COLLABORATION -What does the evidence tell us about what works?

Contributing to the collaborative endeavour 

What does the evidence tell us about what works?
Except for the Education Review Office

For a Community of Learning | Kähui Ako to develop and function effectively the participants need to shift both their thinking and practice.

• For some, the biggest challenge is to enlarge the focus to include not only the students in their own school but also the students in all the other schools. (In a Special Education setting, we know that this will be very challenging)
• Being part of a Community of Learning | Kähui Ako means accepting collective responsibility for equity and excellence across all the schools in the community. 
• Collective responsibility positions leadership differently. 
• Leading improvement across a range of diverse contexts can require different expertise and different ways of working. 
• Members of a community need to be clear about the purpose of leadership roles and the responsibilities they entail. 
• Effective leadership is vital if the joint work that goes into a Community of Learning | Kähui Ako is to contribute to collective outcomes. 
• Equitable allocation of resources, especially time and expertise, is essential for enabling a community to function in ways that grow capability and capacity. 
• To contribute to and benefit from a Community of Learning | Kähui Ako, each participating organisation needs to be able to provide robust analysis and interpretation of their outcomes data along with priorities for improvement. 
• Openness to learning and a willingness to share information and evidence is important conditions for collaborative inquiry that leads to improved professional practice and enhanced student outcomes.

Building collective capacity for improvement The framework below identifies what the evidence suggests is important in the development of collective capacity for improvement. This framework is a starting point for further developing the New Zealand evidence base. The sections that follow describe the components of the framework and include examples of effective practice.

Collaborative inquiry and working that challenges thinking and practice 

• In a Community of Learning | Kähui Ako, the focus of collaboration is on improving outcomes for students through changes in instructional practice. 
• Collaboration involves working together on shared challenges that have been identified through the use of evidence. 
• Effective collaboration engages participants in ongoing cycles of inquiry: 

1.  identifying what is going on for students in relation to valued outcomes 
2.  using credible evidence, identifying a problem of practice that will stretch existing knowledge and capacity but also be manageable 
3.  designing, trying out and testing changes in practice that are aimed at solving the identified problem 
4.  accumulating evidence of impact, refining or discarding ideas based on evidence of their effectiveness, embedding changes that prove to be effective into daily practice 
5.  identifying the next student-related challenge.

• Effective collaboration is characterised by dense, frequent sharing of knowledge among participants, with the aim of addressing the identified challenges. 
• They also connect outwards, to gain new knowledge that will complement what they already know and to maintain connections with, and actively participate in, larger networks.
• Educators experience increased efficacy and agency when leaders provide opportunities and support for engaging in collaborative inquiry.

Collaborative Practice in Special Education

Sommerville is in the process of building a new school. As a school-wide goal, the principal and staff would like to look closely at collaborative practice to improve learner outcomes.

For my Inquiry, I would like to focus on Collaboration and Co-teaching.

Collaboration is the process of working together to achieve a common goal. In teaching,
the common goal is always improved learner outcomes. Teacher collaboration involves:

1. Debating, planning, and problem-solving together
2. Inquiring together, using evidence and research to guide decision-making
3.Capitalising on each other’s strengths and working with each other’s weaknesses
4. Actively contributing to a respectful and supportive learning environment.

Active collaboration is particularly important for creating a growth-based learning environment and
for increasing student learning progress. Research shows that teachers who work together and
learn from each other are more successful in improving student outcomes than those who work alone.

I am in a position where I network with both staff and students from a mainstream setting and also
those with special needs. I am eager to inquire into the practice of staff at Sommerville base,
satellite classes, and mainstream schools as well as special schools across Auckland.
I work closely with staff from all special schools and would love to investigate their practices and
see what works well and what we would like to take from their setting.