Give Teams A Running Start

Take steps to build shared vision, trust, and collaboration skills

Vol. 33 No. 3

When an educator tells me, “We’re doing professional learning communities this year,” that phrasing makes me wonder whether they’re simply forming new small groups or undertaking the multiyear effort it takes to move teachers from working as individuals to the deep collaboration that marks effective, sustainable professional learning communities. Consider for a moment how launching a professional learning community is similar to starting a race. Athletes know the danger of false starts — moving before the starting signal. Until recently, a false start meant that all racers returned to the blocks to begin again, their adrenalin gone, their concentration broken. Because these effects could influence race results, the rules changed. Races continue, and competitors who false start learn only at the end that they’ve been

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Authors

Jane A. G. Kise

Jane A.G. Kise (jane@janekise.com) is an educational consultant, specializing in team building, coaching, and differentiated instruction, especially in mathematics. Her latest book, with co-author Beth Russell, is Creating a Coaching Culture for Professional Learning Communities (Solution Tree, 2010).

What are our needs for collaboration?

Directions: Groups generally include people with different informational and processing needs.
Note: These ideas are loosely based on the framework provided by personality type, popularized through the Myers Briggs Type Indicator.

Using one color of a highlighter pen, mark items on this chart that you might keep in mind to improve your own collaboration skills.

In another color, highlight items that the team might consider as you set norms together to improve team communication and efficiency.

Some people like to talk things out. Others would rather think things through. Which of these suggestions might make you or your group more productive?
	Set agendas and distribute written materials or data to be discussed before meetings so that everyone can be prepared to talk.
	After discussing ideas, have team members do a two-minute quick write about their conclusions or “aha” moments, then share.
	Have someone record large group notes — flip charts, whiteboards, Smart Boards — so that everyone can more easily track conversations.
	Use a five-second rule. Wait five seconds after posing a question or making a statement before someone responds, allowing all a chance to form thoughts.

To ensure that your team pays attention to important details and proven methodologies while also seeking to innovate and imagine new ideas, consider these suggestions.
	Ask, “Are there options we haven’t considered?” Use analogies to prompt new ideas.
	Seek ideas that have immediate classroom applications, tying changes to current or past practices.
	Tie suggested practices to theories and trends in education — the big picture.
	Think long term (the 24-month goal) while also seeking useful, measurable results (the one-month goal).

To ensure that decisions include logical, objective criteria and more subjective criteria such as individual needs or student voices, consider these suggestions.
	Assume that suggestions and ideas will be debated. Don’t take it personally.
	Look for and acknowledge points of agreement as well as flaws.
	Practice stepping into others’ shoes to understand their viewpoints, including the views of students, administrators, and other teachers.
	Include stories of student success or failure, as well as objective data, when making instructional decisions.

To balance the need for working efficiently within tight time frames with staying flexible to consider emerging information, consider these suggestions.
	Set meeting agendas that allow flexibility for extended conversations.
	Schedule time to revisit goals. Are they the right ones? Do they need to change?
	Allow flexibility in how members will carry out group decisions.
	Plan backward from group deadlines to ensure that each person knows when to start.

References

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Grossman, P., Wineburg, S., & Woolworth, S. (2001). Toward a theory of teacher community. Teachers College Record, 103(6), 942-1012.

Hargreaves, A. (2002). Teaching and betrayal. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 8(3/4) 394-407.

Hargreaves, A. (2007). Sustainable professional learning communities. In L. Stoll & K.S. Louis (Eds.), Professional learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas (pp. 181-195). New York: Open University Press.

Hord, S. (2004). Learning together, leading together: Changing schools through professional learning communities. New York: Teachers College Press.

Kise, J.A.G. & Russell, B. (2010). Creating a coaching culture for professional learning communities. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B.Z. (2010). The truth about leadership: The no-fads, heart-of-the-matter facts you need to know. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.

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