Learning Outcome #6:
Collaborate with other staff, the community, higher education, other agencies, and cultural institutions, as well as parents and other caregivers, for the benefit of students
We know, as both learners and teachers, that collaboration can greatly enhance educational experiences. When educators work with others, including colleagues, parents, community members and organizations, higher education, and students, the result is a richer, more authentic education for all involved. In the teaching community, collaboration is essential.
In a study completed in 2001, it was found that there is a direct correlation between parental involvement and academic success. Researchers discovered that students who had parents and guardians who had minimal involvement, deemed “parental supervision,” with their children also had limited academic success. Those students who were higher achieving in school had parents who were very involved in all aspects of their lives (Fan and Chen). Studies continue to find similar results to those of Fan and Chen. I will strive to develop and maintain strong relationships with the parents and guardians of my students, which will make collaboration with them feasible.
As a student teacher, I collaborated with colleagues in both of my placements. At my first placement, I coordinated a unit on The Contender by Robert Lipsyte with the civil rights movement unit that students were completing in social studies. I submitted interlibrary loan requests and located numerous resources for the students to use in their social studies and English classes. As a pre-reading activity, with the guidance of the social studies teacher, I created information stations for students to gather information about the time period. This assignment allowed students to gain more historical context for the novel before reading it; the assignment also allowed them to connect what they were learning in English class to their unit in social studies. At my second placement, students completed a short research mini-unit and created brochures about a future career. I collaborated with the director of career services at Nottingham High School on this project. Through this collaboration, it was decided that students’ brochures would be displayed on a bulletin board. These brochures will remain a permanent series in the career services office and will aid junior and senior students in their career selection. In this instance, collaboration helped transform a basic research project into an authentic learning experience for students.
Work Cited
Fan, X., & Chen, M. (2001). Parental involvement and students' academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 13, 1-22.
Image from http://liu.english.ucsb.edu/wiki1/index.php/Collaboration
In a study completed in 2001, it was found that there is a direct correlation between parental involvement and academic success. Researchers discovered that students who had parents and guardians who had minimal involvement, deemed “parental supervision,” with their children also had limited academic success. Those students who were higher achieving in school had parents who were very involved in all aspects of their lives (Fan and Chen). Studies continue to find similar results to those of Fan and Chen. I will strive to develop and maintain strong relationships with the parents and guardians of my students, which will make collaboration with them feasible.
As a student teacher, I collaborated with colleagues in both of my placements. At my first placement, I coordinated a unit on The Contender by Robert Lipsyte with the civil rights movement unit that students were completing in social studies. I submitted interlibrary loan requests and located numerous resources for the students to use in their social studies and English classes. As a pre-reading activity, with the guidance of the social studies teacher, I created information stations for students to gather information about the time period. This assignment allowed students to gain more historical context for the novel before reading it; the assignment also allowed them to connect what they were learning in English class to their unit in social studies. At my second placement, students completed a short research mini-unit and created brochures about a future career. I collaborated with the director of career services at Nottingham High School on this project. Through this collaboration, it was decided that students’ brochures would be displayed on a bulletin board. These brochures will remain a permanent series in the career services office and will aid junior and senior students in their career selection. In this instance, collaboration helped transform a basic research project into an authentic learning experience for students.
Work Cited
Fan, X., & Chen, M. (2001). Parental involvement and students' academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 13, 1-22.
Image from http://liu.english.ucsb.edu/wiki1/index.php/Collaboration