collaborative teaching, and what collaborative teaching might look like. It also looks at the role of the library and 1970s Open Plan NZ Schools.
collaborative_teaching_advantages_disadvantages.pdf | |
File Size: | 400 kb |
File Type: |
Building Collaboration - chicken or egg? by Greg Carroll
The Effects of Teacher-Student Relationships/ Social and Academic Outcomes of Low-Income by Emily Gallagher
A comprehensive literature review citing many research findings about the importance of strong teacher:student relationships. This is one of the key advantages of collaborative teaching, where students can build stronger relationships over time with teachers (especially if they have some of the same teachers in their teams for 2-3 years), and also ensures that a greater chance for students to build a stronger connection with at least one of their teachers (i.e. can no longer have a "bad year" due to a lack of "connection" with their single cell teacher) |
the_effects_of_teacher-student_relationships:_social_and_academic_outcomes_of_low-income_.pdf | |
File Size: | 140 kb |
File Type: |
Edutopia: Cultivating Healthy Teams in Schools |
This short read looks at 3 critical organisational conditions to strategically build teams.
The Primacy of Purpose: The most effective schools and organizations have a mission and vision that motivates, unifies, and guides all stakeholders in their day-to-day operations.
Vertical and Horizontal Alignment: Teams can harness individual energies into a collective effort to meet big goals. This could be considered vertical alignment of efforts. Teams also need to align horizontally -- what one team does needs to complement another team's work.
Time Matters: Teams must meet consistently and focus their time on what matters: implementing a work plan, learning together, and building strong relationships with each other. Preserving time for teams to meet and stay focused is a battle worth fighting.
The Primacy of Purpose: The most effective schools and organizations have a mission and vision that motivates, unifies, and guides all stakeholders in their day-to-day operations.
Vertical and Horizontal Alignment: Teams can harness individual energies into a collective effort to meet big goals. This could be considered vertical alignment of efforts. Teams also need to align horizontally -- what one team does needs to complement another team's work.
Time Matters: Teams must meet consistently and focus their time on what matters: implementing a work plan, learning together, and building strong relationships with each other. Preserving time for teams to meet and stay focused is a battle worth fighting.
MLE and Collaborative Teaching NZ - Facebook Group
A place for educators, in NZ and beyond, to discuss their thoughts, ideas and experiences around MLE's and collaborative teaching. |
Collaboration - so much more than Parallel Play! by Greg Carroll
Snippets: Collaboration has become a real buzzword in schools recently. But what does Collaboration look like? How do we know it when we see it … hear it. … experience it? My concern is that we often identify what I would call connecting or cooperating as collaboration. All three of these things are in fact quite different, and developmental I believe. If collaboration is identified as being such a critical factor in ILP (and I absolutely believe that it is!), and therefore in ILEs, it is essential that we know it when we see it. It is equally as critical that we know when we are not. |