Successful General Educator Collaboration

Voluntary Participation: For collaboration to work, administrators, teachers, related service personnel, and parents must be willing to work together toward common goals. When educators and parents are forced to work collaboratively without being given the opportunity to choose, collaboration does not work.

Equal Contribution: All the administrators, teachers, related service personnel, and parents working collaboratively must contribute equally, if they expect to be successful.

Shared Goals: All the educators and parents in the group must be on the same page. They both need to be working on the same goals and/or issues for collaboration to work.

Shared Accountability: Whatever the outcomes (good or bad), all the administrators, teachers, related service personnel, and parents working collaboratively have to be equally accountable for this approach to work.

Shared Decision Making, Trust, and Respect: Administrators, teachers, related service personnel, and parents who are working collaboratively must trust and respect each other as equal decision makers if they are to succeed at their endeavors.

Shared Resources: All the individuals working collaboratively must be willing to share their time, expertise, space, furniture, and instructional material if they expect to work effectively.

Shared Responsibility: As they work with students and deliver instruction, administrators, teachers, related service personnel, and parents must be equally responsible in completing the activities undertaken.