The bottom line is test scores.
A "solitary" teacher who is excellent in the classroom and who has good scores will make the entire school look good. A mediocre teacher who has great PR will not.
Sometimes we place a high value on collaboration when it oftentimes can amount to nothing.
If collaborative measures lead to excellent planning and data analysis that impacts teaching, then it's all good. But sadly, there are few administrators who seem to understand that successful collaboration is a result of effective teaming, which means groups can take MONTHS to gel, and can storm several times during a period. It's not just about being pleasant.
Signed,
former administrator/current consultant and trainer
Anonymous wrote:The statement isn't meaningless. We just need more context. When I first read it, I thought the comment was making a reference to how we need to place a high value on collaboration. I am a principal (not in MCPS), and would rather hire the bright teacher who may not know all the teaching strategies but is a great collaborator over the teacher who can teach really well in the classroom, but doesn't get along with anyone.
I can work with the less-experienced teacher and teach her great teaching strategies. That's easy. What's really difficult is getting someone who doesn't like/want to collaborate to change. We have too much work to do it alone. Teaching can no longer be a "lonely" profession where you close your classroom door and do your own thing. There are some professions where this okay, but more and more jobs that our current high students will be competing for require knowing how to collaborate.