Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PHILOSOPHY
OF
COLLABORATION
successful
schools
(Friend
&
Cook,
2013,
p.
1).
This
statement
holds
true
with
regard
to
education,
but
even
more
so
with
special
education.
Due
to
the
changes
in
special
education
law,
more
and
more
students
with
disabilities
are
being
placed
in
the
general
education
classrooms.
This
makes
it
more
important
than
ever
for
classroom
teachers
to
work
closely
and
communicate
with
special
education
teachers,
speech
and
language
pathologists,
school
social
workers
and
psychologists,
and
paraprofessionals.
In
addition,
with
early
intervention
and
multi-tiered
systems
of
support
(MTSS),
collaboration
is
often
used
to
create
education
plans
to
support
students
in
the
general
education
classrooms.
The
African
proverb,
It
takes
a
village
to
raise
a
child,
really
comes
to
light
in
todays
classrooms.
It
is
more
than
just
the
classroom
teachers
who
play
critical
roles
in
the
success
of
children.
It
is
a
team
effort.
Friend and Cook define collaboration as, a style for direct interaction between at
least
two
coequal
parties
voluntarily
engaged
in
shared
decision
making
as
they
work
toward
a
common
goal
(2013,
p.
6).
That
being
stated,
it
is
important
to
consider
the
parties
who
should
be
involved
in
collaboration.
Key
Players
about
the
needs
of
the
child.
First
and
foremost,
the
parent
or
parents
of
the
student
should
be
involved
in
every
step
of
the
process.
Too
often,
decisions
are
being
made
about
children
without
parents
being
present.
Worse
than
that,
when
parents
are
present
at
meetings,
often
times
they
are
presented
with
a
large
amount
of
information
and
acronyms
(which
the
education-world
loves),
and
do
not
have
a
full
understanding
of
what
they
are
being
told.
One
of
the
key
characteristics
of
collaboration
is
parity
among
participants
in
which
all
involved
are
contributing
and
have
equal
power
in
decision
making
((Friend
&
Cook,
2013,
p.
7).
In addition to the parents, the classroom teacher has valuable insight when it comes
to
one
of
his
or
her
students.
Along
with
the
classroom
teachers,
specialists
are
key
players
in
effective
collaboration.
Everyone
in
a
school
offers
a
different
set
of
skills
and
is
highly
qualified
in
different
areas
(i.e.
social
workers,
psychologists,
ELL
teachers,
reading
specialists,
speech
and
language
pathologists,
etc.).
It
only
makes
sense
to
use
everyones
expertise
to
develop
an
education
plan
for
a
student.
While
often
overlooked,
it
is
important
to
include
paraprofessionals
who
work
with,
or
have
worked
with,
the
student.
Often
times,
the
paraprofessionals
work
one-on-one
with
students
and
may
have
additional
information
to
share.
School
administrators
are
also
critical
in
that
they
typically
are
able
to
make
certain
that
all
state
and
federal
laws
are
being
followed.
Finally, the most important player involved in collaboration should be the student.
As
educators,
we
spend
a
large
majority
of
our
time
collecting
data,
monitoring
progress,
and
developing
goals
for
our
students.
However,
research
shows
that
self-monitoring,
self-
assessing
and
goal
setting
are
major
factors
in
student
achievement.
In
fact,
John
Hatties
research
showed,
Evidence
shows
that
the
greatest
effects
on
student
learning
come
when
not
only
the
students
become
their
own
teachers
(through
self-monitoring,
and
self-
assessment),
but
the
teachers
become
learners
of
their
own
teaching
(David-Lang,
2013).
Students
involved
in
the
development
of
an
education
plan
are
more
likely
to
be
invested
in
the
plan.
It must be voluntary
Requires parity
While
it
may
be
difficult
to
assemble
all
of
these
key
players
in
one
place,
at
one
time,
it
is
of
the
utmost
importance.
Scheduling
and
school
structure
can
often
pose
an
obstacle
in
the
ability
for
staff
to
collaborate
effectively.
However,
strong
building
administrators
know
the
benefits
of
collaboration
and
often
find
a
way
to
make
adjustments
to
allow
the
necessary
time
for
collaboration
(i.e.
floating
substitutes,
common
plan
time,
etc.).
Conclusion
The
U.S.
Department
of
State
explains
collaboration
as
being,
a
deceptively
simple
concept
with
wide-ranging
and
exciting
implications
for
the
education
of
all
children
and
the
effectiveness
of
all
educators
(Powell,
n.d.).
However,
it
is
my
belief
that
collaboration
is
a
much
more
complex
idea
that
produces
positive
benefits
for
all
involved
when
implemented
and
used
effectively.
PHILOSOPHY OF COLLABORATION
References
David-Lang, J. (2013). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing the impact on learning. The Main
Idea. doi:10.4324/9780203181522
Friend, M. P., & Cook, L. (2013). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals. Boston:
Pearson.
Powell, W. (n.d.). Chapter 5: Collaboration. Retrieved June 15, 2015, from
http://www.state.gov/m/a/os/43980.htm