Complexities of Collaboration with Dr. Marilyn Friend

Join elementary, middle, and high school teachers in Complexities of Collaboration with Dr. Marilyn Friend, as they demonstrate five dilemmas of collaborative practices. Each scenario described below is played-out by real teachers, with plenty of classroom footage and practitioner interviews. In addition, Dr. Marilyn Friend offers commentary and instruction for each section.

1. Meeting Classroom Expectations: Two elementary teachers confront their differing perspectives of student performance and how they deal with it. Dr. Friend joins the discussion and helps the teachers express their concerns in a constructive manner. (6:00)
2. Classrooms Partnerships: See teams teach collaboratively. Three separate teaching partnerships at the middle and high school levels discus their evolution. How they surrendered autonomy, made accommodations for students with special needs, merged teaching styles, and managed discipline in their joint classrooms. (13:00)
3. Managing Disagreements on the Team: Watch a scenario where Kim pulls Mark out of class for individualized instruction, but the question becomes, how much service is the right amount? Then Dr. Friend introduces a team meeting that discusses the amount of service Mark receives. The school principal both disagrees with, and supports team members when making recommendations in the team meeting with Mark’s mother. Then, Dr. Friend debriefs with two team members. (10:30)
4. Time! Time! Time!: Six middle and high school teachers role-play 5 common problems related to teacher time, and how collaborators find ways to maximize their teaching and planning time together. Dr. Friend interviews team members on their use of time. (9:15)
5. Pulled in Too Many Directions: We follow Carolyn, a special needs teacher as she starts her school day. . .the questions and demands start before she can take off her coat. Later she and Dr. Friend discuss her day and catalog the many functions she performs, her “typical” schedule, how she has learned to cope with the job’s demands, and how her collaborators have come to work with, and assist her. (9:00)

Rich in detail, with excellent classroom footage and practitioner interviews, Complexities of Collaboration is an excellent training tool for school professionals beginning to share planning and teaching chores.

Includes: DVD
Copyright: 2000
Produced By: Leonard Burrello, Marilyn Friend and Jotham Burrello
Total Running Time: 53 minutes