Collaborative Skills are essential.
“Effective social structures honor the dynamic relationship of parts and bring them together into a workable whole. Since any group brings a variety of mental models, cognitive styles, personal histories, and individual agendas to its work, the potential for chaotic interaction always exists. Providing structures permits a full and focused expression of these differences in a manner that is useful to the work and life of the group.”
http://www.thinkingcollaborative.com/norms-collaboration-toolkit
IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATIVE SKILLS
Hattie refers to the importance of teachers to “ ‘know thy impact’, it is to understand this impact, and it is to act on this knowing and understanding. It requires that teachers gather defensible and dependable evidence from many sources, and hold collaborative discussions with colleagues and students about this evidence, this making the effect of their teaching visible to themselves and others (Hattie, 2012).
OVERVIEW OF COLLABORATIVE SKILLS
“There is no such thing as group behavior. All ‘group behavior’ results from the decisions and actions of individuals. When individual choices align in productive patterns, the group produces positive results.”
Garmston & Wellman, 1999
More and more, learning is viewed as a social process, not simply individuals accumulating information on their own. If learning is social, then collaboration is essential. Both communicative and collaborative skills are essential to function effectively in the modern world.
UNPACKING COLLABORATIVE SKILLS
Norms of Collaboration
The original “Norms of Collaboration” were first articulated by Garmston and Wellman in 1999. These seven norms of collaboration, (pausing, paraphrasing, probing, putting ideas on the table, paying attention to self and others, presuming positive intentions, and pursuing a balance between advocacy and inquiry), have been widely used, and multiple materials are available online to support their use.
In 2009, Garmston and Wellman revised these norms, removing “pursuing a balance between advocacy and inquiry” from the list and adding in “providing data.” The revised norms are:
Pausing
Pausing before responding or asking a question allows time for thinking and enhances dialogue, discussion, and decision-making.
Paraphrasing
Using a paraphrase starter that is comfortable for you – “So…” or “As you are…” or “You’re thinking…” – and following the starter with an efficient paraphrase assists members of the group in hearing and understanding one another as they converse and make decisions.
Posing Questions
Two intentions of posing questions are to explore and to specify thinking. Questions may be posed to explore perceptions, assumptions, and interpretations, and to invite others to inquire into their thinking. For example, “What might be some conjectures you are exploring?” Use focusing questions such as, “Which students, specifically?” or “What might be an example of that?” to increase the clarity and precision of group members’ thinking. Inquire into others’ ideas before advocating one’s own.
Putting Ideas on the Table
Ideas are the heart of meaningful dialogue and discussion. Label the intention of your comments. For example: “Here is one idea…” or “One thought I have is…” or “Here is a possible approach…” or “Another consideration might be…”
Providing Data
Providing data, both qualitative and quantitative, in a variety of forms supports group members in constructing shared understanding from their work. Data have no meaning beyond that which we make of them; shared meaning develops from collaboratively exploring, analyzing, and interpreting data.
Presuming Positive Intentions
Assuming that others’ intentions are positive promotes and facilitates meaningful dialogue and discussion, and prevents unintentional put-downs. Using positive intentions in speech is one manifestation of this norm.
Paying Attention to Self and Others
Meaningful dialogue and discussion are facilitated when each group member is conscious of self and of others, and is aware of what (s)he is saying and how it is said as well as how others are responding. This includes paying attention to learning styles when planning, facilitating, and participating in group meetings and conversations.
Adapted from the Center for Adaptive Schools.
Consider your current collaborative meetings. Which of these skills are currently practiced? Which is missing?
COLLABORATIVE SKILLS IN PRACTICE
“Any group that is too busy to reflect on process is too busy to improve.”
Garmston & Wellman, 2013
Implementing Norms of Collaboration
Developing proficiency with applying the 7 Norms of Collaboration all at once may be too demanding. Try focusing on one norm at once. Have the team decide on the norm they want to focus on. Practice the norm over several team meetings or until the team members are proficient and feel they can use the norm without thinking about it. Seek opportunities in daily communication experiences to practice a particular norm, so you can learn that tool so well that it is available to you when you need it the most in a meeting. Then select the next norm for focus.
COLLABORATIVE SKILLS IN ACTION
How do behaviors impact the collaborative work of a group? How will you start implementing these Collaborative Skills?
These norms help ground our talk in constructive conversations that lift everyone’s professional growth as we work with a sense of urgency to accelerate student achievement within the means of a collaborative culture.
Use the Norms Inventory to reflect on your current practice and, based on the results, plan for the future.
