According to Bruner (1991), "Collaboration should be fostered at every level of organization, from the top administrative level to the level at which the family meets frontline service workers. Collaboration at one level of organization will facilitate collaboration at other levels as well" (p. 9). (His use of the generic term "frontline worker" applies to teachers, counselors, and other "frontline" school personnel as well as to health and human service providers.) Bruner (1991) describes four levels of collaboration:
Collaboratives can begin at any level, usually depending on the perspective of the individual or group that takes the first steps. In an analysis of school-community collaboratives in San Diego that identifies three levels of partnership--executive, professional, and parent/community--Stone (1995) concludes that "communities should encourage and then integrate all three types in order to capitalize on the strengths and counter the limitations of each level" (p. 800). Stone (1995) describes the three levels:
"Collaboration at the executive level promotes efficiency and effectiveness within bureaucracies by bringing institutional change to what often appear to be immovable systems....However, an entirely top-down approach...could encounter resistance from professionals who are not involved in planning, and could lead to prescribed, uniform practices that are as centralized, inflexible, and unresponsive as the current system.
A second perspective...is that frontline professionals should play a key role in initiating and implementing change. At this level there is considerable face-to-face interaction and informal association; people know and trust one another. Within this context professionals can use trial and error to establish best practices. However, while organizational flatness encourages initiative, self-correction, and sensitivity to the needs of other professionals and clients, it does not carry the authority from the top necessary to make large-scale or permanent changes in systems....
A third perspective...is that effective change can be initiated in collaboration with the parents and children who are the consumers of social and educational services. This kind of bottom-up effort also contributes to community development by treating parents and families not just as receivers of services, but also as resources for planning and for improving conditions in the school and the neighborhood. An important strength of this level of collaboration is that it is immediately responsive and directly accountable to the public. However, for schools attempting collaboration only at this level, the lack of system and institutional support would be a serious limitation." (p. 800)
