Deep level Conversations
Deep level conversations in Collaborative Inquiry Groups
Teacher Inquiry Assessment 2 (Research 2)
Last night at our Staff Meeting, our Principal shared a reading about Leading Deep Conversations in Collaborative Inquiry Groups by Tamara Holmlund Nelson, Angie Dueel, David Slavit and Annie Kennedy.
The article raised some good points and questions about how we collaborate and communicate with our colleagues within our Collaborative Inquiry Groups. It's hard to find the time to focus specifically on and have professional and deep level discussions about our students learning.
It highlights some good points and raises some further questions;
- Do we need a tool to guide the way in which we engage with our colleagues and the way we talk about student learning/teaching?
- How can we foster, support and engage in deeper level collaborative conversations?
- Do we need outside help to achieve this?
As part of this CoP engaging in collaborative practice means also engaging in collaborative discussions with colleagues. Teachers need to become comfortable thinking outloud and not just having mini chats in the rush of a lunchtime but valued added discussions where we can learn from each other and our own strengths can be shared. Coaching a team member with questions such as 'what other ways might a pupil demonstrate what they have learned?' I wonder if time being allocated for teachers to have discussions like this need to be timetabled instead of a general staff meeting for example?
ReplyDeleteAs a member of a teaching team of 3, we need to be 'on the ball' when it comes to collaboration and making our approach from 3 as if we were 1 (very apt as we are teaching in a Catholic School where God is 3 in 1 - The Father, Son and Holy Spirit!)
DeleteWe meet at 8am every morning to discuss the day, changes, notices, student needs, teaching styles that we will use, and anything else that crops up as they do. This is vital for us all to be on the same page and give one message of unity to the children. We also have a planning meeting that we use to discuss the learning of our children and plan our future lessons that we will teach jointly. Staff Meetings are in addition to these. I value these meetings and although they do take time, they are important to the flow of our learning environment. Outside of our meetings, and school hours, we communicate via messenger in a three way conversation. This also keeps us together as a team. Teaching as a team requires 3 heads to work as one. The more clear communication that one can do with your colleagues, the better the teaching team works in the learning environment.
I agree with you both collegial discussions of any depth needs to be in-depth and given the time needed signifying the importance and value of these. As discussed elsewhere teachers being time poor certainly impacts on the discussions undertaken. I think teachers are comfortable thinking and communicating out loud when they feel 'safe' to do so (we do this naturally all the time) but I wonder the reasons why they hesitate or don't in some discussions or contexts.
ReplyDeleteKia ora Susan, thanks for posting about deeper level conversations. I really thought it was a good article to share with all staff and not just the team leaders. This course has highlighted teacher leadership and the role of the teacher in contributing collaboratively and I feel that this paper highlighted that each person in the team has a role to play in order for those deeper levels of conversation to occur. Another link which might help answer Tearani's thinking above about feeling "safe" is the work of Patrick Lencioni in overcoming the 5 dysfunctions of a team https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1iMtuFS_nJedElnRVp3bVZiZDd0TThCb1pCRWJYeGNFQ2ln/view?usp=sharing
ReplyDelete