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Right way to begin depends on where you are right now

By Robert J. Garmston
January 2007
Sally Oxenberry was asked to facilitate the leadership team that meets weekly at her middle school and to help develop a spirit of collaboration. The school staff is organized into teams of five or six people. Oxenberry works with the team leaders. She had modeled collaborative practices such as paraphrasing but didn’t know what other skills to teach and in what sequence. “It’s all such good stuff, but where do I begin?” she asked (personal communication, 2006). “I feel that we need to do dialogue and ways of talking before going any further; however, I also feel we can learn so much from the seven norms of collaboration.” The overarching rationale for changing the work culture to become more collaborative is culture’s impact on learning. By

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References

Garmston, R. & Wellman, B. (1999). The adaptive school: A sourcebook for developing collaborative groups. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.

Supovitz, J. & Christman, J.B. (2003, November). Developing communities of instructional practice: Lessons from Cincinnati and Philadelphia. (CPRE Policy Briefs RB- 39). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education.


Robert J. Garmston

Robert J. Garmston ([email protected]) is an emeritus professor of education administration at California State University, Sacramento, and co-developer of Cognitive Coaching and Adaptive Schools.


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