Collaboration is a
time-tested practice on the path to greater results. If you create the
environment for teachers to pool their experience, expertise, education and
passion to tackle challenging situations (like meeting the learning needs of a
diverse range of children) you can create huge competitive advantage that
people left by themselves are unable to do. One of our biggest discoveries to
date is that we have to invest more time together to gain the benefits we seek.
Time together is the price we pay for better results in what we do (Miller, Great Leaders Serve, 2015). This can be
both formal, scheduled time before and after school, and informal time,
throughout the learning day. Monday’s scheduled Teacher Only Day is part of our
schools investment in time together as a whole team. Its a great opportunity for our staff to hear
about another schools challenges and to share with them our collaborative
growth stories. Providing these opportunities for group development is part of
the Principal’s role. A Principal must lead the school’s teachers in a process
of learning to improve their teaching, while learning alongside them about what
works and what doesn’t (Fullan, The Principal, 2015). Our school has always put an emphasis on
leading learning, by encouraging collaborative practice and in taking ownership
of understanding why we do what we do and how we do it!
