This batch of articles was difficult for me to wade through. Collaborative Teaching in an Age of Accountability basically reviewed everything that we have discussed thus far with regards to issues in School Libraries: standards-based education movement, NCLB, replacement by paraprofessionals, collaboration, etc. I don't think that I learned anything new from this.
From Todd's article, basically what I got was: people say they are collaborating, but they're not so just do it already. And again, I'm not sure that these ideas will revolutionize my idea of professional practice. All the librarians that I have met throughout the year speak in hushed tones when asked of collaboration. They're like "Welllllll, kind of," but everything else tells us that we should. How frustrating is this? Maybe we need to look at the issue from a different angle. I guess I find it more helpful to think of the problem as one of adult alienation in schools. Like maybe we just have to be the social butterflies that connect everyone to everyone else, not just be collaborating all the time to feel like what we do is worthwhile.
I think that the Motown Method article did a good job of discussing the different roles in a co-teaching environment. I had to co-teach while I was in the Philippines, so I have a lot of experience with all of these models. All I have to say from that experience is that everyone is different and sometimes, it is really difficult for two people to teach together. I think that collaboration is a great opportunity but it can also seem like a tremendous burden.
"Tremendous burden" is a potent expression. Now ... imagine a librarian comes to a teacher wanting to collaborate. As long as they don't use Wikipedia. Or Google. Or talk about inquiry. Hmmm....
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much the lack of collaboration has to do with personal feelings towards teachers and librarians. I know in my high school that a lot of teachers did not get along with one another, and no one liked the school librarian. She was a gossip queen and was rude to everyone, so who would like her? Aside from that though, I still think that differences in personalities, teaching styles, or even just flat out not liking someone can hinder collaboration. It's a lot easier to say it and talk about it than actually do it.
ReplyDeleteHaving co-taught the same lesson with 2 different teachers, I will say that it was like 2 completely different lessons. Collaborating is hard work and so much is dependent on the individuals!
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