“Collaboration Doesn’t Exist”: So What Now?

• In Event: Cross-Race Mentoring and Mentoring of K-12 Novice Teachers

Abstract

This ongoing qualitative study explores the experiences newly inducted teachers shared in a series of professional development seminars. Participants reported an array of dilemmas from practice; researchers found that these predominantly centered on the theme of collaboration, or lack thereof, among their fellow teachers, administrators, or parents. Participants discussed limited instances of productive collaboration, and a larger number of instances where collaboration did not occur because of lack of participation or an unwillingness to open a space for dialogue. The authors utilize research on these dilemmas to suggest the need to better prepare preservice teachers how to collaborate authentically and also as a way to provide insight for new teachers to recognize and address issues of collaboration.

Authors

• Jocelyn A. Glazier, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Ashley Summer Boyd, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Kristen Vaughn Bell Hughes, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Ritsa Mallous, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Harriet Able, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill