Collaboration 2.0 - Work doesn't happen in meetings!

This is the first in a multi-post series on PLCs and collaboration.

When you really want to get some work done, where do you go?  What do you do?

I wake up early, get focused with a full set of Tai Chi, make a coffee, and head for my computer.

I'll bet you aren't much different.  You probably create a focus zone.  You minimize distractions, which includes other people.  You almost certainly don't go to the office.  And there is virtually no chance you call a meeting to get your work done.

One of the big ideas of the Professional Learning Community process is the need for collaboration to raise learning for all students.  This is one of the biggest hurdles in the PLC process.  Teachers know what collaboration probably means - mandatory meetings, professional development days, and a paper trail to prove that people were in the same room at the same time.

Here's the problem - cutting edge business thinking is racing in the other direction.

In Learning by Doing, the authors make a good stride in the right direction by discussing the power of electronic teams to create face-to-face opportunities across distances (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, and Many, 2010, pp. 121-122).  I'd say this is the tip of the iceberg.

Administrators need to break the old mold of negotiating strict meeting times with the union, examining agendas, and forcing people to meet who don't have shared responsibilities.

This is a critical issue for fine arts educators.  We are often singleton teachers.  We are often asked to meet with core teachers to create school improvement plans with non-artistic goals.  We are not given the resources to collaborate with other content experts.

This has to change.

Using Twitter's hashtag system is a great place to start.  Set up your account and enter some arts education terms in the search bar, such as #artsed, #artsblog, #edchat, or #atplc.  You will find tweets that contain this tag, and you may find some interesting educators you'd like to follow.  As you follow people (and people follow you), your network will expand rapidly, and Twitter will become a professional learning network.  Don't forget to search for and follow educators you know and respect.

For more information on the lack of focused work at the office, view Jason Fried's great TED talk at http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work#t-763916