Relationships: School Culture and Collaborative Learning

It is clear from our online discussion around vision and direction setting that relational trust is the key factor in establishing a school culture of collaborative learning.  David C. Berliner identifies a common affliction of education, “Ostrichism … a premature commitment to a particular educational movement.  Behavioural symptoms include the practice of sticking one’s head into the sand when problems appear, in the hope that the problems will go away” (Berliner, 1975, p. 6).  Ostrichism is rampant in high schools and a clear symptom of a lack of relational trust.  This is not because high school teachers are any less collaborative, or any less cooperative than their elementary and junior high colleagues, but for a variety of reasons, created, real, and fictional.  Most significant is that many aspects of high schools are conspiring to isolate teachers from being a part of an effective professional community.   Everything in high school is sectionalized.  From the timetable, to the classrooms, to the subjects and curriculum, and even the furniture; the traditional design of high school isolates teachers from teachers, teachers from students, and especially administrators from everyone.  Even when teachers of similar pedagogical outlook or of a reform mindset manage to find each other, they are typically isolated by subject, hallway, staff room or behavioural norms.  If Professional Learning Communities exist, they are usually subject based and thus prone to groupthink and balkanization.  This sectionalisation makes isolation easier and cuts teachers off from feedback and professional development (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012). 

Leaders must recognize that “if teachers feel that their identity (their own sense of how good, competent, or talented they are) is under attack, their most frequent reaction is to resist” (Knight, 2009, 508).  There must be recognition and understanding that professional autonomy is valued and respected and if it is ignored, often ensures non-implementation of new practices. (Knight, 2009).  Principals and leaders in high schools need to be constantly vigilant around relational trust.  “While trust alone does not guarantee success, schools with little or no trust have almost no chance of improving” (Brewster & Railsback, 2003, p. 8).  It is noticeable that two categories in Sharon Friesen’s “Teaching Effectiveness Framework”, focus on the building of relationships in the classroom, in schools, between teachers and students, between teachers and parents, with the community and experts in the community.  This speaks to the importance of relationship building in the undertaking of education and central to any relationship is the need for trust (Willms, Friesen, and Milton, 2009).  Trust lowers the sense of vulnerability as teachers advance practice.  Trust facilitates public sharing of work.  Trust underpins the effectiveness of Professional Learning Communities. (Brewster & Railsback, 2003).  Trust facilitates the building of a caring, thoughtful and motivated educational environment for teachers, students and the community.

 Brewster and Railsback identify some key ways to build trust in an educational setting; engaging all faculty in discussions related to the school’s mission, vision, and core values, making new teachers feel welcome, create and support meaningful teacher collaboration, continuously improve communication, make relationship building a priority, and choosing professional development that promotes relationship building (2003).  While engaging in these trust building exercises is not a guarantee for success, the research does indicate that failure to maintain trust and relationships in a high school can be disastrous to advancing teacher practice.  As such, leaders in all schools, but especially large urban high schools where some of these issues become magnified due to their size and complexity, must be constantly vigilant around issues of trust.  Building trusting relationships among staff, between staff and students, and between staff and leadership, requires time and commitment but will be well worth the investment.  Trust is an essential aspect of the social contract that governs society.  There are dozens of learned and natured activities that people undertake daily that require trust.  Whether it’s the rules of driving, a marriage, or cohort of classmates, trust is required among all the participants.  Why would a school or workplace situation be any different? “Without trust, a school cannot improve and grow into the rich and nurturing micro-society needed by children and adults alike” (Blase, 2001, p.23).  If leaders expect research informed teaching practice to continue to develop in high school, there must be an atmosphere of trust that recognizes the professional needs and professional responsibilities of teachers.  Unless trust based relationships are at the center of the leadership agenda, the opportunity to advance teacher practice in high schools is limited.

References

Berliner, D. C. (1975). Impediments to the Study of Teacher Effectiveness.

Blase, J. (2001). Empowering teachers: What successful principals do. Corwin Press.

Brewster, C., & Railsback, J. (2003). Building Trusting Relationships for School Improvement:

            Implications for Principals and Teachers. By Request Series.

Hargreaves, Andy and Fullan, Michael (2012).  Professional Capital: Transforming the teaching

            in every school.  Teachers College Press, New York.

Knight, J. (2009). What can we do about teacher resistance? Phi Delta Kappan, 90(7), 508-513.

Willms, J. D., Friesen, S., & Milton, P. (2009). What Did You Do in School Today?

            Transforming Classrooms through Social, Academic, and Intellectual Engagement. (First

            National Report).