Week 8: To Collaborate or Not To Collaborate

What are the obstacles of Collaboration, and how do we overcome them, both in our classes (with students) and among our Professional Learning Communities?

In the Classroom:
I think within a classroom setting, there can be different types of collaboration, it is a matter of when and for what it is appropriate.

It goes without saying that Collaborative Learning has tremendous benefit for both the student(s) and the teacher.  Students can benefit from collaborative learning in a variety of ways.  For one, there are many students, when given an opportunity, love to express their thoughts, ideas, and opinions on their thought process and love to show of their problem-solving skills.  It gives them a chance to communicate with their peers.  However, for the student who might be easily intimidated, or "laid back" may not excel in this type of environment.  They may feel like their opinion matters or they might not be knowledgeable enough in the topic to feel confident to contribute to the discussion.

Here are many reasons that can outweigh the down-side to collaborative learning:
Small groups provide a place where:

• learners actively participate;
• teachers become learners at times, and learners sometimes teach;
• respect is given to every member;
• projects and questions interest and challenge students;
• diversity is celebrated, and all contributions are valued;
• students learn skills for resolving conflicts when they arise;
• members draw upon their past experience and knowledge;
• goals are clearly identified and used as a guide;
• research tools such as Internet access are made available;
• students are invested in their own learning.

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/coopcollab/index.html

Here are some of the challenges one might face with collaborative work:

• Group Conflict
• Noise Level in the classroom
• Cohesiveness of the group
• "Officiating" group interaction

Here are ways to HELP yourself and students be successful in Collaborative work!

Professional Learning Communities:

What are some of the benefits of Professional Learning Communities and Collaboration among professionals?

For Staff:

reduction of isolation of teachers.

increased commitment to the mission and goals of the school and increased vigor in working to strengthen the mission

shared responsibility for the total development of students and collective responsibility for students' success.

powerful learning that defines good teaching and classroom practice and that creates new knowledge and beliefs about teaching and learners.

increased meaning and understanding of the content that teachers teach and the roles they play in helping all students achieve expectations.

higher likelihood that teachers will be well informed, professionally renewed, and inspired to inspire students.

more satisfaction, higher morale, and lower rates of absenteeism.

significant advances in adapting teaching to the students, accomplished more quickly than in traditional schools.

commitment to making significant and lasting changes and higher likelihood of undertaking fundamental systemic change.

For Students:

decreased dropout rate and fewer classes "skipped".

lower rates of absenteeism.

increased learning that is distributed more equitably in the smaller high schools.

greater academic gains in math, science, history, and reading than in traditional schools.

smaller achievement gaps between students from different backgrounds.

Ref:  Hord, S.M. (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Austin: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

Some of the obstacles may be difficult to overcome. 

Such as:

• Common Planning Time
• Release Time
• Resources
• Funds for resources

As you can tell, the benefits definitely outweigh the difficulties of creating such a collaborative environment.