Create Different Working Models to Support Collegial Planning and Cooperation Within the School Community

Johnson and Johnson (1990) suggest three types of cooperative staff groups: collegial support groups, task force groups, and ad hoc decision-making groups:

• Collegial support groups are three- to five-member teams in which teachers seek to promote each other's professional growth and instructional expertise. These groups have frequent discussions about techniques such as cooperative learning; they plan, prepare, and evaluate curriculum materials; and their members co-teach lessons and conduct reciprocal observations.

• Task force groups are a means by which teachers are empowered to solve schoolwide problems. After a cooperative structure has been established ("we sink or swim together"), these small problem-solving teams define a problem; gather data about its nature and causes; consider various solutions; make recommendations; advocate the solution to the faculty as a whole; and, if accepted, oversee the implementation of the recommendation. Johnson and Johnson point out that defining the problem is often the most difficult step in the process, and they warn against prematurely defining the problem so that the group can get on with its work. They also point out that involving resisters in defining the problem and planning the solutions is one of the most successful ways of overcoming this barrier.

• Ad hoc decision-making groups are used in faculty meetings to promote teachers' direct involvement in making decisions. Staff members first meet in small groups of two to four participants to discuss and make a decision regarding an issue, and then repeat the process with the staff as a whole. Johnson and Johnson recommend that training in cooperative skills be provided to staff members so that these groups are as effective as possible.

References