Learning from collaboration Sample Clauses

Learning from collaboration. During the semi-structured interviews, my research participants explained that collaboration must be orientated at improving teaching skills and student achievement. Similarly, the collaborative meeting minutes reflected the projects above. All the teachers regard collaboration as unimportant if it is for other reasons. As a teacher, I agree with their answers and believe that it is vital that collaboration in some aspect enhances teachers’ knowledge that in turn supports students’ academic accomplishments. Besides, it is natural that teachers expect to improve their teaching skills during collaboration because, while they interact and exchange ideas/knowledge, learning and meanings are constructed (Xxxxxx & Xxxxxxxxx, 1997). According to Xxxx (2012), collaboration is a form of professional development that offers teachers opportunities to acquire knowledge and learn new skills. Several participants mentioned that they sometimes were astonished with the ‘aha’ moments, they were experiencing during collaborations with their colleagues: in particular, with other subject teachers or when collaborating on a long-term project. This echoes the findings of Xxxxxx (2015) who discovered that the more teachers pour their hearts and souls into collaborations, the more they tend to reflect on their teaching practice thereby improving it. It appears that learning from peers in collaborations can be an effective professional development instrument. Besides, most participants contended that collaborations should bear relevance to students and some aspects of their learning. This finding can be supported by Xxxxxxx and Johnson’s (1990) study which suggested that teachers are willing to collaborate with their co- workers on topics which interest students or on something students need to learn. The study conducted by Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxxx and Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx (2007) revealed that elementary school teachers who had been collaborating increased their students’ level of achievement. Further research on this correlation demonstrated that the frequency of collaboration among teachers may be a good reason for the students’ increased performance. Other researchers discovered that teachers’ collaborative practices encourage them to implement new methods of teaching in their classroom resulting in improving student learning (Xxxxx & Xxxxxxxxx, 2007; Xxxxxxx, Xxx, & Xxx, 2004). However, should secondary schools want collaboration to improve student learning in the long term, school leaders ...