Effective collaboration is essential for the success of students, teachers, and the school as a whole. According to Education Commission of the States (2016), effective engagement with stakeholders can improve ideas and outcomes from the collaborative team. Effective communicative collaboration is key to student and school success. In this article, you will learn three ways that effective collaboration can improve your school.

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Why is Collaboration important?

• Reduce Stress: Effective collaboration can reduce stress in teachers, administration, and other stakeholders. When effective communication is taking place, there is less confusion between stakeholders (Nelson, 2014).
• Reduce Conflict: In addition to reducing stress, effective, straightforward communicative collaboration decreases confusion between teachers, administration, and stakeholders. Effective collaboration can increase understanding and reduce.
• Increase Teacher Retention: Effective communicative collaboration can also increase teacher retention. When communication is free for all stakeholders, everyone feels as though they can share ideas and concerns. Schools with lower teacher turnover reportedly have better collaboration systems (Teacher Collaboration in Perspective, n.d.). This increases trust and builds a positive school culture. Teachers who feel as though they are being heard are happier, and happier teachers return to their roles year after year.
• Generate Strong Ideas: Finally, effective collaborative communication can create strong ideas for school improvement (Education Commission of the States, 2016). With diverse opinions, teachers, administration, and other stakeholders can effectively create strong, innovative ideas that can improve student learning and school culture. According to Education Commission of the States (2016), “collaboration is more than simply sharing knowledge and information, and more than a relationship that helps every party achieve its goals. The purpose of collaboration is to create a shared vision and joint strategies to address concerns that go beyond the purview of any particular party.” Simply put, when done well, collaboration can bring diverse ideas to the table and create a better outcome for all learners.

How Can You Use Communication to Increase Teacher Collaboration?

There are many ways to use effective collaboration.

• Use Bloomz: One meaningful way to improve collaboration is to use websites or apps for sharing information (Education Commission of the States, 2016). Communication applications like Bloomz provide stakeholders an opportunity to share and collaborate on ideas almost instantly. With an informational website, you can share ideas, data and communicate changes with stakeholders professionally. Using technology such as applications and websites can make communicating with the larger community easier.
• Online Surveys: Another excellent way to communicate effectively is to use online surveys (Education Commission of the States, 2016). Online surveys are a quick way to get feedback from stakeholders and allows teachers and administrators to make informed decisions quicker.
• PLCs: Another great way to increase effective collaboration is to create Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at each grade level (The Glossary of Education Reform, 2014). Using the PLC process for creating an effective collaboration team is vital for school success. A PLC will lead to greater success to students by using collaborative ways to analyze and reflect on data that helps improve pedagogy. The data collected for PLC collaboration is school specific, so the teachers are able to analyze and improve their impact on student learning. Through the PLC process, teachers can collaborate with administrators and other stakeholders weekly to ensure student growth and learning.

When the process is successful, communication can build authentic relationships between teachers, administers, and other stakeholders. With effective collaborative communication, schools can create more meaningful change and increase the success of the outcome. How do you use Bloomz to improve collaboration in your school?

References:

• Education Commission of the States. (2016). Collaborative stakeholder engagement.
• Nelson, C. (2014). Teacher collaboration: Keys to core success.
• Teacher Collaboration in Perspective. (n.d.). Does teacher collaboration improve teacher retention, satisfaction, or instructional practice?