Collaboration between teachers: trust at stake.

We were thinking of producing a directory of professional networks for teacher collaboration. However, we quickly realized that the real collaborative networks are much more "intimate", and that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of these networks of maths, science and language teachers, from all regions, all levels, all disciplines or specialities, in the form of forums, open blogs, wikis, sites and, above all, groups on social sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn - thousands of them!

Clearly, teachers are collaborating, but to what extent and on what basis? Many groups exist, but in some participation is low, while in others it flourishes. What really works?

Collaboration, but not extra work

A 2007 survey of 250 teachers entitled "La collaboration entre enseignants: données d'une enquête menée auprès d'enseignants du primaire" ( Collaboration between teachers: data from a survey of primary school teachers) found that the most sought-after types of collaboration were first and foremost support, mutual aid and assistance, followed by sharing of materials, activities or planning, and finally the exchange of students, experiences or ideas. (see article)

The preferred forms of collaboration are apparently those that require the least "technical" investment and bring the most help and emotional satisfaction. We're already doing a lot of work, so we're not going to add to it if we don't gain a lot.

So much for preferred practices.

Institutional encouragement

We also know that the schools in which students do best overall are those in which teachers cooperate, recognizing that improving working conditions is a collective task, not an individual one.(Le travail collectif enseignant -et- Comment présenter son travail d'enseignant en équipe pluriprofessionnelle ).

Institutions are thus tempted to stimulate or strongly encourage collaboration, creating a tension between the conditions for cooperation (mutual giving, affectivity, sociability, trust and independence) and professional requirements.

"The injunction to collaborative work between teachers contains the idea of producing greater consistency of practice within the school. What emerges is an organizational vision of teaching work based on close coordination by management, in line with the school project.

This injunction also borrows from other logics: an institutional logic of norms and obligations, and a professional logic, inviting teachers to join forces and form "real work teams". According to Alter (2009), working together in a professional way corresponds to cooperative relationships that pursue no other interest than that of creating bonds and collective belonging".

Collaboration: a voluntary act

A more detailed analysis of practices(Moments de coopération entre enseignants : entre logiques institutionnelle, organisationnelles et professionnelles in Travail et formation en éducation)

We find that cooperative practices correspond to a deliberate choice on the part of teachers seeking to exchange elements of their work. Hence the delicate balance to be struck between institutional encouragement of these practices and the personal, voluntary commitment of teachers. Cooperative relationships are sensitive to the conventions that bind participants, and straddle the boundary between private and professional life. Hence the need for trust and discretion, often unbeknownst to fussy management.

"These exchanges meet the requirements of collaboration in the sense that they contribute to the improvement of their practices, and as such fall within a professional framework. By analyzing these moments of shared work through the theory of gift versus gift, we understand that cooperating is a chosen act, outside the norm, which does not allow itself to be locked into routine."
(...)
"If these moments are part of a professional framework, they are not to be confused with collaboration established within an organizational framework, neither in form, nor in object, nor in purpose."

Here we find the same problem as that of the exchange between teacher and pupil within or outside ENTs: while teachers willingly give up their time for an informal exchange conducted with one or more pupils through a chosen channel, they are much less enthusiastic about instuitutionalizing this practice by correspnding with the tools made available on their school's ENT.

"The injunction to work together intertwines these registers when it invites managers to organize and supervise collaboration, and asks them to color them with authenticity. When it crosses professional and organizational goals, and moreover, takes the bureaucratic route, it sets managers and teams on a demanding path.

It forces them to act in a way that is, at root, chosen. It calls for the rationalization of actions that are basically emotional. On the one hand, they act as intermediaries with the authorities, reporting on the collective work of the teaching staff; on the other, they are entrusted with the role of animator and leader of a team of which they are a part. This "in-between" or even threefold position is a delicate one, in that it risks undermining the foundations of trust that have been built up. On the other hand, it gives her the advantage of being able to use it to understand and act on the individual and collective actions of teachers who are more preoccupied with their classrooms, and fit them, while adjusting them, into a school vision."

In short, an institution can encourage collaboration and even become involved in it, but without ever betraying the necessary trust and independence of those involved. This is how responsible practice develops.

This article contains reflections common to all observers and analysts of spontaneous collective movements. Whether it's a question of networking, collaboration or the organization of large-scale events, spontaneity constitutes a "fuel" that is difficult to substitute for that of the institution...

Moments of cooperation between teachers: between institutional, organizational and professional logics. Caroline Letort, Travail et Formation en Education, July 2010.