What Is Collaboration in Education and Why Is It So Important?
[Image Description: A rectangular book laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt. "MARGARET E. KINGS-SEARS, RACHEL JANNEY, & MARTHA E. SNELL" is in center-aligned black text with a light yellow background at the top of the book cover. There is a big orange stripe below the names of the authors that says "Collaborative Teaming" in left-aligned enlarged bolded white text. In the bottom right corner of the orange stripe, "THIRD EDITION" is in right-aligned decreased light orange text. Hovering over the edge on the left side of the orange stripe, there is a bright blue rectangle with dark blue, dark green, bright blue, orange, and dark red stripes on the left side and "TEACHERS' GUIDES to INCLUSIVE PRACTICES" in justified white text on the right side. On the right side of the bright blue rectangle, "Practical tips on working together to help all kids succeed!" is in left-aligned decreased black text. Below the orange stripe, there is a light yellow background with six diverse children standing together and some of them are holding hands. Left to right: The first child is white-skinned, smiling, standing with both of their hands raised, and wearing their long blonde hair down with a yellow barrette in it, a long-sleeved dark blue shirt with white polka dots, green skirt, and red shoes. The second child is black, smiling, standing with their left hand raised and their right hand down, has short black hair, and is wearing a long-sleeved red and white argyle sweater, yellow pants, and blue shoes. The third child is Asian, smiling, standing with their right hand down and using their left hand to hold hands with the fourth child, and wearing their black hair in pigtails, a long-sleeved green shirt with white stripes on the front, a dark blue skirt, and black shoes. The fourth child is black, smiling, standing with their left hand raised and using their right hand to holds hand with the third child, has short black hair, and is wearing orange glasses, a long-sleeved orange shirt with a white star in the middle of it, blue pants, and black shoes. The fifth child is Asian, sitting in a black and blue wheelchair, using their right hand to hold hands with the sixth child with their left hand not visible, has short black hair with bangs, and is wearing a dark blue hat, a long-sleeved red sweater with white checkers on it, and yellow pants. The sixth child is fair-skinned, smiling, standing with their left hand down and using their right hand to hold hands with the fifth child, has red hair, and is wearing a long-sleeved dark blue shirt with three white stripes in the middle of it, dark blue pants, and dark red shoes.]
There are many ways that collaboration exists as being beneficial in the education field as a whole. I believe that it is important for co-teachers and paraeducators to discuss how instructions will be provided to the students. To elaborate more, they can choose the lesson activities and specially-designed instructions (SDI) together. The importance of this is to determine what will be developmentally-appropriate (DAP) for all of their learners. When doing so, I value the importance of all sides by listening to each other's possibly diverse perspectives and making compromising decisions. This is because despite the differences of hierarchy of power, all perspectives matter when it comes to teamwork. Co-teachers can also discuss which classroom management techniques should be utilized for the whole group of students or certain individual students. This can especially be helpful if one professional is unsure about what to do as compared to another who may be highly skilled in that area or just so happens to have a potentially helpful idea for other reasons. It is also always helpful to have an additional set of eyes since one team member may have different valid observations, thoughts, and ideas that the other team members innocently have not noticed or thought of.
Educational professionals can collaborate with students and their families when conducting problem-solving for developmental struggles too. I believe that collaboration is especially important to be utilized in the Special Education field. This is because there are multiple members of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team. These IEP team members may include but not be limited to the student when they are fourteen years or older, family members, general education teachers, Special Education teachers, and service providers. They need to work together to determine what services and supports that the individual students may need based on their varied findings. For example, a student who is enrolled in general education classes and Special Education classes and has been evaluated multiple times by a school psychologist may have attentional difficulties as part of their disability. Either one of the professionals in these settings may have noticed that the student's attention span increases when they are seated at the front of the classroom based on their observations. As a result, they can share this discovery with the other IEP team members. Sharing this information with other necessary parties can help to determine if this would be a beneficial academic accommodation for the student. Many situations that require problem-solving also occur in the Special Education field. For example, multiple professionals teaching and providing services, to a student that has challenging behaviors as part of their disability may collaborate together, such as Behavior Interventionists, counselors, Behavior/Emotional Support teachers, general education teachers, and family members. The purpose of this may be to determine what behavioral supports may be necessary to implement into the student's IEP. They may consult with the student's family members as well to determine what behavior management techniques work at home and attempt to utilize them at the school.
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As an educator, I also strongly value the importance of making school a positive environment for students. There are many ways that I plan to utilize collaboration as a teaching tool to positively impact my students. I will make sure to maintain consistent communication about important information not only with professionals but with the students as well. I will incorporate my students' thoughts into problem-solving in a DAP manner. For example, providing choices to students with challenging behaviors as part of their disability may be a beneficial support so that they feel like are contributing something. This also acknowledges the student's thoughts to show that the teacher cares about them. As a result, this may decrease their behavioral struggles. I will support students' families' involvement for additional support, especially when the student expresses that they want this while also teaching them self-advocacy skills as part of building their independence. I will show that I am listening and valuing both the students' and their families' thoughts when they are sharing them with me as well. I will maintain a positive tone of voice when utilizing communication as well since how people speak to others can impact their mental health. All students and families should be made to feel validated and have a sense of belonging in their classroom in general.
I see myself as being a true leader in many ways in my role as an educator in future collaborative teams. When it comes to collaboration, some of my strengths include innovation, inclusiveness, patience, empathy, passion, reliability, and goal-setting. To be innovative, I will utilize my creative thinking when determining strategies and solutions while being inclusive of the perspectives of all of the other team members. I will listen and attempt to utilize their ideas as well. I will be patient when educating others about things that they may innocently not be aware of when problem-solving. For example, if a co-teacher is not utilizing certain effective behavior management skills that may help certain students, I can make suggestions to them instead of making negative assumptions. To show empathy for students, families, and team members of all differences and backgrounds, I will give them my full attention and interest when it comes to communicating about any information and determining solutions together. I will show passion to show that I truly care and others as well as being reliable. To be reliable, I will make myself available when needed and be willing to consistently create goals. Goal-setting is a crucial part of collaboration for the purpose of helping students develop life skills. For example, IEP team members communicate together to determine what goals will come out of certain related services and supports put in place to help students who need improvement in certain areas. In regards to my professional development, I will continue seeking to strengthen all of my teacher skills. This especially includes classroom management, problem-solving, assertiveness, and time management. Through my past experiences as an educator, my classroom management skills have strongly improved while I still mostly need work on the behavior management piece of this. My problem-solving skills when it comes to dealing with hard situations with students, families, coworkers, and administrators have vastly improved as well while there is still room for improvement. To elaborate more, I can work on how to put things into words properly when it comes to communicating important bad news and be more assertive. This is because sometimes everyone has to discuss bad things and be respectfully honest in order to find solutions. My time management skills have also always been something that I struggled with and I will continue to improve in this area by attempting to apply what I have learned about this. The purpose of time management in the education field is because certain tasks have to be completed quickly in the interest of time to benefit students' health and safety as well as to make their education as successful as possible.
Collaboration is when at least two individuals work together to make decisions for reaching success towards something. Despite the cons that can come along the way of collaborating, it is very important to do and strongly needed.
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If you are a teacher, service provider, parent/guardian, and/or IEP team member of students with exceptionalities and you are interested in learning more about collaboration in the education field, I highly recommend reading the following books below:
- Collaborative Teaming: Teachers' Guide to Inclusive Practices: Practical tips on working together to help all kids succeed! written by Margaret E. Kings-Sears, Rachel Janney, and Martha E. Snell
- Home, School, and Community Collaboration: Culturally Responsive Family Engagement: Third Edition written by Kathy B. Grant and Julie A. Ray
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Citations
1. King-Sears, M. E., Janney, R., & Snell, M. E. (2015). Collaborative Teaming: Teachers' Guide to Inclusive Practices: Practical tips on working together to help all kids succeed!
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