The teacher’s solitude and what you can do about it

I have recently reactivated my twitter account and started to contact with fabulous teachers around the world with whom I am co-learning. Among the teachers I follow, I have found a common worry: many of them feel alone in their schools. I have also recognized this feeling in many other innovative and reflexive teachers who deeply think about solving the real learning problems their students suffer. It is easy for me to empathize with them, for I myself have experienced the same frustration of sharing my teaching practice with teachers from Hong Kong or Belgium, and speaking different pedagogical languages in my own department at school. And it is not just a language question -there is much in a language.
Now, as a consultant in education and teacher trainer, I am often asked what is the most important aspect to change in teaching practice. I published the answer in the Plataforma Internacional de Práctica Reflexiva in Spanish and Catalan some months ago, and have translated part of it here. Perhaps in other cultural contexts this will sound strange, maybe not. I will appreciate any comments on it:
As a teacher trainer, I am often asked my opinion on what is the most important aspect to change in teaching practice. Perhaps they expect me to respond something related to digital competences, pedagogical updating or adopting a specific methodology such as cooperative learning or PBL. However, what I consider most important is to develop teacher’s teamwork and to encourage shared reflection on teaching practice.

In our academic tradition, the teacher’s work has a strong individual component. The teacher prepares the classes and closes the door of the classroom to teach them. The teacher evaluates the activities alone and modifies them if necessary. This individualistic approach of the teaching profession is called to disappear in the 21st century, in which collaboration and teamwork among professionals of different fields is a priority. Nowadays, it is hard to find any profession that can be developed, effectively, alone.

Changing the individualistic teaching dominant culture can be considered from different perspectives. Let’s see the implications for students, families, administrators and teachers. What happens when teachers develop real teamwork?

  • Students. With the coordinated work of teachers, students would perceive a coherence in the methods and in the criteria used to assess their learning. In addition, teacher’s teamwork would imply a permanent review of methods and assessment, which would greatly benefit students from an updated pedagogy consistent with what they need to learn in the 21st century for their professional lives and also in order to become critical citizens who can contribute to more social justice and equity. Often the same student, in class sessions, is exposed to various incoherent methodologies, assessment systems and opposed values from different teachers.
    On the other hand, more and more teachers are encouraged to propose group work to their students, some even take up cooperative learning. It is frequent to hear complaints from teachers about the scarce skills of the students to work as a team and about the conflicts that arise in the student’s groups. It would be interesting (and coherent) to begin to improve teacher’s teamwork of the professionals who attend a same group of students. Based on the reflection and shared analysis of what happens to ourselves (teachers) as members of a team, we will find some keys to improve our student’s teamwork: promote trust, discover talents, have clear objectives, regularly plan and evaluate our actions, etc.
    Families. Families need to trust the school. The school’s project must be assumed by all teachers. The concern of the families every new year about “who will be my child’s teacher” is a symptom that there is much left to do in a school in terms of teacher’s teamwork. When there is good coordination between teachers and a shared project, this concern of families simply disappears.
    Personal attention requires an effective coordination between teachers. This is particularly important for students who have special needs: learning difficulties, gifted children, etc., as well as other important issues such as allergies, delicate family situations, cultural or linguistic issues, etc. When families have to ask for tutoring conferences each school year (sometimes with every teacher) to explain to the new tutor the special situation of their children, there are things to improve in teacher’s coordination.
    Administration teams. In addition to being a model of teamwork for the rest of the school, administration teams should provide spaces and times in their working hours for teachers so that they can meet on a regular basis. Moreover, administration teams can facilitate the smooth functioning of the teams by tracking the planning and evaluation of their work, choosing the team leaders according to their leadership and pedagogical skills, facilitating the professional development that each teacher needs and making sure that the work of the teams is aligned with the educational project of the school.
    Teachers. Teachers are the ones who will benefit the most from their own teamwork. Provided a good organization, there are countless tasks that teachers wouldn’t have to replicate on their own. Shared reflection will detect good practices and help to unlearn other obsolete or ineffective ones in the current context. Shared reflection among teachers should indeed begin with discussion and dialogue on the purposes of education and their student’s real needs. Effective teamwork that includes deep and shared reflection has a high positive impact in professional motivation. Teachers can then feel they have a common project that includes what to do and why.
    As for pedagogical innovation, it is often the case that innovations and good practices end up forgotten precisely because they have not been shared with the teaching team (although they are sometimes shown in congresses and teacher’s social media). Sustainable innovation must be closely linked to a process of developing teamwork for teachers and their empowerment as education professionals that can discuss the important questions regarding teaching.

Quoting Don Quixote: “A swallow does not make summer” (and he did well to ride Rocinante along with Sancho Panza).

There are also some techniques and tools for professional teacher development that suit well with teamwork. Among them, these are particularly useful:
Peer observation. Teachers can show their best practices to other peers to learn from each other.
The team teaching portfolio. Teachers reflect together on their teaching practice and create an evidence’s portfolio that can be shared with other teams in the school.
Are you still a lonesome teacher…? Share this with your colleagues and discuss teamwork with them.

You can follow me on twitter: @MarianaMorale19

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