Factors Enabling Collaboration. A great deal of research on collaborative school cultures has highlighted different factors that encourage and impede teachers from collaborating. In this sub-section, I will therefore focus on discussing these factors. One of the most important factors is that a school establishes a conducive-to- collaboration environment which encourages teachers to build mutually beneficial professional relationships with each other. Xxxx (2004) indicated that teachers develop a feeling of togetherness, feel more energetic and become more competent in their professional field when positive conditions for collaboration are created within a school. Other studies highlighted teamwork or spirit as a motivating collaborative factor. This refers to teachers’ taking part in seminars, lesson planning, organisation of various school events and collaborative school projects. According to Xxxx et al. (1989), team-teaching (e.g., joint lesson planning) with a progressive-thinking teacher motivates other teachers to interact as well as creates an enriched learning environment. Consequently, the balkanised type of collaboration can gradually be transformed into a more interactive type of collaboration. Alignment is another factor that was identified by Xxxxx (1992), who argued that working in alignment with vision can make teachers’ thinking clear and organised. Xxxxxxx et al. (2009) named alignment as an instrument that helps teachers transform their individual goals into common goals. Both researchers saw alignment as playing an instrumental role in not only realising visions but also achieving common goals that are initially individual in nature. Group cohesion is another factor, which indicates how much participants in a group like each other (Merinik et al., 2009). Little (2003) and Shaw (1981) stated that when cohesion is present, teams have the potential to solve problems and achieve goals with minimum disagreements. Furthermore, Xxxxx and Xxxxx (2007), a successful PLC should help the participants to develop a sense of belonging because it encourages teachers to communicate openly and confidently. Because a school is an organisation, it implies that there are factors which enable collaboration on a structural level (Xxxxx & Xxxxxx, 2014). School leadership often initiates and sustains collaboration by promoting it as professional development. Moreover, teachers may learn something new, which can ultimately improve students’ achievement, and in the process, they establish a po...
