Collaboration

In this study, the researcher focuses on investigating the nature of teacher collaboration in three case studies in Kazakhstani schools, identifying the key factors that enable or hinder teacher collaboration and their effect on the implications across sociocultural, organizational culture, and micropolitical perspectives. The author observed that top-down policies might hinder the link between individual and collective structure, and teachers may resist or promote change, which could be explained by…

In this review of three dozen methodologically rigorous global studies, Darling-Hammond et al. found that “collective work in trusting environments provides a basis for inquiry and reflection into teachers’ own practices, allowing teachers to take risks, solve problems, and attend to dilemmas in their practice” (p. 10). This article also references the 2014 OECD TALIS study which found that teacher collaboration is positively associated with professional confidence and that “frequent…

This important case study of collaboration in an international school discusses some of the underlying assumptions about collaboration by building on the notion of partnership teaching (Bourne, 1989; Bourne & McPake, 1991) between ESL/EAL teachers and content teachers. Davison also describes an “emerging framework that draws on teacher talk and critical discourse analysis to describe and evaluate the stages of collaboration and the different levels of its effectiveness” (p. 454).…

Implementation of school-based collaboration is both complex and contextual. In this article, the authors conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify the factors that facilitate or discourage school-based collaboration in secondary schools. As a result, they identified 50 studies that highlight the complexities of fostering effective teacher collaboration in secondary schools. Reviewing the studies, they identified three types of collaborative learning activities: sharing, experimenting, and designing. Despite the…

This article reviews papers published in the last ten years about co-teaching for MLs. The authors identified six elements that are fundamental for collaborative instructional practices for ML success. The first element is the involvement and support of school leaders: leadership is instrumental in creating opportunities to collaborate during instruction in addition to co-planning and co-assessing. The second element is co-planning time and process: in most collaborations, there is little…

This paper analyzes the relationship between leadership, teacher collaboration, and student achievement in elementary schools. Across 96 elementary schools, this study included treatment and control schools, drawing on 1,600 surveys conducted with teachers. The authors highlighted three important findings. First, schools where principals engaged in shared instructional leadership increased rates of teacher collaboration. School leaders are instrumental in fostering an environment where teachers work together to make pedagogical improvements. Second,…

The Beaverton School District study examined the relationship between ELD instruction time, program models, and student outcomes. Researchers found that while students received an average of 47 minutes of ELD daily, increased ELD time did not correlate with improved English proficiency test scores. The report suggests that the quality and type of ELD instruction are more influential than the quantity of time. Dual language and co-teaching programs were found to…

In this paper, the author synthesized his 30-year work on collaboration to describe the formal and informal approaches to collaboration that are available to teachers. He highlights that when a culture of individualism is transferred to a culture of collaboration, it has a positive effect on student achievement, and teacher motivation and engagement. The most important part of the collaboration is the collaboration away from the classroom unlike the time…

This article summarizes recent research regarding the importance and impact of collaborative practices, with a particular focus on the role of school leaders in international schools. The authors outline reasons why collaboration is essential to support multilingual learners, including facilitation of students’ language development and their academic achievement and its positive impact on teachers’ professional learning. The article includes a table which describes practical actions that teachers and leaders can…

This article underscores the critical role of teacher collaboration in navigating the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors argue that while the pandemic isolated educators, it simultaneously highlighted the necessity of collective action. The authors emphasize the importance of building and maintaining professional learning communities, especially in remote or isolated settings. Leveraging technology to facilitate collaboration, such as video conferencing, online platforms, and social media facilitates the sharing…