The Importance of Collaboration In Education

For my blog this week I thought I would write about the importance of teacher collaboration. I came across this article by Robert J. Garmston entitled, Can Collaboration Be Taught? He writes how collaboration techniques need to be taught to the staff though staff development and various seminars. Most importantly faculties need to know what the word collaboration means, and all the benefits it can offer students who are educated by a community of teachers. Adult learners tend to learn more as a result of working collaboratively because they support each other’s learning methods, and they work harder in an effort to please the group. Mr. Garmston then goes to share many examples on various forms of teacher collaboration including: looking at and considering why a certain number of students are failing standardized test or when teachers meet regularly to explore different models of learning.
The second portion of the article deals with four specific ways that collaboration can be integrated into education and they are: knowledge and skills, creating think environments, achieve mastery by practicing fundamentals, and co-cognition.
The knowledge and skills section is where the author shared seven different aspects of collaboration and they include: seven norms of collaboration, distinguishing dialogue from discussion, three meeting structures, managing the environment, templates for group development, and a range of planning and problem-solving models. These strategies can be employed by districts who wish to have a programs like this installed in their schools.
The section entitled, creating links and environments, has to deal with creating an environment that is conducive to learning. Taking down notes on notepads and chart paper is necessary in order to jot down ideas that the group has. These ideas can then be presented to other teachers or administration in order to create an effective learning environment.
The achieve mastery section deals with listening to other’s thoughts and brainstorming to determine the best educational outcomes. The idea in this section is to set up norms in the collaboration area that will eventually become habit and a normal part of the teacher’s day.
Finally, this section deals with the idea of co-cognition, this is the idea that two minds thinking about a problem is like three. Collaboration has the power to call upon the different teacher’s ability and strengths. Where one teacher is not as strong in an area the other teacher could provide support.
Mr. Garmston concludes his article by stating that there is still more work that needs to be done in order for teachers reap the full benefits of collaborative learning. Teachers cannot simply work alone in their classrooms anymore, they need to diversify and work with other teachers. By working collaboratively student’s can prosper and learn effectively by having a multi-range approach to their education.
In conclusion, I feel the article did great job explaining various ways that teachers can collaborate with each other. I learned how important this type of open communication can be to educators who are trying to diversify their teaching methods. I also learned that a collaboration program takes much more work to get together than simply getting together and talking. Schools need to train their teachers in these techniques to get the most out these sessions.
I can use the information put forth in this article to properly run or take part in collaborative planning. I can use proper brainstorming techniques that this article set forth while utilizing the correct learning environment to promote collaboration. The most important aspect of this article I will use in my teaching is to make collaborative planning a habit in my everyday teaching. This type of planning has a tremendous effect on student learning if done correctly. Teachers can complement each other and the result will only benefit student learning.