Action Research -- How do teachers and students experience collaboration?
Though teacher collaboration is often touted as one remedy for what ails our schools, it is often met with resistance from educators. Why? “Teacher collaboration is more work”; “it takes too much time”; and “it’s risky” are a few of the excuses often made. Are these excuses valid? Do the benefits outweigh the costs? To answer these questions I engaged in multiple collaborations of various depth over the course of a semester ranging from a one-day activity to six-week integrated English and math project. Surveys, classroom observations, focus groups, and conversations with 96 students and 4 colleagues at High Tech High International, a project-based charter school in San Diego, illuminated both the benefits and the challenges of collaboration and highlighted differences between collaboration, collegiality and cooperation.While students benefited any time teachers worked together, the biggest benefit to both teachers and students came from integrated projects where all involved worked toward a common goal, thus creating cohesion between disciplines. These findings point to the value of teacher collaboration in breaking down boundaries and creating a more connected community of learners who feel supported as they take risks. They also highlight structures to support powerful teacher collaborations, as well as student collaborations, in any context.