Leading new, deeper forms of collaborative cultures: Questions and pathways

The pandemic has made deeper problems more transparent and has stimulated many to realize that there may be an opportunity over the next period to pursue much needed innovations in learning. In this essay we describe the ways in which the pandemic has provided the conditions for new human development that joins two powerful forces: the pulsar model which elevates human potential with respect to student learning, and new, deeper forms of collaboration that have long eluded those interested in system change. In this article we show how ‘spirit work’ and collaboration can combine to develop schools systems that are essential for coping with the new post-pandemic conditions facing humanity. We also identify spinoff opportunities arising from the pandemic, and a corresponding pressure that could generate more widespread system improvement designed to improve learning for all, including advances in both equity and excellence.

Courage, commitment and collaboration : notions of leadership in the New Zealand ECE 'Centres of Innovation'

<p>Historically there has been a lack of recognition for, and research into, leadership in the New Zealand early childhood education sector. The Centres of Innovation (COI) programme provides a unique opportunity for research into effective leadership in quality services that can contribute to our knowledge and understanding of leadership in the sector as a whole. This study, exploring how leadership is defined and enacted in the COI, found that although not all educators were comfortable with being identified as leaders, individuals and the centres as a whole were demonstrating leadership in ways that fitted their service contexts. Leadership across the COI was characterised by courage, commitment and collaboration. The innovative approaches of the COI appear to be due in no small part to the collaborative centre cultures in which innovation is encouraged, educators feel valued and supported, and there is regular reflection and a commitment to continuous improvement . Those in leadership positions in the COI have promoted these collaborative cultures and through their example teacher leadership has been encouraged. The COI not only provide case studies of educative leadership (Meade, 2003a) but also case studies of learning communities. These learning communities include researchers and members of the wider community as well as the educators. Leadership as defined and enacted in the COI is a shared endeavour and this model of working collaboratively in a learning community towards a shared vision is one that the rest of the sector can learn from.</p>

Courage, commitment and collaboration : notions of leadership in the New Zealand ECE 'Centres of Innovation'

<p>Historically there has been a lack of recognition for, and research into, leadership in the New Zealand early childhood education sector. The Centres of Innovation (COI) programme provides a unique opportunity for research into effective leadership in quality services that can contribute to our knowledge and understanding of leadership in the sector as a whole. This study, exploring how leadership is defined and enacted in the COI, found that although not all educators were comfortable with being identified as leaders, individuals and the centres as a whole were demonstrating leadership in ways that fitted their service contexts. Leadership across the COI was characterised by courage, commitment and collaboration. The innovative approaches of the COI appear to be due in no small part to the collaborative centre cultures in which innovation is encouraged, educators feel valued and supported, and there is regular reflection and a commitment to continuous improvement . Those in leadership positions in the COI have promoted these collaborative cultures and through their example teacher leadership has been encouraged. The COI not only provide case studies of educative leadership (Meade, 2003a) but also case studies of learning communities. These learning communities include researchers and members of the wider community as well as the educators. Leadership as defined and enacted in the COI is a shared endeavour and this model of working collaboratively in a learning community towards a shared vision is one that the rest of the sector can learn from.</p>

Organizational Cultures Determine Employee Innovation in Response to Seasonality: Regulatory Processes of Openness and Resistance

The existing literature on tourism seasonality focuses on seasonality’s cause and impact but pays little attention to understand employees’ reactions to off-season markets. Drawing from approach-avoidance and regulatory focus theories, we examine the influence of three types of organizational cultures on employee innovative behavior. We also propose two regulatory processes that mediate those relationships: employee openness and resistance to change. Using multisource data from hotel employees and managers, our results indicate that employee openness positively mediates innovative and collaborative cultures’ relationships on employee innovation. In contrast, it negatively mediates the relationship between traditional culture and innovative behavior. On the other hand, employee resistance to change positively mediates the association between traditional culture and employee innovation, whereas it negatively mediates the relationships between innovative and collaborative cultures on employee innovation. We provide managerial implications and directions for future research in response to seasonality.

Action Research

Teachers need to rigorously and systematically reflect on their practice and such reflection can be most effective within collaborative cultures. Within the context of action research, centred on how literature can enrich students’ world views, this paper offers an observation on collaboration as intense professional enrichment. The action research gave clear evidence that literature can shape and enrich boys’ understandings of masculinities. It also highlighted the power of collaboration in learning and teaching. As a consequence of this research, the teacher librarian and the Head of English developed trust and appreciation of each others’ craft knowledge and engaged in significant risk-taking, through creating, sharing and using their knowledge.

Teachers’ Opportunities to Learn through Collaboration over Time: A Case Study of Math Teacher Teams in Schools under Pressure to Improve

Background/Context While current research provides key insights about successful collaboration in which teachers experience deep learning and practice change, few studies analyze the content of teachers’ collaborative conversations about instruction. Even fewer explore how the content of collaborative conversations evolves over time, making it difficult to understand the impact of shifting policies, priorities, and personnel on teachers’ collective work. Purpose and Research Questions To explore teachers’ opportunities to learn through collaboration, I draw on the following research questions: How does the depth of teachers’ opportunities to learn from collaborative conversations evolve over time? In what ways do contextual factors (e.g., personnel, tools, leadership expectations, coaching) influence these opportunities to learn through collaboration? Participants This study is situated in two urban middle schools under significant pressure to improve student achievement. I selected one grade-level math team from each school, analyzing their conversations taking place during collaboration meetings. Research Design To better understand teachers’ collaborative learning, I rely on qualitative case study methods. Data collected include interviews and observations of two teacher collaboration groups over four years. I use Horn and colleagues’ (2017) taxonomy of teachers’ opportunities to learn in conjunction with cultural historical activity theory (Cole & Engeström, 2007) to examine teachers’ collective learning over time as this process unfolds in context. Findings/Results Across both groups, expectations from leadership to improve school performance shaped teachers’ opportunities to learn, as did the presence of teachers whose beliefs about math instruction foregrounded student thinking and exploration. Findings demonstrated that for one team, fluctuations in depth of learning also depended on the agendas and protocols used to frame collective work. For the second team, depth of learning opportunities was connected to shifts in personnel and group norms over time. For both teams, high-depth conversations represented no more than a third of the meetings observed in each year, reflecting the complexity of developing effective collaborative cultures supporting deep learning. Conclusions/Recommendations While high-depth opportunities to learn (OTLs) were infrequent for both teams, the reasons for this scarcity were shaped by each team's context. Leaders hoping to develop collaborative cultures with richer teacher learning opportunities should consider multiple factors shaping OTLs, including collaborative team norms, teachers’ beliefs about math instruction, protocols guiding discussions, and the role of accountability pressures in shaping expectations for collective work.