Collaborative Practices for to Enhance Student Learning

1. Collaborative Practices for to Enhance Student Learning Margaret MacLean Brent International School EARCOS Weekend August 2016

2. Working Agreementsotherwise called Norms or COMMITMENTS • Listen for new understandings – note them • Speak directly, bring appropriate candor • If you wonder about it – ask it • Withhold judgment ~ presume good intentions • Balance Listening and Speaking • Encourage participation • Trust the process • Vegas rules – what happens here stays here

3. What is collaboration? A systematic process in which we work together INTERDEPENDENTLY to analyze and impact professional practice to improve student learning

4. Collaborative Team Work: Underlying Beliefs School people, working together, can make real and lasting improvements in their own schools. Educators must help each other turn theories into practice and standards into actual student learning. For classrooms to become cultures of thinking for students, schools have to create cultures of thinking for teachers. A key to this effort is the development of a learning community based on public, collaborative, reflective examination of adult and student work. Changing schools happens by changing school culture and not by simply implementing new programs. Collaborative skills can be taught which make efficient use of time, enable every voice to be heard and through structured conversations produces results

5. Purpose of a Collaborative Team? A group of teachers working together to generate, share and integrate knowledge in a conscious effort to adapt their practice to the learning needs of students today. The focus of a collaborative team is to make a positive impact on STUDENT Learning.

6. Compass points • NorthActing – “Let’s do it;” Likes to act, try things, plunge in. • WestPays attention to detail—likes to know the who,what, when, where and why before acting. • EastSpeculating – likes to look at the big picture and thepossibilities before acting. • SouthCaring – likes to know that everyone’s feelingshave been taken into consideration and thattheir voices have been heard before acting.

7. Questions • What is the strength of your style? • What are the limitations of your style? • What style do you find most difficult to work with and why? • What do people from other directions or styles need to know about you to work with you well?

8. What is a Collaborative Team? • Traditional Teacher Teams Hold regular meetings that may sometimes be focused on student learning, but are often focused on other issues. • Collaborative teams Hold regular meetings with a specific focus on student learning.

9. What is a Collaborative Team? • Traditional Teacher Teams Have inconsistent levels of trust between team members, conversations maybe collegial but they tend to avoid conflict. Peacekeeping is important. • Collaborative Teams Have developed high levels of trust amongst group members. Allow for productive conflict in a safe environment. Trust leads to consensus.

10. Microlabs • Form triads and number off - 1,2,3 • Each person has equal time to talk • The listeners should not interrupt, interpret, paraphrase, analyze, give advice or break in with a personal story

11. What is a Collaborative Team? • Traditional Teacher Teams Rarely expose teachers to the instructional practices of others. Members tend to rely on their own professional experience when making decisions for their students. • Collaborative Teams Seek to identify and amplify instructional practices that work. Members are willing to rethink what they do in the classroom based on the work of the group.

12. What is a Collaborative Team? • Traditional Teacher Teams Members see themselves as loosely connected colleagues. Teachers largely act as individuals when making instructional decisions. • Collaborative Teams Members see themselves as interdependent sharing ownership of the success of students.

13. Collaborative Teams • Collaborative teams Hold regular meetings with a specific focus on student learning. • Collaborative Teams Have developed high levels of trust amongst group members. Allow for productive conflict in a safe environment. Trust leads to consensus • Collaborative Teams Seek to identify and amplify instructional practices that work. Members are willing to rethink what they do in the classroom based on the work of the group • Collaborative Teams Members see themselves as interdependent sharing ownership of the success of all students. . .

14. Question One • One minute think time • Describe a time when you were part of a collaborative team- you learnt more by being a member of the group than if you had done the same task alone. What made it so? • What were the ingredients that made it a place you could learn?

15. Question Two • In your past experience how have teacher teams functioned? [ Last school year/in a different school ] • Where they more like traditional teams or collaborative teams? Where they a mix? • What do you see as the strengths and challenges?

16. Question Three • What are the steps needed to develop into a more effective collaborative team? • What are your hopes for this school year? • What seems possible? • What seems intimidating? • How might you support this?

17. Ingredients • Group Norms – agreed to standards and expectations • Willingness to share experiences – to step up • Equity when it comes to preparation and contributions • Building on success • Participation being valued – commitment to the group • Clear goals • Positive peer pressure • Multiple perspectives and skills valued • Shared wisdom and workload • Trust TRUST Trust • Time to work • Urgency—time on task • Perseverance – getting better together

18. Brent Ingredients TEAMWORK PURPOSE Division of labor Roles Balance – compromise Organization Group needs vs personal needs Common Goals More brains – better than one Prepared OPENNESS TRUST Acceptance – we don’t know everything Shared responsibility Purposeful communication Consideration Flexibility Respect of differences Multiple perspectives – all ideas welcomed – opinions valued Willingness to step back from a position

19. Trust Trust is an assessment we make of another person based on ~ • Sincerity – can I believe this person? • Competence – does this person have the knowledge and skills to do what they say they will do? • Reliability – Will they follow through? Trust is an assessment based on risk. If we want trust to develop we have to take a risk and work on all three elements.

20. Language in group work Regressive ---------------------- Progressive Dismissive Clarify Reject, ignore, trivialize Authentic, Reveals Assumptions Assert Offer Stated as truth Shared as personal perspective Closed Test Not open for discussion Welcomes discussion, input, reaction feedback Scatter Thread Unrelated, thrown out, inserted Connected, compared, built on Project Zero Cultures of Thinking Project

21. Human Capital /Social Capital • The “tinker toy” analogy • Human Capital - contained beneficial effect • Social Capital - - - -

23. Critical Friends Groups • Begun in 1996 at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University • Research into practice with schools and teachers in the field • Collaboration by researchers and practitioners on the development of the work – research section on website • Now a membership organization with an annual meeting and systems for sharing the work developed SRI www.schoolreforminitiative.org

24. Kinds of Protocols • Looking at Student Work • Looking at Adult Work • Dealing with Dilemmas of Teaching and learning • Text Based Protocols • Peer Observation

25. Why Protocols? • A protocol consists of agreed upon guidelines for conversation. The structure permits a certain kind of conversation to occur. A protocol makes it safe to ask challenging questions. • Using protocols allows groups to build trust by doing substantive work together. A protocol ensures that there is equity and parity in terms of how each person’s issue is attended to. • Protocols build in a space for listening, and give people a license to listen. • Protocols make the most of the time people have . • The point is not to do the protocol well, but to have an in-depth, insightful conversation about teaching and learning.

26. Work in the room protocol • Return to your triad • Taking approx 10 min per person follow the steps below Share what you have brought or are thinking about. Do you have – Work to improve? TUNING Idea to develop? CHARETTE Dilemma to solve? CONSULTANCY Ask - what do you hope to learn by sharing this work or issue? What would be most helpful to you? Do you have any concerns about sharing this? • Have you thought about a protocol? • Do you have or do you need to develop a focusing question? • The group decides on the protocol best matched to the needs of the presenter. If stumped check in with Margaret or Arnie!

27. Effective Collaborative Teams • “An effective collaborative team can make better decisions, solve more complex problems and do more to enhance creativity and innovation than individuals working alone………They are the vehicle for moving organizations into the future.” Blanchard, 2007

28. Agreements Setting the stage for learning ~ • Time • Listening • Confidentiality • Decision making • Participation • Expectations

29. Working Agreementsotherwise called Norms or COMMITMENTS • Listen for new understandings – note them • Speak directly, bring appropriate candor • If you wonder about it – ask it • Withhold judgment ~ presume good intentions • Balance Listening and Speaking • Encourage participation • Trust the process • Vegas rules – what happens here stays here

30. Ground Rules ~ Norms ~Commitments WORKING AGREEMENTS • Start with working norms • Then rewrite them as a group • Review often • Post them • Confront behaviors that violate them • Revise them regularly • Evaluate/Reflect as you go – exit cards

31. Agreements • Referring back to norms can help a group “re -member” to once again take out membership in what the group values and stands for. [ Kegan and Lahey] • Explicit norms help increase the groups emotional intelligence by cultivating trust, a sense of group identity and group effectiveness [ Druskat and Wolf ]

32. Feedback Reminders Ask “ what kind of feedback would be most useful for you? Work to make feedback • Positive • Respectful • Meaningful – focused on practice / non judgmental • Authentic – constructive and candid • Practical • Specific • Safe • Face to face • Honest – in critiquing the work on the person

33. Feedback – Description – Interpretation - Evaluation Each serves a different purpose • Description Involves identifying in literal terms what is being observed. • Generally, there is little disagreement about comments that are truly descriptive. • I see a yellow circle surrounded by blue. • There is no white space left on the page.

34. Feedback – Description – Interpretation - Evaluation • Interpretation involves assigning some meaning or intent to what is in the work. • I think that the student was afraid of leaving any blank space on the page. • Evaluation attaches value or personal preference to the work being examined. • The sun is drawn skillfully. • I don't like the way there's no room left on the page – it feels so crowded.

35. Typology of Classroom Questions • REVIEW – recalling and reviewing knowledge and information • PROCEDURAL – directing class work • GENERATIVE - exploring a topic • CONSTRUCTIVE – building new understandings • FACILITATIVE - promotes the learners own thinking and understanding Project Zero Culture of Thinking Project

36. Probing Questions Probing questions are open questions that are for the benefit of the presenter. These questions based on positive suppositions, uncover passions and beliefs, they deepen and challenge current thinking. Example • Could you have students use a rubric to assess their work? • What would happen if students used a rubric for assessment? • How might you increase students investment in their work? • What would have to change for students to be self motivated?

37. What do Collaborative Teams Need? • Adequate Time - protected, sufficient, sustained • Focus on student learning - “something on the table” • Facilitative structures – protocols • Common language - visible, shared, valued • Collaborative understanding and skill - to create a a learning environment for teachers which pushes and challenges teacher thinking about learning

38. Learning Logistics and Longevitycontent for facilitators • Learning – What is our vision? What will we accomplish? What are our Goals over time? How are we progressing? How will we facilitate our work together? • Logistics –Meeting planning and preparation, time, space, agenda, documentation, materials etc • Decisions and assignments • Longevity – How is this work related to other initiatives and to school goals? Are we committed to the work? How do we communicate the value of the work to others? How do we know our work is making a difference?

39. Where do you begin? • Define collaboration – what does a collaborative team look like? • Get to know each other in different ways • Establish agreements • Incorporate connections and reflections • Use protocols to support accomplishing tasks in a collaborative way • Slow down so you can speed up!

40. Implementation • Do not think of your team work episodically. • Think of it as x hours over the school year. • Develop a work plan for at least a 3 month block of time. • Decide on how you are going share planning and preparation, what your regular routines are going to be, how you will make decisions etc. • Consider how you will build the capacity and skills of the group members as you implement the work.

41. Focus the work plan An inquiry topic you take through the inquiry cycle. For example focus on an area of work – Rubrics/assessment - develop, tune, use, look at student work, revise, finalize. or Define items by a monthly pattern such as first meeting of the month we read an article and discuss, second meeting we look at student work, third meeting we problem solve a dilemma, fourth meeting we deal with nuts and bolts etc.

42. Assess your progress • Whatever plan you create stick to it for the 3 month period and assess how you are doing. • The routine you create will help you given the short amount of time you have per session. • Written reflections from members can help you assess what to keep and what to change.

43. Schools must…… environments in which Individuals expect to have their personal ideas & practices subjected to the scrutiny of their colleagues, & in which groups expect to have their shared conceptions of practice subjected to the scrutiny of individuals. Privacy of practice produces isolation; isolation is the enemy of improvement. Michael Fullan ……create

44. Why collaboration? The single most important factor for successful schools and the first order of business for those interested in increasing the capacity of their schools is building a collaborative internal environment. [ Seashore Louis ]

45. Connect - Extend - Challenge • How do the ideas you’ve heard connect to what you are currently doing at you school? • How have the ideas you’ve talked about extended your thinking? • Have you been challenged to think differently? If so how? • Making Thinking Visible – A thinking routine from Project Zero

46. How to find out more? • School Reform Initiative • http://www.schoolreforminitiative.org • Margaret MacLean • http://www.teachercollaboration.org • mmaclean@teachercollaboration.org