Running head: ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 1

Original Contribution

Angelica Burns

American College of Education

IC5091 - Capstone Experience for Integrated Curriculum

Sunday, February 3, 2019

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 2

Original Contribution

There are many areas that collaboration works effectively in. Collaboration exists

between citizens of a city or town, as well as within a district. Collaboration within a

school district also breaks down into: within a school, between colleagues or

professionals, between staff and students, and lastly, between students. The necessity

of collaboration between parents/guardians or caregivers and the school, cannot be

stressed enough. Ripley (1997) supports my opening statements by saying,

“Collaboration involves commitment by the teachers who will be working together, by

their school administrators, by the school system, and by the community. It involves

time, support, resources, monitoring, and, above all, persistence” (p 3).

Collaboration between Citizens

To start, it is imperative that residents of a city or town collaborate. Having a say

in your city, town, or community will help to ensure that the rules and regulations are

created fairly, to benefits as many residents as possible. United States Environmental

Protection Agency (2015) further backs the idea of residents of cities and towns to work

together when saying, “Engage all members of the community to plan for the future.

Engage residents, business owners, and other stakeholders to develop a vision for the

community’s future. Stakeholder engagement helps ensure plans reflect the

community’s desires, needs, and goals and generates public support that can maintain

momentum for implementing changes through election cycles and city staff turnover” (p

i).
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Collaboration within a District

Collaboration is paramount, and I truly feel as though it is a key tool and a

necessary thing to have or use within a school system. Whether it be in the school

system as a whole or an individual classroom, collaboration is key! To continue,

collaboration within school districts, in all aspects, is vital. Collaboration within a school,

between colleagues or professionals, between staff and students, and even just,

between students, is all of great significance.

Collaboration within a School: Between Colleagues or Professionals

Collaboration between colleagues or professionals is essential for a school to run

successfully, as often times each school has some sort of department team or co-

teaching that goes along within classrooms. To be able to do this, staff need to be able

to work together for their students, and put whatever differences they may have, aside.

To work as a team in the field of education is a necessity as teachers all think differently

and teach differently. As such, collaboration amongst teachers and educators of all

kinds can lead to the sharing of ideas, experiences, expertise, and practices. Ostovar-

Nameghi and Sheikhahmadi (2016) support the idea of collaboration amongst

professionals and educators when saying, “They need to cooperate with each other to

develop themselves professionally. While traditionally they waited for the educator to

bombard them with externally imposed methods and techniques through crash teacher

training courses, teacher now collaborate and learn from each other’s experience” (pp

199).
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Collaboration within a School: Between Staff and Students

Moreover, collaboration between staff and students is imperative. As students

spend an average of 6-8 hours at school, it is more likely that they will receive a proper

education, if they get along and work alongside their teachers. This means, without

giving their teachers a hard time or repeating offensive or negative behaviors every day.

In my younger years of education, I remember that there were some teachers that I

didn’t like. But, I realized, at a very young age, that they are doing the best that they can

to teach me everything in a way that I can understand. My teachers were doing that for

myself, as well as my 10+ other classmates, every day. I knew that Ii needed to be a

part of that when I “got older”. At a young age, I decided that I was going to be a teacher

when I grew up. I loved everything about school, and was the girl that would go to

school all day, go home and do all of my homework, and then play school with all of my

stuffed animals.

At a very young age, I knew that I would be a part of this wonderful rewarding

thing called education when I grew up. Shaw (2016) says, “Planning and organizing is

relatively straightforward and can be fun, but sustainable delivery through the ups and

downs, and over time, is the real challenge. Proactivity, tenacity, and resilience are

crucial in building a sustainable business – working hard and pushing through the

setbacks is what moves things forward over time. And keep on learning because

without that the business will stagnate, and there will be other dynamic start-ups ready

to take your place” (pp 359). To me, the idea of a “business” can also be substituted for

a dream, a desire, a goal, or a career.

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What’s more, an issue that numerous members of this generation, as well as my

generation, carries with them is the fact that they come from a divorced family or a

broken home. It is of the highest significance that the teachers and school staff to be on

the students’ side, showing that they care for and support the student, on a daily basis.

Coming from a family that has a single-parent household, with my mom raising me by

herself, it often bothered me that I didn’t have a father-figure in my life. At holidays,

especially Father’s Day, or my birthday, I always remember everyone at school making

me feel extra special and offering me as much support and love as they possibly could.

Pedro-Carroll, J. (2010) supports my thoughts by suggesting the following things that

educators can do to help children with their parents’ divorce:

 “Provide consistency and structure.

 Affirm and reinforce their strengths.

 Watch for behavioral signals of underlying problems.

 Encourage the adoption of an evidence-based prevention program in your

school.

 Encourage the adoption of evidence-based parenting programs for divorcing or

divorced parents.

 Help children develop an accurate understanding of their parents’ divorce.

 Encourage parents to focus on their children’s best interests.

 Communicate with parents regularly about their children’s strengths as well as

problems or concerns” (sec 1).

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Collaboration within a School: Between Students

Collaboration amongst students or between students is also equally relevant

because it not only teaches teamwork but social skills, as well as acceptance without

judgement. A lot of students struggle with peer interactions and not judging their peers

before they get to know them. T and Johnson (2009) go along with my thoughts when

saying, “Students who collaborate on their studies develop considerable commitment

and caring for each other no matter what their initial impressions of and attitudes toward

each other were when they started. They also like the teacher more and perceive the

teacher as being more supportive and accepting academically and personally” (p 7).

Collaboration within a School: Between Parents/Guardians or Caregivers and the

School

Collaboration between parents/guardians or caregivers and the school, cannot

be overstressed. It is critical that a child’s caregivers are open and honest with the

school, and that there is a positive relationship. When there is an open relationship,

progress, strengths, and weaknesses can be discussed. After all, a school’s role is

always to promote and support whatever is in the student’s best interest. It’s our law,

and our code of honor. With parents or caregivers on board, this is easier to

accomplish. Skouteris, Watson, and Lum (2012) corroborates the importance of parent

and school collaboration or communication when they say, “Through the use of school–

home morning messages, parents and teachers communicated more about their child’s

reading and writing, building more supportive relationships between the school and the

home” (pp 81).

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Furthermore, as many children go through many transitions throughout their

young life, it is crucial that the school, professionals, parents, and children work

together. Skouteris et al. (2012) further emphasizes the necessity of collaboration

amongst parents, or a student’s caregivers, and the child's school when saying, “To

ensure that every child has the best possible chance of adjusting successfully to formal

schooling, a wider support system needs to be put into place, with the teaching

professionals, parents, and children working together” (pp 78).

It is for all of these reasons that collaboration is essential to all humans, alike.

Collaboration goes hand in hand with the famous Non-Discrimination Policy, which is

used by hospitals, educational facilities, and business alike. This is so because

collaboration can happen anywhere, at any time, and between anyone. Tufts University

(2019) defines their non-discrimination policy as, “Tufts prohibits discrimination against

and harassment of any employee or any applicant for employment because of race,

color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender

identity and expression, veteran status or any other characteristic protected under

applicable federal or state law” (sec 1).

Working together not only benefits multiple people as well as various disciplines,

but also builds a sense of mutual trust. I feel as the most beneficial characteristic of

collaboration is trust. I feel this way because there needs to be a trust between all

parties involved so that everyone can work together and have success at the end of

every day. I believe that there needs to be trust within the teachers and the

administration, the teachers and the other teachers that they work with (whether it be

between grade levels, specialists, or even vocational teachers), but most importantly
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trust between the teachers and their students. Marlow, Kyed, and Connors (2005)

support my thoughts by saying, “While collegiality and collaborations are indeed key

components, they are not adequate to maintain a successful, long-term partnership… A

major component of trust is the responsibility to learn what is important to others and to

act accordingly” (pp 558-559).

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References

Marlow, M. P., Kyed, S., & Connors, S. (2005). Collegiality, collaboration and kuleana:

Complexity in a professional development school. Education 125(4), 557-568.

Ostovar-Nameghi, S., & Sheikhahmadi, M. (2016). From Teacher Isolation to Teacher

Collaboration: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings. English

Language Teaching, 9(5), 197-205. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1099601.pdf

Pedro-Carroll, J. (2010). Information for professionals. Retrieved January 30, 2019,

from http://www.pedro-carroll.com/professionals/education/

Ripley, S. (1997). ERIC Number: ED409317 Record Type: Non-Journal Publication

Date: 1997-Jul Pages: 4 Abstractor: N/A Reference Count: N/A ISBN: N/A ISSN:

N/A Collaboration between General and Special Education Teachers. ERIC

Publications, 1-6. Retrieved January 28, 2019, from

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED409317

Shaw, A. (2016). Vision, mission, passion, and luck: The creation of a university press.

Learned Publishing, 29, 354-359. doi:10.1002/leap.1051

Skouteris, H., Watson, B., & Lum, J. (2012). Preschool children's transition to formal

schooling: The importance of collaboration between teachers, parents and

children. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 37(4), 78-85. Retrieved

January 31, 2019.

T, R., & Johnson, D. (2009, August 26). An Overview of Cooperative Learning.

Retrieved January 29, 2019, from

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http://understandingrequirements.com/resources/7.8%20%20Overview%20of%2

0Cooperative%20Learning.pdf

Tufts University. (2019). Non-Discrimination Policy. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from

https://oeo.tufts.edu/policies-procedures/non-discrimination-policy/

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2015, May). How Small Towns and

Cities Can Use Local Assets to Rebuild Their Economies: Lessons From

Successful Places. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-

05/documents/competitive_advantage_051215_508_final.pdf