Collaboration is the key component to many successful organizations, teams, and practices in our world. Creating a collaborative culture can be defined in many ways. Collaborative cultures are created with a set of goals, managed efficiently, and support team members at every stage in the process. As Senge (2008) stated, the creation is difficult, takes courage, and a lot of patience.
A collaborative culture is created upon essential foundations including a shared vision, diverse thinking, innovation, and support. It is a web of relationships, similar to systems thinking, but with the human face (Senge, 2008). A group effort where individuals are comfortable coaching, challenging, and learning from one another (Higgins, Young, Wlodarczyk, …show more content…
Diverse people with diverse views help shape and solve world problems (Senge, 2008). Every school district in Pennsylvania is required to complete a comprehensive plan every five years. In the past, my school district’s planning team was made up of a group of top administrators. The plan was written behind closed doors without input from any other sector or group within the district. Recently, a new team was formed to rewrite the district’s plan. This team included students, parents, community members, community leaders, state representatives, teachers, administrators, as well as district leaders. A collaborative culture was formed for the betterment of the future of the school district. At the first meeting, group rules and expectations were set as well as list of prioritized goals. The long-standing way of writing this plan would not work in today’s global society. We have the right people on the team representing diverse systems who share the common goal of our mission which is empowering students to reach their individual …show more content…
Leaders must know how to listen with empathy, engage in deep conversation, and talk about things that are connected to the future (Senge, 2008). To move teams forward, leaders must test assumptions to ensure the past does not repeat itself. Research shows the positive impact a collaborative culture has on the change process in a school and the indirect effect it has on student achievement (Hollinger & Heck, 2010). Franklin Covey Education has a dynamic school change movement titled, The Leader in Me. Through this program, students are transformed into leaders and take ownership of their learning and potential. All individuals in the school, from the principal and custodian to the student, are assigned leadership tasks and learn how to make the school successful. When a school implements this program, a transformation occurs, and a collaborative culture is born. Every student knows they have a voice and begins to believe they are an essential piece of the puzzle, their
A collaborative culture is created upon essential foundations including a shared vision, diverse thinking, innovation, and support. It is a web of relationships, similar to systems thinking, but with the human face (Senge, 2008). A group effort where individuals are comfortable coaching, challenging, and learning from one another (Higgins, Young, Wlodarczyk, …show more content…
Diverse people with diverse views help shape and solve world problems (Senge, 2008). Every school district in Pennsylvania is required to complete a comprehensive plan every five years. In the past, my school district’s planning team was made up of a group of top administrators. The plan was written behind closed doors without input from any other sector or group within the district. Recently, a new team was formed to rewrite the district’s plan. This team included students, parents, community members, community leaders, state representatives, teachers, administrators, as well as district leaders. A collaborative culture was formed for the betterment of the future of the school district. At the first meeting, group rules and expectations were set as well as list of prioritized goals. The long-standing way of writing this plan would not work in today’s global society. We have the right people on the team representing diverse systems who share the common goal of our mission which is empowering students to reach their individual …show more content…
Leaders must know how to listen with empathy, engage in deep conversation, and talk about things that are connected to the future (Senge, 2008). To move teams forward, leaders must test assumptions to ensure the past does not repeat itself. Research shows the positive impact a collaborative culture has on the change process in a school and the indirect effect it has on student achievement (Hollinger & Heck, 2010). Franklin Covey Education has a dynamic school change movement titled, The Leader in Me. Through this program, students are transformed into leaders and take ownership of their learning and potential. All individuals in the school, from the principal and custodian to the student, are assigned leadership tasks and learn how to make the school successful. When a school implements this program, a transformation occurs, and a collaborative culture is born. Every student knows they have a voice and begins to believe they are an essential piece of the puzzle, their