Professional Collaborative Culture: Teachers share their practice and work in teams in order to build and sustain a professional collaborative culture. Schools place an emphasis on shared decision making and shared responsibility for student achievement.
—Principles and Practices of the Pilot Schools Network

Professional Collaboration
is at the heart of every successful school. Teams and committees collaborate in Pilot Schools to address issues of teaching and learning and schoolwide issues such as schedule, budget, and professional development. Through the areas of autonomy, there is the capacity in Pilot Schools to carve out the necessary time, identify staff roles, and follow through on decisions, making professional collaboration effective and productive.    However, autonomy alone is not sufficient. Professional collaboration requires a school culture that is founded on trust and respect among all members of the community. In a longitudinal study of 400 Chicago elementary schools, Anthony Byrk and Barbara Schneider were able to document a strong link between the success of a school reform approach (through its academic results) and the degree of social trust present in the schools among all groups. “Teachers with students, teachers with other teachers, teachers with parents, and all groups with the school principal…all participants remain dependent on others to achieve desired outcomes and feel empowered by their efforts.”
    Such a culture takes time and careful attention to build. As Peggy Kemp noted in the section on Leadership Roles, she had a steep learning curve when she became principal of Fenway to learn how the school’s teams and committees worked and how to establish her relationship with staff, students, and parents. Her willingness to listen to faculty critique allowed for the creation of a peer observation structure with the potential to improve teacher practice.    There is a large body of research that points to the importance of professional collaboration, trust, and collegiality to positive school outcomes. Successful schools encompass many facets of collaboration. Important questions about teaching and learning are at the forefront of meetings and conversations, and concrete goals are set for improvement. Teachers reflect continuously on their practice. Faculty members guide one another, plan together, coordinate their practices, and participate in the most important decisions of the school.

   
All of these elements together—faculty members working together, discussing important issues of teaching and learning, and taking a significant role in the school’s decision-making process—are the main work of professional collaboration. Such work is hard and complex. The emphasis on openness and dialogue itself creates challenges as differences of opinion, personality, and background rise to the surface. Often leaders need to develop new skills of listening, coordination, and communication to ensure that all voices are heard.
   Pilot School staff, administration, and families have a head start in creating a trusting, collaborative culture for several important reasons: they share in mutual ownership of their schools; small size allows members to build strong relationships; and autonomy allows them to shape the structure and focus of the school. One Mission Hill School teacher emphasized that the small size of the school facilitates relationships and collaboration: “I know every single kid in this school and their families. This is our second family. That’s what it means to be in a small school—it’s more caring.” In order for teams, committees, and decision-making bodies to work effectively, certain nuts-and-bolts strategies and tools for collaboration should be employed.* Norms, guiding documents, and external coaches as facilitators, can help meetings run smoothly. Communication with the entire school community through minutes and updates is essential for transparency about the issues being addressed.
   The tools and vignettes in this section of the web-guide illustrate important aspects of professional collaborative work in a school. A vignette and a case study, focused on Josiah Quincy Upper School and Young Achievers Pilot School, respectively, highlight real faculty teams and committees as they grapple with the challenge of improving teaching and learning in their schools.