Week 5 Reflection

Posted on February 16, 2008

This week’s activity helped me to look at what I do to support students. I had not stopped to look at what my role was, I just did what I needed to do. The reading helped to clarify to me why some consultation models work and others do not.
I would definitely say that I follow the collaborative model. Many times I have seen a solution to a problem come from a group of people contributing their unique perspective. The solution in most insistences is a combination of ideas from the team. In supporting a student in an academic program I may get input from the team on what we want the student to take away from the class, but it doesn’t stop there. I collaborate with the SLP about social issues, the reading specialist about the most appropriate reading level to assist in comprehension and the teacher to discus not only class content but activities that may enhance the students understanding of the material and other issues.
I work primarily with students transitioning to their life after high school. I need to collaborate with a team of people to make sure the student, and family, is as prepared as they can be. The student’s parents are an integral part of the team. Every family is different. The supports available to them may be different. No one person or consultant can do this alone. Open communication is important, and also important to collaborating is that each member of the team should feel safe in contributing ideas.
Last summer I witnesses staff at a teachers college in Uganda being ridiculed by the college president for ideas or views they shared. Because that staff didn’t feel safe or heard, change will be very slow to occur in their educational system. My daughter is there primarily as a consultant to support a systems change. She would like to be able to collaborate with teachers and student teachers to model how a group can problem solve and develop solutions that fit their unique needs. But she is frustrated by a system where teachers are scared to share their ideas and to change how they teach.
Having the opportunity to compare how teachers collaborate in Uganda and how I try to at my school, makes clear to me the advantages of the collaborating model. It is a rare to find that one person that has all the answers. Teaching is a team effort. By working together collaboratively, the most appropriate plans can be developed.