The power of collaboration and connections

I currently lead a New Entrant/Year 1 team that has moved into working in a collaborative teaching team over the past 3 and a half years.  This came about as our school was going to have a complete re build and we would be working in an MLE.  We have dreamed big about what this space might end up looking like and have been involved in working through how this might change our programmes. This has lead to so many benefits for all ako (children and teachers) that we wouldn't contemplate going back to working within silo classrooms.  

The biggest change for us has been the level of professionalism to have conversations that challenge our own pedagogy and adapting and compromising when things have become difficult.  Jones, 2009 discusses the sharing of responsibilities as an area that can create problems when working in this manner.  Right from the beginning of our journey we used the same values and dispositions that as a school we promote to the community for their children, as our way of working together.  We revisit these as new team members arrive.  It has not always been easy and the make up of that team makes a huge difference to the level of collaboration that can be obtained.

Mid 2016 the NE/Yr 1 team independently attended a Grow Waitaha Edu Hui on a Saturday morning.  This would provide many lightbulb moments for us as a team.  It reaffirmed our dedication to making the best environment for learning for the cohort in front of us.  It reaffirmed the journey we had undertaken into collaboration without having been given direction for where we should head or end up.  It reaffirmed that the connections we were growing were having an impact on our pedagogy.  It also provided some next steps that we didn't know we needed until we were all sitting in the same room listening to a journey from another school and the process they had undertaken together.  We were missing a vision but were prepared to make our own and document this along with our journey to target next steps.

The Piwakawaka (NE/Yr 1) vision was developed and has become our guiding document as we continue our journey.  We are constantly adding to this but refining our goals each term to make changes to the programmes we offer our ako and the impact that this is making in their learning.  It also addresses the needs of the teaching team ako and the Interdisciplinary Connections map below shows some of the influences that I have towards moving us forward as a team.  

We have a new teaching team member to start in term 3 when our roll growth dictates.  This happens every year at some point.  Some times it is near the start of the year and in other years it is towards the end.  It is always important to incorporate that person into our way of working and include their strengths.  Ideally they would want to be part of a collaborative environment and be prepared to share and be involved.  We are hoping that our vision document will help that process.  It is not always easy to find that person that fits with our vision as at this time of the year there is a shortage of teachers available or wanting to work with NE's AND in a collaborative environment, but there is a structure in place that addresses the balance of responsibilities that we know works for the benefit of our students, who are the centre of our vision and WHY we are here.

I hear many conversations that have a negative tone about working in collaborative environments.  It has been the most rewarding period of my time in teaching.  My own growth in learning from others and vice versa for other team members is one area that we talk about as being a benefit.  The other major benefit has been in what we can offer students.  The increase in special needs programmes and individualism that support culturally responsive practice that has helped to accelerate our children's learning. The use of the strengths as a group has meant that areas I would usually skim over (music, drama, dance) has been able to be addressed by others and I have been able to share my pedagogy in using eLearning across the curriculum which may have been skimmed over by others.  We learn from each other in a supportive but challenging environment. And its fun! It's not perfect yet, but neither was teaching in a silo and the benefits of collaboration far outweigh any negatives.  They can be worked on, developed and changed through the way we work and for the ever changing cohort.

References:

ACRLog. (2015). A Conceptual Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2015/05/14/a-conceptual-model-for-interdisciplinary-collaboration

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI7 (26), 76-81

ThomasMcDonaghGroup. ( 2011, May 13). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA