to collaborate effectively as a team . For the most part , these teachers were willing enough to give it a go . They simply needed support and training , and I had failed to give it to them .
Initially , my strategy for increasing team capacity was to provide training on effective teaming , as well as visit every team every week during team collaboration time . As teachers learned more about effective collaboration , some teams made tremendous progress and others did not .
The first challenge was that I was unable to visit every team every week , and some teams just didn ’ t seem to accomplish much of value if I wasn ’ t sitting right there with them . Yes , they could fill out the collaboration accountability forms I provided in order to jump through the administrative hoopla , but substantive , focused , effective collaboration that supported student learning did not happen on each team each week .
I needed another approach that was less dependent on my attendance at every team meeting every week . This led me to a best approach for building teacher capacity .
A best approach : Building team leader capacity
I not only use all the brains that I have , but all that I can borrow . — Woodrow Wilson Principals following this approach , improve overall teacher learning by increasing the capacity of those leading collaborative teams . As Bob Eaker and Janel Keating explain in their article “ Deeply Embedded , Fully Committed ”: “ Team leaders should be viewed by principals as the key link between administration and faculty .” DuFour and Marzano explain in “ Leaders of Learning ”: “ Effective principals will not attempt to do it alone . They will foster shared leadership by identifying and developing educators to lead their collaborative teams because without effective leadership at the team level , the collaborative process is likely to drift away from the issues most critical to student learning .”
If we have strong team leaders guiding the collaborative process , we don ’ t have to be at every collaboration meeting every week . We will have a strong cadre of team leaders
42 Leadership
If we have strong team leaders guiding the collaborative process , we don ’ t have to be at every collaboration meeting every week . We will have a strong cadre of team leaders guiding , directing and focusing the work .
guiding , directing and focusing the work .
My first attempts at building the capacity of team leaders took place during weekly team collaboration meetings . A typical team visit consisted of me coming in , listening for a few minutes , and then taking charge of the meeting , only to abruptly scurry off to visit another team . While I was trying to model for team leaders how to better run their collaboration meetings , my rude interruptions only served to undermine the credibility and efforts of team leaders .
The problem with all of these initial approaches was that they primarily depended on my personal efforts and expertise as the principal . I needed to see my role differently . I would have benefitted from the following explanation given by Liz Wiseman and colleagues in “ The Multiplier Effect ”: “ The fundamental role of leader is shifting . It is moving away from a model where the leader knows , directs and tells , and toward one where the leader sees , provokes , asks and unleashes the capability of others .”
Realizing my error , I instead focused on tapping into and building the expertise of my team leaders during our leadership team meetings . The content of these monthly team leader meetings drastically changed from discussions about administrivia to real collaboration about how to lead the teaming process in each grade level team . As a leadership team , we set norms , studied and practiced team processes , visited other schools , attended conferences and supported each other in leading our respective teams .
Our progress was accelerated when the leadership team requested that we hold leadership team meetings weekly rather than monthly . I was amazed at the power that came from learning and working together . As the capacity of team leaders increased , weekly collaboration of teacher teams improved , which then contributed to improved teaching and learning in classrooms .
I continued to observe and coach and attend weekly collaboration meetings , but tried to defer to the expertise of the team leaders , who then began to effectively lead the teaming process and provide individual coaching to teachers on their teams . The beauty of this approach was that I did not need to have all the answers , and effective collaboration happened whether or not I was able to attend weekly team meetings .
Building the capacity of team leaders is a very high-yield approach that requires comparatively little time from principals .
The synergistic approach
Synergy - the bonus that is achieved when things work together harmoniously . — Mark Twain Separately , each of the approaches presented here has value and must be a priority for principals . Principals cannot simply focus on team leaders , and then avoid attending team meetings or coaching teachers .
In our consideration of these three approaches , we should be careful to not fall for what Jim Collins and Jerry Porras call in “ Built to Last ,” the “ Tyranny of the Or ,” which suggests that we have to adopt a single strategy or approach at the exclusion of all others . These are not competing , mutually exclusive approaches .
In the report “ The School Principal as Leader ,” James Harvey and Holly Holland explain : “ The research shows that most school variables , considered separately , have at most , small effects on learning . The real payoff comes when individual variables combine to reach critical mass . Creating the conditions under which that can occur is the job of the principal .”
Likely the very best approach for us as school leaders is to embrace what Collins and Porras call the “ Genius of the And ,”