Collegiality & Teamwork

375 Words2 Pages
Kelly Murray Research Abstract: Facilitating Collegiality and Teamwork In many schools, more commonly in high schools, teachers seldom meet with and/or share material or knowledge with their colleagues. Teachers should be meeting together regularly with their colleagues to set department/content goals, plan lessons and/or collaborate on teaching materials, and classroom/student management. As stated by Blase & Blase (2004, p. 161-204) “Building principals need to develop professional learning communities based on collegiality, openness, trust.” Blase & Blase also found that many teachers are most helped when lessons are shared by their colleagues. Lessons others found to be useful range in a variety of topics from content, to classroom management, to technology integration, to engaging students. The idea of collegiality starts with current mentor and peer coaching programs which many districts, now provide for new teachers. Unfortunately the trend of “sharing ideas” tends to drift away with tenured teachers. There has been a new focus on professional learning communities and developing collegiality and teamwork within schools under some new teacher evaluation criteria and outlines. Located under Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities (Danielson 1996, p. 106-119), the topics of “Relationships with Colleagues” and “Service to the Profession”, assess a teacher’s participation with immediate colleagues and other teachers. Currently those educators who do not meet with their colleagues either within their own discipline and/or across disciplines are not tapping into and using a valuable resource at their fingertips. This paper will outline why it is important for the leader of the building and district to encourage collegiality and teamwork amongst their teachers and staff. It will also outline, how the atmosphere and learning of the building improves
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