Assignment: Effective communication will be essential in your role as a scholar, practitioner, and leader in education. Respect, inclusivity, and recognizing diversity are essential to successful stakeholder engagement. It is important for educational leaders to set realistic expectations and maintain transparency with collaborators.
For this assignment, you will provide recommendations for how to best engage with collaborators and stakeholders. To prepare, review the information and strategies discussed in Chapter 9 of Supervision and Instructional Leadership: A Developmental Approach.
1. Summarize the purpose of school data teams. Address student data, educator engagement, and technology supporting data use. Need Assignment Help?
2. Describe the composition of school data teams. Identify all potential stakeholders, such as school leaders, teachers, parents/guardians, students, and the community at large.
3. Recommend strategies leaders can use for effective communication with a diversity of stakeholders.
Chapter 9 Collaborative Behaviors
Learning Objectives for this chapter:
9.1 Summarize the characteristics of teachers best matched with a collaborative approach.
9.2 Explain the categories of the supervisory behavior continuum as applied to the collaborative supervisory approach.
9.3 List two issues with the collaborative approach.
9.4 Identify circumstances in which the collaborative approach is desirable.
9.5 Describe a specific way of moving from the collaborative to the nondirective approach.
Questions to Reflect on as you read this chapter:
Both the teacher and supervisor participating in a collaborative conference discuss their perception of the problem, but the supervisor asks the teacher to share first. What are the advantages of the teacher sharing first?
Is it possible for a supervisor to implement the collaborative approach in a manner that is technically correct but still does not engage in authentic collaboration? If so, how might this occur?
As you read about the supervisory behaviors in the collaborative approach, which behaviors would you like to discuss or see demonstrated before you practice collaborative behaviors in a role play?
How could a new supervisor working with teachers who are best matched with a collaborative approach but who have only experienced directive supervision introduce collaborative supervision to those teachers?
If you have the opportunity to practice collaborative behaviors in a role play, reflect on your feelings before, during, and after the role play. How well did you do in your effort to use collaborative behaviors? Would you feel comfortable, after sufficient practice, using collaborative supervision in an appropriate situation?
The supervisor using collaborative behaviors wishes to resolve a problem that is shared equally with the teacher. The supervisor encourages the teacher to present their own perceptions and ideas, and the supervisor also honestly gives their own views. The result is a frank exchange of ideas. Both participants know they will have to agree on any course of action. In fact, when disagreement becomes obvious, the supervisor restates the disagreement and reassures the teacher that they will have to find a mutual solution. Disagreement is encouraged, not suppressed. As the conversation continues, when openings for possible agreements become apparent, the supervisor steers the conversation toward those ends. Finally, the teacher and supervisor either agree to an action or wind up stalemated. A stalemate will mean further negotiating, rethinking, and even the possible use of a third-party mediator or arbitrator.
Characteristics of Teachers Best Matched with Collaborative Behaviors
Learning Objective 9.1 Summarize the characteristics of teachers best matched with a collaborative approach.
Characteristics of the teacher best matched with collaborative behaviors include the following:
Personality Profile: More objective than teachers at lower developmental levels; concerned with social relationships and social norms; moving toward independence.
Attitude Toward and Relationship with Students: Friendlier to students than teachers at lower developmental levels; accepts a wider range of student behaviors as acceptable; recognizes diverse student needs but requires assistance in addressing some needs.
Attitude Toward Rules: Believes that rules should be mutually agreed upon; believes in a distribution of internal and external control; explains reasons for rules to students; usually knows when to apply rules and when to ignore rules.
Teaching Style: Focused on doing a good job of teaching the required curriculum; able to use several different models of teaching effectively but has not mastered the use of a wide range of models; more likely than teachers at lower developmental levels to differentiate between more and less important content; encourages students to express themselves and adjusts teaching based on student reaction; willing to ask students higher-level questions but may need assistance in formulating such questions.
Classroom Atmosphere: More concerned with relationships between teacher and students and among students than teachers at lower developmental levels; beginning to acknowledge student inquisitiveness and creativity.
Decision Making: Becoming tolerant of ambiguity during the decision-making process; gathers a wider variety of information than teachers of lower developmental levels but may have difficulty integrating that information; in group decision making, prefers a consensus and is willing to implement a group decision once it is made.
Problem Solving: More analytical than teachers at lower developmental levels; is able to recognize and define a classroom problem and identify some possible solutions but is not able to identify the full range of alternative solutions; unlike teachers of lower developmental levels, accepts a fair amount of responsibility for classroom problems.
Response to Needed Change: Will accept the need for change if it is agreed upon by the group; is primarily concerned with the technical implementation of the change (skills needed, tasks to be accomplished); prefers formal professional development and assistance from colleagues in learning how to implement the change.
Relationships with Other Educators: Wants positive relationships with supervisors and teachers; tends to be a "team player"; willing to listen to others' points of views and critiques but also appreciates the opportunity to share own perspectives and ideas; believes in mutual responsibility for completing tasks and achieving goals.
Collaborative Sequence of Behaviors
Learning Objective 9.2 Explain the categories of the supervisory behavior continuum as applied to the collaborative supervisory approach.
Figure 9.1 shows a prototype of collaborative behaviors according to the supervisory behavior continuum. A conference between supervisor and teacher begins with an understanding of each other's identification of the problem and concludes with mutual agreement on the final plan. Think of the supervisory behaviors as a piano keyboard, with the musician beginning by hitting the keys on the left, then playing the keys back and forth, and culminating by hitting the middle key-negotiating. Here are the 10 behaviors involved:
Clarifying: Identifying the problem as seen by the teacher. First, ask the teacher about the immediate problem or concern: "Please tell me what is bothering you." "Explain to me what you see as the greatest concern."
Listening: Understanding the teacher's perception of the problem. You (the supervisor) want to have as much information about the problem as possible before thinking about action. Therefore, when the teacher narrates their perceptions, the full range of nondirective behaviors should be used (eye contact, paraphrasing, asking probing questions, and being willing to allow the teacher to continue talking): "Tell me more." "Uh huh, I'm following you." "Do you mean . . . ?"
Reflecting: Verifying the teacher's perception of the problem. When the teacher has described the problem, check for accuracy by summarizing the teacher's statements and asking if the summary is accurate: "I understand that you see the problem as . . . Is this accurate?"
Presenting: Providing the supervisor's perception of the problem. Until this point, we have seen an abbreviated nondirective conference. Instead of asking the teacher to begin thinking of their own possible actions, however, you now move in and become part of the decision-making process. Give your own point of view about the current difficulty and fill in any information about the situation of which the teacher might be unaware: "I see the situation in this way." "The problem, as I see it, is . . . " (To minimize influencing the teacher's position, it is better for you to give your perceptions only after the teacher has given theirs.)
Clarifying: Seeking the teacher's understanding of the supervisor's perception of the problem. In the same way that you paraphrased the teacher's statement of the problem and asked for verification, you now ask the teacher to do likewise: "Could you repeat what you think I'm trying to say?" Once you feel confident that the teacher understands your views, problem solving can begin.
Problem Solving: Exchanging possible solutions. If you and the teacher are familiar with each other and have worked collaboratively before, you can simply ask for a list of suggestions: "Let's both think about what might be done to improve this situation." Then listen to each other's ideas. If the teacher is not familiar with you or with the collaborative process, however, they may feel apprehensive about suggesting an idea that is different from the supervisor's. It might be better to stop the conference for a few minutes and have both supervisor and teacher write down possible actions before speaking: "So that we don't influence each other on possible solutions, let's take the next few minutes and write down what actions might be taken and then read each other's list." Obviously, once actions are in writing, they will not change according to what the other person has written. You the supervisor, therefore, have promoted a spectrum of personal ideas that are ready to be shared and discussed.
Encouraging: Accepting conflict. To keep the conference from turning into a competitive struggle, you need to reassure the teacher that disagreement is acceptable and that there will be no winners or losers: "It appears that we have some different ideas on how to handle this situation. By disagreeing we will find the best solution. Remember our agreement-we both have to agree with the solution before it will take place." You must genuinely believe that conflict between two caring professionals is productive for finding the best solution.
Negotiating: Finding an acceptable solution. After sharing and discussing, ask if there are suggestions common to both-"Where do we agree?"-and if there are suggestions markedly different-"Where do we differ?" If you find agreement, then the conference proceeds. But if there is a vast difference in suggestions, then you can take four sequential actions. First, check to see whether the differences are as vast as they appear by having both yourself and the teacher explain thoroughly what is meant by your respective suggestions. Second, if the disagreement is still real, find out how convinced each of you is that your suggestion be chosen: "How important is it to you that we do it your way?" If the importance of one person's suggestion is far greater than that of the other person's suggestion, then the question becomes whether one can give up their own idea and live with the other's. Third, if grounds for agreement are not reached, you can consider a compromise: "How about if I give up this part of my suggestion and if you give up . . . " Or, fourth, see if a totally new idea can be found: "Since we can't agree, let's drop our top choices for solutions and see if we can find another one."
Standardizing: Agreeing on the details of the plan, including follow-up. Once agreement on an acceptable action has been reached, the supervisor needs to attend to the details of time, place, and follow-up. When will the plan be implemented? Where will it take place? Who will help? What resources are needed? Who will follow up? When? These details need to be discussed and agreed to so there will be a clarity and precision to the final plan.
Reflecting: Summarizing the final plan. The supervisor concludes the conference by checking that both parties agree to the action and details. The supervisor might do this verbally-"Could you repeat what you understand the plan to be and then I'll repeat my understanding"-or in writing-"Let's write this down together so that we are clear on what we've agreed to do."
Issues in the Collaborative Approach
Learning Objective 9.3 List two issues with the collaborative approach.
Our work with collaboration has shown that it is a deceptively simple set of behaviors for supervisors to understand. The reason is that collaboration appears to be the democratic way of doing things. Most of us have been schooled in equality and democracy, and collaboration appears to be democracy in action. Therefore, it seems apparent that we should ask others for input and that decisions should be made by the majority. However, collaboration with an individual or a group involves more than the mechanical procedures of majority rule associated with a common (and incorrect) view of democracy.
One difficulty in working collaboratively occurs when the teacher (or group) believes a supervisor is manipulating the decision when in fact the supervisor is not. The teacher appears to concur with the supervisor's ideas and suggestions not because of their merit but because the teacher believes the supervisor is really giving a directive. The underlying message the teacher perceives is "This is my supervisor telling me what she thinks I should do. Even though she says we are making a joint decision, I know I had better do what she says."
How does the supervisor know whether a teacher's agreement is sincere or mere compliance? The supervisor might confront the issue by asking the teacher whether they are agreeing or only pretending to agree with the supervisor's idea. Acknowledging that the supervisor suspects something is amiss brings the issue out into the open. A teacher who responds "I don't believe you are really going to let me have equal say" can be dealt with more easily than is possible when a supervisor guesses at the teacher's hidden feelings.
Teachers who refuse to disclose their feelings probably have a history of being mistreated by supervisors. Until the supervisor can demonstrate consistently that they really mean to be collaborative, no progress will be made. The teacher is not going to believe the supervisor is being collaborative until there is proof. True intent can be demonstrated by refusing to allow decisions to be made without teacher feedback. With nonresponsive and readily acquiescing teachers, a supervisor might say: "I don't know if you're agreeing with me because you like the idea or because of some power I hold over you. We won't carry out any action unless we both agree with that action. I want to be collaborative because I believe you have as much expertise on this matter as I do. Together we can make a better decision than separately. I'm uncertain why you are agreeing with me. Please tell me what you think."
A supervisor cannot find out what a teacher thinks without asking. As they continue to meet, the supervisor should begin by encouraging teachers to offer their own thoughts about the problem and suggestions for action. The supervisor should try to withhold any ideas of their own. Once the teacher's ideas are forthcoming, the supervisor can offer ideas. When negotiating a final decision, the supervisor should let teachers take the lead. If teachers continue to be unresponsive or overly compliant with the supervisor even after the supervisor has confronted the issue of perception and encouraged teacher initiative, then after several unsuccessful attempts, the supervisor might consider another approach.
For a supervisor used to using directive interpersonal behaviors with all teachers, the transition to collaboration may be difficult. Such a transition involves the supervisor relinquishing their role as expert and adopting the role of partner in the quest for improved teaching and learning. Several principles can assist the supervisor wishing to add collaborative behaviors to their supervision repertoire. First, it is not enough to simply ask the teacher for their perceptions; the supervisor must show the teacher that they value those perceptions. Also, the supervisor and teacher need to do more than share impressions; they need to engage in dialogue until both parties have a clear understanding of the meaning of the other's impressions. It is natural for supervisors and teachers to have different initial interpretations of an instructional problem because they are viewing that problem from different perspectives. The supervisor who collaborates effectively works with the teacher to integrate both perspectives and develop a mutual and more complete understanding of the problem. The supervisor does not simply invite and share possible solutions and identify areas of agreement, but interfaces with the teacher to synthesize viable solutions in a coherent action plan for solving the problem. The action plan that emerges from a collaborative conference, rather than a mere compromise, should be one that both the teacher and supervisor are confident of and committed to.
When to Use Collaborative Behaviors
Learning Objective 9.4 Identify circumstances in which the collaborative approach is desirable.
There are circumstances in which a supervisor definitely should use collaborative behaviors. The collaborative approach should be used in these instances:
When the teacher is functioning at a moderately high or mixed developmental level.
When the teacher and supervisor have approximately the same degree of expertise on the issue. (If the supervisor knows part of the problem and the teacher knows the other part, the collaborative approach should be used.)
When the teacher and supervisor will both be involved in carrying out the decision. (If the teacher and supervisor will be held accountable for showing results to someone else-say, families or the superintendent-then the collaborative approach should be used.)
When the teacher and supervisor are both committed to solving the problem. (If the teacher wants to be involved and if leaving the teacher out will lead to low morale and distrust, then the collaborative approach should be used.)