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To discuss collaboration further, I took the time to interview three professionals who worked in my school setting: a Catholic elementary school for grades Pre-K to eight. The professionals that I interviewed interact daily with students, other teachers, and parents. I specifically chose these three because I interact with them specifically about my 4th grade students. My first individual, Ms. M, is the school librarian who interacts with students and teachers on a daily basis. My second individual, Ms. C, is the Honors Math teacher for grades 4 through 8. Lastly, Ms. S, is a resource room teacher working specifically on Reading. All 3 professionals provided their take on collaboration, co-teaching, and consultation.

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All three professionals that I spoke to agreed that collaboration is a necessary component of being a teacher. They believed that collaboration meant working together to complete a certain task; sometimes even working together to see a greater outcome. When asked if they felt comfortable and prepared to collaborate with others, they all responded yes. Ms. C feels that every teacher should want to collaborate with others so that we can learn from each other and share our ideas. Ms. S says collaboration comes with the job. You cannot be a teacher and expect to work alone on things. Ms. M believes as the librarian collaborating is an important task to make sure teachers have materials and books they might need for certain topics. Ultimately, you need to be open-minded and willing to collaborate. If you are close-minded and keep to yourself, how can you better prepare your students for collaboration?

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One necessary component needed for collaboration is an agreed meeting place and time. Ms. S described a necessary condition as "a peaceful environment where everyone feels free to express their thoughts and opinions without judgement." This is extremely important because you want to have mutual respect amongst all collaborating members. There are also necessary skills that come with collaboration. Ms. M believed it is important to be flexible and willing to work with others. Ms. S believed being a good listener is key to collaboration and Ms. C also agreed. You should want to bounce ideas off of each other to ensure success of your students. Collaborating should be a key component of your day.  These three professionals collaborate numerous times throughout the day. This also includes before and after school. Ms. S stated that her school day begins way before the children arrive and she tends to end her day about 1 to 2 hours after the final bell rings. Collaborating with parents and creating a parent/teacher relationship will greatly benefit the students you are working with.

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What causes difficulty with collaboration?

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What causes difficulty with collaboration?

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There often are times where collaboration becomes a challenging task. All three professionals agreed that a lack of time during the day makes it difficult to collaborate. Often times, you need to meet before or after school with parents or colleagues in order to collaborate. Sometimes you could meet during a preparation period, but those are not guaranteed. Ms. S admitted that she felt she had to interrupt teachers throughout the day to discuss matters regarding the students she sees for reading. She said it is difficult to schedule meeting times because each teacher has different preparation periods or lunch periods. Ms. M stated that many teachers prefer to work alone, which may sway them from wanting to collaborate. She stated "it's not easy to let someone else's ideas be the ones chosen." This could be proven true for grade partners. You want to collaborate on how you will schedule events and tests for your grade, but if you cannot agree it becomes difficult. All three professionals felt as if college courses did not prepare them at all for collaboration. Ms. C believed most of her knowledge on collaboration has come from the hands-on experiences she's had with others.

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Co-teaching can be both a positive aspect but also has some draw backs. Co-teaching can be identified as two teachers working together to achieve the same objective. Ms. S was the only professional who stated she was willing to co-teach. Ms. C stated that a benefit of co-teaching is being able to have more educators available to assist the individual needs of students. Co-teaching would allow for teachers to work together to allow success for students. Ms. M used the term "strength in numbers." There are some drawbacks to co-teaching. One area, which all three professionals agreed with, was clashing of teacher personalities. Each teacher may have a different teaching style, which sometimes can be difficult. You need to understand when it is your turn to take lead and when it is time to follow. If you do not work together, it is all going to come crashing down.
Ms. S believed co-teaching can be such a wonderful classroom collaboration if the educators get to know each other's expectations of students. An important area that could allow co-teaching to be successful is having support from the school system. You need willing participants; you cannot just force two teachers to co-teach without agreement. It also would be beneficial to provide training sessions to better explain the benefits of co-teaching. Ms. C stated if she was provided the opportunity to co-teach, she would, but many middle to upper school teachers prefer to stay away from co-teaching.

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Collaboration, co-teaching, and consultation all tie together. All three professionals agreed that each area relates to each other in some way. In many cases, consultation occurs when a problem arises. You consult with another colleague or parent to come to a solution. One important thing to keep in mind is one individual needs to be the one who needs help with another providing the expertise to help with the situation. All three professionals agreed that a benefit is the problem could be solved in a way you might not have previously thought of. Ms. M stated that sometimes behaviors can change for the better through consultation. Ms. S provides much consultation with parents and teachers to provide feedback on the students that she has for reading. She gives them strategies they can work on at home and in the classroom to ensure success. Sometimes people can become offended if you do not consider their ideas. Ms. C believes you need to be open to new ideas and be willing to implement suggestions.

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Consultation is an area that reflects off of both collaboration and co-teaching. Each professional had a different take on the word consultation. Ms. M, the librarian, believes that consultation is a meeting where both parties involved can discuss at length the issue between them. Ms C, the math teacher, had a similar thought by saying it was two people or a group coming together to find a solution to an issue. Ms. S, the reading specialist, believed consultation was a meeting taking place to discuss improvements for success. When discussing skills needed for consultation, I liked that Ms. C believed you need to be open to new ideas, be able to articulate the issues you are experiencing and be willing to implement suggestions. Sometimes this is hard for teachers to do. There are teachers who dread consulting with others, especially parents. A parent/teacher relationship should be a partnership. You need to meet outside of a school schedule, so either before or after school. Ms. S brought up a program we have at our school, the IST (Instructional Support Team) program. This team consisting of 4-5 team members plus the parent meets to ensure success of students who are struggling. Ms. C also mentioned this program by saying you need a follow-up meeting to assess that your strategies are being met.

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When I was determining who to interview, I wanted to find willing participants. I did not want to interview anyone who felt they already had too much on their plate. I extended the invitation to several professionals at my school. Catholic schools are a little different with their staff than with public schools. For example, we do not have a special education teacher in our school. We do have a Title I teacher who works on reading, which is why I chose to interview Ms. S. I wanted to include someone who had background in special education to get their take on collaboration in comparison to a general education teacher. Ms. C, the Honors Math teacher, was the first person who agreed to participate. She interacts with many of my students who are involved in the program. It is important for her to collaborate with me about those particular students. Lastly, Ms. M volunteered because she is a professional who sees each student in the school and has to interact with each teacher. Each professional had a different take on collaboration, co-teaching, and consultation. They all agreed on one thing: without collaboration, we wouldn't be doing our job as educators.