Breathe New Life Into Collaboration

5 Principles for Reviving Problematic Groups

Bradley A. Ermeling

In the article the author discusses five principles to use with teachers who are struggling to

collaborate together. These five principles can also be used to get collaboration started. The first

strategy is to, as a group, find a shared concern and identify a goal around that concern. Focusing on one

particular area takes the focus off the antagonisms. The second strategy is to establish teacher

ownership. In this principle, it is important for the teachers to have ownership in their goal.

Administration can make suggestions of key areas but need to stay out of the conversation and the goal

setting portion of the collaboration. Strategies for teachers to use in their classrooms are important to

share so they have support in attaining the goal. The third principle centers around group norms or

commitments that will guide each and every meeting. The norms or agreed upon guidelines help ensure

the meeting stay on track and meet the needs of the group. The norms also provide a way to hold

teammates accountable to the shared goal. Fourth, teams should expect productive action. The

question is asked, “Are we going to do something about this? Or are we just going to talk about it?”

Agendas for every meeting with the focus on the goal help manage this. Finally, it can be important for

administration to strategize according to the team. If there is a particularly difficult team member a

suggestion to have them present something relevant to the group can help turn their lack of

participation into becoming a valued team member.

This article was extremely relevant and timely for me! We have a team who we need to apply

these five principles to and hopefully it will help their collaboration which will spill over into their

instruction for students. These principles are not new and I have certainly heard and read them before.

Sometimes we need gentle reminders of what we know and when to use what we know! The article has

me considering which route to take to help the teachers get to a common goal and shared belief. It will

take time and patience but the end result is worth it!