[LM_NET] HIT: Mandated and Voluntary Collaboration

[Stuart Gapper <gappersb@GMAIL.COM>]

Thanks to those of you who responded to my enquiry regarding your thoughts
about and/or experiences with mandated versus voluntary collaboration.  The
responses (below) seem to show that while mandated collaboration is clearly
not an ideal situation and many teachers either begrudgingly accept it as
something else they have to do or (worse) actively resent it, it can
actually lead to some teachers recognizing (for the first time) the true
value of the LMS or even to an increase in teacher-driven collaborative
practices throughout the whole school.


I am working for two high schools, and one school the teachers work with me
all the time.  We sit down and plan out units together.  Then the other
school's principal saw what was going on, and was angry that her teachers
were not collaborating with me.  Therefore, she demanded that all her
teachers meet with me.  The teachers are not into it at all.  They come to
me to book time to get it over with.  Another teacher from her school yells
down the hall to me, "just schedule me in, I don't care when."  They have no
idea what I do in the library or how it will help them.  I suppose on the
bright side, it may change some of their views about the library, and may
want to book another project down the road.  However, it feels very forced
an unnatural.

In one situation (K-8 Catholic school where the principal was a former media
specialist), I had mandated collaboration and it actually went well.
Teachers didn't know what I could do for them until they had to work with me
and they came back for more. That's the only place I've ever had that (now
worked in five different schools, 4 states, pre-K through high school as a
media specialist) and it was my first position. Now I collaborate with only
a few of my teachers, primarily the English department at my 200 faculty
high school and would love to work with others.

Our principal mandates that we observe one fellow teacher as she gives a
lesson and check off from a checklist the actions we see happening in the
classroom.  The idea is not to critique the teacher, but to learn from her.
The principal does not see the checklist, but we use it as a springboard to
say what we can take back to our classroom to use. This done every nine
weeks when we each meet with the principal.  She is very connected to the
faculty in a positive, supportive way.  From this, we began sharing websites
and techniques for classroom management and student management. It opened
doors, literally, for collaboration between ALL teachers, not just library,
music or art. Now second grade teachers know what is happening in first
grade and what to expect for next year.  It allows master teachers to offer
advice in the form of "I noticed that xxxxx,  have you tried YYYY strategy?"
It has opened doors for me to say, "I see that you are teaching a space
unit.  May I bring up some space books for your classroom library for a
month?"  or  "I have developed a great wiki about the Periodic Table of
Elements.  If you help me with the content then maybe the students can work
on it in library to give you a few more classroom instructional minutes."  This
principal-driven strategy can and has opened doors.  Not all teachers will
appreciate nor accept a helping hand, but the door will always be open.  Then
the collaboration truly becomes teacher-driven.


I returned from maternity leave in October, and my principal has mandated
that all departments meet with me to “find out what resources the media
center has.”  So far, only one department has even set up that
meeting!  (Social
Studies, next Monday!) Other than that, my principal’s attitude has been
“the teachers know what they need to do, and if they don’t ask for your
help, they probably don’t need it.”  I know that she doesn’t understand how
much I do to make sure I’m keeping abreast of everything I possibly can, to
ensure that I can be a good resource for my teachers and students.


-- 
Dr Stuart Gapper
James River High School
Midlothian, VA 23113
gappersb@gmail.com

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