Illinois Professional Teaching Standard Nine | Collaborative Relationships

The competent teacher understands the role of the community in education and develops and
maintains collaborative relationships with colleagues, parents/guardians, and the community
to support student learning and well-being.

Description:

This artifact is a response paper from an Educational Leadership class from Fall of 2009 (Also
attached is the source article). It addresses the perils of being a new teacher with a focus on
the lack of collaboration with teachers and mentors. In this writing, I also discuss my
experiences as an aide assigned to work with three math teachers during the 2008-2009
school year, and my initial collaboration with the staff members.

Meeting the standard:

This artifact discusses how the role of collaboration is important within a school setting,
especially in terms of working with fellow staff members. My experiences only put me in each
classroom twice daily, which made it imperative that I talk with my co-workers about planning.
I was in charge of assisting 60 different students needing extra attention in math (10 per class)
so in order to plan and modify assessments took much effort. This artifact goes into detail
about my experience and compares it with the pitfalls which some new teachers fall into, such
as being isolated from co-workers or not asking for help when needed.

How this demonstrates my development as a teacher:

This artifact demonstrates that I am able to communicate with my fellow teachers, staff
members and administrators in order to be effective at my job. I feel that the best resource
any teacher has is their peers, and when those peers go unused, the teacher will usually
struggle. I only worked in a building for one year, but the professional relationships that I
developed (and still maintain) are invaluable to my development as an educator.
READING RESPONSE: Johnson & Kardos, “Keeping New Teachers in Mind”

As Johnson and Kardos relate, “veteran-oriented professional cultures” exist in many

buildings. The key, as a new teacher is to break down the barriers that separate teachers. Last
year, I served as a Title I instructional aide with no prior teaching or building experience. I was
charged with selecting students for the Title I math program at the school and working with
many teachers. I was told to “help kids that struggle with math.” That was it. I was given no
direction, just a key to my small classroom and a wish of “Good luck.” Soon after, a panic set it
when I realized I really didn’t know my job description or my true role. While I know this
doesn’t really match the level of a first year teacher, it was still a stressful situation.

As an aide, I had no choice but to meet the teachers I would be working with. When I
introduced myself and gathered information about my role in each classroom, I gained
professional relationships with these teachers. I am truly grateful for this experience because
it forced me to interact with other staff. After these few experiences with these teachers, I
was no longer afraid to introduce myself to other teachers or ask for help. I must add that the
building was overwhelmingly full of young teachers, so it was relatively easy to relate to other
educators.

The culture in the school where I worked was similar to those mentioned in the Johnson
and Kardos article, but in a different way. The building was comprised of teams of four
teachers; however, the culture of the team became the standard, not the culture of the staff
as a whole. Some teams were very open and helpful, while others were the complete
opposite. It was clear that the administrators looked to create a friendly culture, but it was
not always possible.

If I were to enter a building with no goal of friendly professional discourse, I would apply
many things I learned last year. I would be upfront and introduce myself to my team,
department members, classroom neighbors, and most importantly the janitors and cafeteria
workers (I have learned that these people actually run the building). Overcoming the feeling
of isolation is difficult, but incoming teachers must realize that they have more power than
they think. Part of their job is to break down those barriers and build professional
relationships with co-workers. It would be wonderful if schools had induction programs and
mentors, but in many schools teachers and administrators are preparing themselves to begin
the year as well, so a new teacher must take the initiative.