Consultation, Leadership, and Empowerment Presenters: Ernest Cherullo Kim Conlon Felicia Watts

Objective(s) To increase this groups knowledge base of why we should look at collaborative practices To increase knowledge as to why collaboration is needed To increase knowledge of the benefits of teacher and staff empowerment on staff and student performance Challenges to Collaboration

Increasing Knowledge Why look at collaboration? – Collaboration between special and general education teachers has existed for many years – Over the past several decades this collaboration has received increased attention as part of a larger effort to increase inclusive education – The need and federal directive to blur the boundaries between general education and special education McLaughlin (2001)

Why is collaboration needed? What comes to your mind when we talk about collaboration? – Collaboration can have multiple meanings to different people – Collaboration involves teaching practices as well as a community of professionals working together to improve teaching and achievement of ALL students. – Collaboration is considered central to the successful inclusion of students with disability into the regular educational environment. – It is now the LAW that students have access to grade level curriculum! McLaughlin (2005)

Why does collaboration run into problems? – Collaboration can have multiple meanings to different people – Collaboration involves teaching practices as well as a community of professionals working together to improve teaching and achievement of ALL students. Not everyone is sure how to do this? – Collaboration is considered central to the successful inclusion of students with disability into the regular educational environment. If the need special ed how can they be in the regular education environment?

Why is it needed What do the current changes in the law mean to teachers, instructional practices, etc… It means that students are no longer just entitled to be present in a classroom but now have RIGHTS to the curriculum. – What does this mean to teachers? – Principals? – Curriculum Coordinators? – Districts as a whole? Can provide sense of empowerment to teachers, staff and students – McLaughlin (2005) and Seed (2006)

Characteristics of Successful Collaboration in these articles In the research synthesis performed by McLaughlin (2002) several factors to successful collaboration were noted in all of the studies she reviewed: – Schools valued teamwork – Common goals – Shared sense of responsibility – Communication and collaboration as key strategies for teachers

Empowerment and Collaboration With increased accountability schools are re- examining two ideas that have been tried, but not been fully committed to: teacher empowerment and collaboration- Seed (2006).

Empowerment Why look at empowerment of teachers and staff? – Many individuals leaving profession as the curricula is becoming prescriptive. This is leading to the deskilling of teachers Apple (1993). – Greater student performance on testing – Better decisions by teachers – Often better results – Greater assumption of responsibility by those in the process

Barriersto collaboration and empowerment Time Space Longer time to make decisions Administrators had to take the flak for the teams final decisions

Types of Problems Seen in Collaboration “Leadership emerges from, and always returns to, the fundamental wants and needs and values of the followers.” Burns (1974). Taken from Gates, G. & Robinson, S. (2009)

Challenges 1: Technical Work – Educational reform has ushered in many changes to schooling, yet teachers possess a significant repertoire of professional experiences, skills and knowledge basis. – Gates, G. & Robinson, S. (2009) This results in an differentiated playing field for problem solving! Teachers are tasked to engage in a process without adequate training. What are the outcomes if not training is provided? What can we do to fix it?

Challenges 2 – Technical and Adaptive work – Student motivation and variability (variation in preparation and skills) are two factors that often impact learning – Gates, G. & Robinson, S. (2009) Teachers feel frustrated that they cannot accommodate all of the students needs – Feel overwhelmed – Blame the student – If stop here will get ambiguity and inconsistency of practice

Challenges 3: Adaptive Work – Policy makers and reformers argue that they know the various challenges and difficulties inherent to teaching and learning. – Reality is that at the level of implementation teams often are forced to become self-reliant on investigating, stumbling, and uncovering realities of implementation. – Gates, G. & Robinson, S. (2009) – How can administration/ administrators prevent this?

Challenges 4: Nonrational technical work – This again follows a more top down style of implementation. Teachers are being asked to do something they may not believe in while not understanding the problem or even agree that there is a problem. Gates, G. & Robinson, S. (2009) – Often results in staff that feel frustrated and are disempowered from the decision making process and therefore have trouble buying in? How can we create greater buy in from staff?

Benefits to Collaboration and Empowerment Greater teacher self satisfaction Greater student performance Increased sense of a school community and culture (less of “us” and “them”) Less isolation of teachers

References Gates, G., & Robinson, S. (2009). Delving into teacher collaboration: Untangling problems and solutions for leadership. NAASP Bulletin 93(3), McLaughlin, M. (2002). Examining Special Education Collaborative Practices in Exemplary Schools. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 13(4) Seed, A. (2006). Making empowerment and collaboration part of the lives of highly qualified team teachers. Middle school journal, 37(5),