5 Keys to Genuine Teacher Collaboration

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4ciN-mJSaI

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of working with a fantastic group of 2nd-grade educators. Together, we designed a social studies project where students became museum curators and exhibit designers, using design thinking to create their own museum exhibits.

The team included two homeroom teachers (Shelby and Rebecca), our Tech & Innovation Specialist (Chris), our instructional coach (Jodi), our librarian (Lara), and myself. Looking back, I truly treasure that experience. It felt seamless, productive, and genuinely collaborative.

I’ve been reflecting on why we were so effective. After breaking it down, I identified five key elements that made our collaboration work.

1. Diverse Skills, Perspectives, and Experiences Our strength lay in our differences. Each member brought a unique lens to the table, allowing us to fill gaps and enhance the learning experience in ways a single teacher couldn’t.

• Shelby & Rebecca (Homeroom Teachers): Brought deep experience in student-centered inquiry, ensuring students were actively questioning and investigating.

• Jodi (Instructional Coach): Developed materials to scaffold facilitation and ensured our activities built deep conceptual understanding.

• Myself (Design Thinker): Focused on empathy work, helping students understand the people they were designing for.

• Lara (Librarian): Curated the exact resources students needed to support their investigations.

• Chris (Tech & Innovation): Modeled design thinking mindsets for both students and teachers.

Much like an ecosystem, our work was interdependent. My empathy designs relied on Jodi’s conceptual framework; Shelby and Rebecca’s investigations relied on Lara’s resources. We weren’t just working near each other; we were working with each other.

2. Enthusiasm for a Common Goal It started with an idea: using a museum context to teach social studies. When Rebecca shared this, I was thrilled—and so was everyone else. We all believed in the value of making learning relevant and real-world.

This shared belief generated an energy that sustained us. We weren’t just completing a task; we were united by a vision we all genuinely wanted to achieve.

3. Positive Relationships Based on Trust & Appreciation Trust isn’t just about liking each other; it’s about valuing what the other person brings. I knew that I could rely on the 2nd-grade teachers to check my work for age-appropriateness. They knew they could rely on me for design strategy. We understood that one person’s weakness was covered by another’s strength.

4. Truthfulness & Open-Mindedness Because we trusted each other, we could be honest without fear.

For example, Jodi gave me feedback on the exhibits. She suggested shifting the focus from “events” to “people” to help students better grasp the concepts. Because I respected her expertise and knew we shared the same goal (student success), I didn’t get defensive. I was open-minded. This created a safe environment where feedback was seen as a tool for improvement, not a critique of character.

5. Minimizing Hierarchy While hierarchy exists in schools, it can kill collaboration in a creative team. In our group, there was no centralized power. No single person called all the shots.

Instead, we operated with egalitarianism. Everyone had a voice. As behavioral scientist Lisanne Van Bunderen notes, egalitarian teams feel like “we’re in the same boat,” whereas hierarchical teams often feel the need to fend for themselves. By removing the power dynamics, we solved problems collectively and shared equal responsibility for the outcome.

Final Thoughts Collaboration isn’t just about putting people in a room together. It’s about leveraging diversity, rallying around a shared passion, building trust, embracing honesty, and flattening the hierarchy.

I hope these reflections help you in your next team project!