Successful Collaboration: Implementing Changes to School Fiscal Operations - Essay Sample

Introduction

In my last role as a superintendent, I had to partner with the account managers, and board of directors to implement a few changes to the school’s fiscal operations. I was a little stressed out because the financial year was coming to a close, and the project required a lot of revisions. However, when we put our heads together, we divided the work and stayed late for three days; we accomplished the project on time (Holmes, 2013). I do not think we could have completed the task without collaborating as a team, and I believe the same is true in teacher-student relationships and working with other staff members.

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Working in a collaborative team was a positive and empowering experience for me because my team members shared not only useful information but also resources such as time, ideas, and expertise (Konyu-Fogel et al., 2013). As the leader, I communicated the expectations and encouraged and guided collaboration between the members. Collaborative teams are characterized by strong leadership support, effective and frequent communication, and shared values and goals (Konyu-Fogel et al., 2013).

Most students thrive in environments that allow them to work as a team using tools they are familiar with, such as videos, blogs, and audios. Integrating tools such as Twitter and Google +, which they are familiar with, would motivate them to join collaborative teams. Using tools that they are familiar with will make them interested in teamwork when they can freely respond and share their ideas (Boling et al., 2014). Preparing students to be part of a team can also motivate them to work with others as a part of a team. By helping students understand the benefits of teamwork and what successful collaboration looks like, they will be motivated to become team players argued that collaborative teams provide students with several benefits such as transformative learning, a vast network of people, employment opportunities, critical thinking skills, learning resources, and co-creation of knowledge and meaning.

References

Boling, E. C., Holan, E., Horbatt, B., Hough, M., Jean-Louis, J., Khurana, C., ... & Spiezio, C. (2014). Using online tools for communication and collaboration: Understanding educators' experiences in an online course. The Internet and Higher Education, 23, 48-55. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1096751614000554

Holmes, B. (2013). School Teachers' Continuous Professional Development in an Online Learning Community: lessons from a case study of an e T winning Learning Event. European Journal of Education, 48(1), 97-112. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ejed.12015

Konyu-Fogel, G., DuBois, M. B., & Wallingford, V. (2013). Learning communities and team-based learning: Developing management and business competencies. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 14(5), 70-79. http://www.na-businesspress.com/JMPP/konyu-fogel_abstract.html