Online Teacher Collaboration

Collaboration is the practice of coming together to work toward a shared objective. The unifying objective in education is always better student outcomes.

Collaboration among teachers entails:

• collaborating on planning, discussion, and problem-solving
• collaborating to gather information, utilizing research and evidence to inform decisions
• using each other’s assets while addressing each other’s flaws
• actively supporting a helpful and courteous learning environment.

Active collaboration is particularly important for creating a growth-based learning environment and for increasing student learning progress. Research shows that teachers who work together and learn from each other are more successful in improving student outcomes than those who work alone.

Through growth to achievement: Report of the review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools , (March 2018)

Teacher’s Paradigm Shift

In order to engage in active cooperation, one must move away from administering the education of a single set of students and toward accepting joint accountability for the success and welfare of all students. However, regardless of the teaching environment, effective collaboration necessitates a shift in perspective from “me” to “we” and from “my learners” to “our learners.” Innovative learning environments (ILEs) are transforming the ways that instructors teach, prepare lessons, and do research into teaching together.

Collaboration and The Art of Questioning

Because it unites teachers as learners with the same objective of enhancing student outcomes, collective inquiry is at the core of teacher collaboration. All instructors participate equally in professional learning communities while attempting to comprehend and address what is happening for their students. The emphasis is on collaborative problem-solving, using data from both research and student evidence to guide and assess practice adjustments.

An open and trusting learning environment where mistakes are recognized as a necessary component of learning is fostered via collective inquiry.

Advantages of Teacher Collaboration

Collaboration that is successful benefits all members of learning communities.

Because teachers share responsibility for the development of all learners, collaborative teaching is beneficial to learners.

• Teachers that are skilled at working together effectively serve as role models for their students.
• Teachers have constant opportunities to learn from and with one another in collaborative learning contexts.
• Teachers get the opportunity to witness other educators in action, participate in professional discussions on the effects of various strategies, and receive feedback on their own instruction.
• Collaborative teaching teams build on each other’s strengths, encourage each other’s professional development, discuss concepts, and solve problems as a group. As a result, teams are able to do more than they would be able to if they worked alone.