JORGE VILA DE LIMA

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Introduction to the author Collaboration, cooperation, collegiality Teacher Communities Friendship in the workplace Conflict- Pros and Cons Friendly Critics

Jorge Avila de Lima is Associate Professor at the University of the Azores. He specializes in the areas of sociology of school and social networking in education He is the director of Archipelago magazine Science Education and a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals He is the author of several books and articles emphasizing collaborative cultures in schools: structures, processes and content.

European Educational Research Journal Teachers & Teaching and Journal of Educational Change.

Question:
What emotions did you feel as you read through this article?

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Interactive professionalism What does it mean to be involved collegially with co workers? The nature of contacts that are necessary to foster education change

Fullen and Hargreaves (1992) suggest that school must develop interactive professionalism among their staff Helps keep teachers motivated throughout their careers
What do you think interactive professionalism entails? What do you think is necessary to keep teachers (or other professionals) motivated in the workplace throughout their careers?

Essential in relationships in order to foster reflective inquiry is used to describe collegial relationships educators should develop in order to achieve improvement people need to find ways of communicating with each other that will support them to inquire into the effect their practices are having on student outcomes

Cooperation

Collaboration

Collegiality

Collaboration - every party participates and gives what they believe - The result of the collaboration benefits all that are involved - The result would not have been possible without input from all involved - Responsibility is shared and decisions are made together

Cooperation - Working together with others - May not necessarily agree with what others are doing - May not have mutual benefits for al that are invovled - Individuals work together but may have separate goals in mind

Collegiality - Collaboration between equals - Not necessarily cooperation because disagreements may arise

Do you feel that collaboration and cooperation are mutually exclusive?

What does collaboration mean in your workplace, and how successful are collaborative projects?

Is a group of individuals that share something in common Write down some thoughts/ideas about what your ideal teaching community would look like/ include.

Do these thoughts support the idea of change in the workplace?

Community of understanding
Common values, shared beliefs, goals

Community of practice
Teacher mutual support, collaboration and collegiality

Community of affection
Personally meaningful relationships among teachers

Lets develop a list of what is important to us in a relationship

Do you feel that personal relationships are vital in a workplace? How can they have a positive/negative effect on change?

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Self disclosure Help and support Shared interest Relational expression Comfort and ease Trust Acceptance Frequent interaction Global affect Understanding Length of relationship Advice and perspective Respect

The author believes that strong personal ties may be an obstacle to change in a professional community
Friendly relations should be more effective in keeping a strong professional community

Conflict vs Collegiality
The more collegiality we create that is oriented towards innovation and change, the more conflict we will have
The challenge is finding positive ways in dealing with conflicts, and using it to change perspectives

Is conflict a driving force behind any change, and can collegiality prevent change from occurring?

De Dreu (1997) identifies three levels that the effects of conflicts on performance can be felt
Individual level: creativity, development and thinking Group level: quality of joint outcomes, group cooperation, and decisions Organizational level: outcome of development and staff commitment

Pros

Cons

Divergent thinking leads to greater creativity in individual thinking, more original ideas Cultures will not become dynamic without internal controversy Disclosure of conflict leads to tension release and new avenues for problem solving Hiding conflict may lead to escalation of conflict

decision making groups are more likely to experience groupthink when they are highly cohesive, insulated from experts, perform limited search and appraisal of information, operate under directive leadership, and experience conditions of high stress with low self-esteem and little hope of finding a better solution to a pressing problem than that favored by the leader or influential members.

(De Lima, 113)

Does this quotation mirror your own workplace now (or in the past)? How have you seen groupthink effect your workplace?
Is there a way to prevent it/ reduce it prevalence?

Person from outside the school that critiques what the school is doing
Few personal connection or biases

This person is and evaluator. Role is to promote change in a friendly manner

Introduce different view or new ways at looking at things in a school environment.

Can this person really implement change in a friendly way?

How would you feel if a friendly critic came into your workplace?

End

New Zealand Government. "Interactive Professionalism." / Communication and Relationships / INSTEP. New Zealand Government, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <http://instep.net.nz/Communication-andrelationships/Interactive-professionalism>