Collaboration Theory

Collaboration in education represents a shift in the governance of schools from a hierarchical, bureaucratic model to a community configuration based on the assumption that increased participation from stakeholders in decision making can improve schools and facilitate instructional improvement specifically. Educators have responded to the continuing call for collaborative governance with a variety of efforts, all deemed collaborative: site-based decision making, teacher teams, school advisory councils, schooluniversity partnerships, and interagency collaboration. Often a shared definition of collaboration is assumed by participants, with little discussion of either the concept or the process. This unarticulated, assumed understanding of the collaborative process engenders a potential for failure in the implementation of collaborative governance that can perplex participants and educational leaders.

Definitions and descriptions of the collaborative process from fields such as health care, business, and government are synthesized here to explicate the concept of collaboration. Based on the use of the term collaboration in a variety of settings, the following interdisciplinary definition was derived: Collaboration is the interaction of stakeholders with shared language and values, taking action toward collective goals. The term stakeholders includes anyone who has an interest in or who would be affected by collaborative action. In education, stakeholders can include parents, teachers, students, political activists, community leaders, school leaders, district administrators, legislators, law enforcement officials, social workers, healthcare providers, and others with educational concerns or interests.

Many praise collaborative governance and use the term synonymously with building community in schools. They have suggested that effective collaboration is that which provokes meaningful and productive discourse to empower all, while simultaneously protecting individual efficacy, and they further contend that shared norms and values are essential to building a collaborative community. Other studies also highlight the role of dialogue and shared understanding as a foundation of a collaborative school community. Scholars emphasize the importance of dialogue as a way of not only doing similar work together but also understanding the work of one another. This collaborative community sets implicit standards for authenticity and respect in group behavior and interaction and creates a shared language and purpose among participants that facilitates collective efforts to improve student learning.