This document discusses the importance and benefits of collaboration in various contexts. It defines collaboration as involving commitment from teachers, administrators, systems and communities. Collaboration is important between citizens to plan for the future, within school districts in different areas, between colleagues to share ideas, between staff and students to support students, and between students to teach social skills. It is also critical between parents/guardians and schools to ensure students' needs are met. The document emphasizes that collaboration builds trust which is necessary for people to work together successfully.

1. Running head: ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 1
Original Contribution
Angelica Burns
American College of Education
IC5091 - Capstone Experience for Integrated Curriculum
Sunday, February 3, 2019

2. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 2
Original Contribution
There are many areas that collaboration works effectively in. Collaboration exists
between citizens of a city or town, as well as within a district. Collaboration within a
school district also breaks down into: within a school, between colleagues or
professionals, between staff and students, and lastly, between students. The necessity
of collaboration between parents/guardians or caregivers and the school, cannot be
stressed enough. Ripley (1997) supports my opening statements by saying,
“Collaboration involves commitment by the teachers who will be working together, by
their school administrators, by the school system, and by the community. It involves
time, support, resources, monitoring, and, above all, persistence” (p 3).
Collaboration between Citizens
To start, it is imperative that residents of a city or town collaborate. Having a say
in your city, town, or community will help to ensure that the rules and regulations are
created fairly, to benefits as many residents as possible. United States Environmental
Protection Agency (2015) further backs the idea of residents of cities and towns to work
together when saying, “Engage all members of the community to plan for the future.
Engage residents, business owners, and other stakeholders to develop a vision for the
community’s future. Stakeholder engagement helps ensure plans reflect the
community’s desires, needs, and goals and generates public support that can maintain
momentum for implementing changes through election cycles and city staff turnover” (p
i).

3. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 3
Collaboration within a District
Collaboration is paramount, and I truly feel as though it is a key tool and a
necessary thing to have or use within a school system. Whether it be in the school
system as a whole or an individual classroom, collaboration is key! To continue,
collaboration within school districts, in all aspects, is vital. Collaboration within a school,
between colleagues or professionals, between staff and students, and even just,
between students, is all of great significance.
Collaboration within a School: Between Colleagues or Professionals
Collaboration between colleagues or professionals is essential for a school to run
successfully, as often times each school has some sort of department team or co-
teaching that goes along within classrooms. To be able to do this, staff need to be able
to work together for their students, and put whatever differences they may have, aside.
To work as a team in the field of education is a necessity as teachers all think differently
and teach differently. As such, collaboration amongst teachers and educators of all
kinds can lead to the sharing of ideas, experiences, expertise, and practices. Ostovar-
Nameghi and Sheikhahmadi (2016) support the idea of collaboration amongst
professionals and educators when saying, “They need to cooperate with each other to
develop themselves professionally. While traditionally they waited for the educator to
bombard them with externally imposed methods and techniques through crash teacher
training courses, teacher now collaborate and learn from each other’s experience” (pp
199).

4. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 4
Collaboration within a School: Between Staff and Students
Moreover, collaboration between staff and students is imperative. As students
spend an average of 6-8 hours at school, it is more likely that they will receive a proper
education, if they get along and work alongside their teachers. This means, without
giving their teachers a hard time or repeating offensive or negative behaviors every day.
In my younger years of education, I remember that there were some teachers that I
didn’t like. But, I realized, at a very young age, that they are doing the best that they can
to teach me everything in a way that I can understand. My teachers were doing that for
myself, as well as my 10+ other classmates, every day. I knew that Ii needed to be a
part of that when I “got older”. At a young age, I decided that I was going to be a teacher
when I grew up. I loved everything about school, and was the girl that would go to
school all day, go home and do all of my homework, and then play school with all of my
stuffed animals.
At a very young age, I knew that I would be a part of this wonderful rewarding
thing called education when I grew up. Shaw (2016) says, “Planning and organizing is
relatively straightforward and can be fun, but sustainable delivery through the ups and
downs, and over time, is the real challenge. Proactivity, tenacity, and resilience are
crucial in building a sustainable business – working hard and pushing through the
setbacks is what moves things forward over time. And keep on learning because
without that the business will stagnate, and there will be other dynamic start-ups ready
to take your place” (pp 359). To me, the idea of a “business” can also be substituted for
a dream, a desire, a goal, or a career.

5. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 5
What’s more, an issue that numerous members of this generation, as well as my
generation, carries with them is the fact that they come from a divorced family or a
broken home. It is of the highest significance that the teachers and school staff to be on
the students’ side, showing that they care for and support the student, on a daily basis.
Coming from a family that has a single-parent household, with my mom raising me by
herself, it often bothered me that I didn’t have a father-figure in my life. At holidays,
especially Father’s Day, or my birthday, I always remember everyone at school making
me feel extra special and offering me as much support and love as they possibly could.
Pedro-Carroll, J. (2010) supports my thoughts by suggesting the following things that
educators can do to help children with their parents’ divorce:
 “Provide consistency and structure.
 Affirm and reinforce their strengths.
 Watch for behavioral signals of underlying problems.
 Encourage the adoption of an evidence-based prevention program in your
school.
 Encourage the adoption of evidence-based parenting programs for divorcing or
divorced parents.
 Help children develop an accurate understanding of their parents’ divorce.
 Encourage parents to focus on their children’s best interests.
 Communicate with parents regularly about their children’s strengths as well as
problems or concerns” (sec 1).

6. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 6
Collaboration within a School: Between Students
Collaboration amongst students or between students is also equally relevant
because it not only teaches teamwork but social skills, as well as acceptance without
judgement. A lot of students struggle with peer interactions and not judging their peers
before they get to know them. T and Johnson (2009) go along with my thoughts when
saying, “Students who collaborate on their studies develop considerable commitment
and caring for each other no matter what their initial impressions of and attitudes toward
each other were when they started. They also like the teacher more and perceive the
teacher as being more supportive and accepting academically and personally” (p 7).
Collaboration within a School: Between Parents/Guardians or Caregivers and the
School
Collaboration between parents/guardians or caregivers and the school, cannot
be overstressed. It is critical that a child’s caregivers are open and honest with the
school, and that there is a positive relationship. When there is an open relationship,
progress, strengths, and weaknesses can be discussed. After all, a school’s role is
always to promote and support whatever is in the student’s best interest. It’s our law,
and our code of honor. With parents or caregivers on board, this is easier to
accomplish. Skouteris, Watson, and Lum (2012) corroborates the importance of parent
and school collaboration or communication when they say, “Through the use of school–
home morning messages, parents and teachers communicated more about their child’s
reading and writing, building more supportive relationships between the school and the
home” (pp 81).

7. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 7
Furthermore, as many children go through many transitions throughout their
young life, it is crucial that the school, professionals, parents, and children work
together. Skouteris et al. (2012) further emphasizes the necessity of collaboration
amongst parents, or a student’s caregivers, and the child's school when saying, “To
ensure that every child has the best possible chance of adjusting successfully to formal
schooling, a wider support system needs to be put into place, with the teaching
professionals, parents, and children working together” (pp 78).
It is for all of these reasons that collaboration is essential to all humans, alike.
Collaboration goes hand in hand with the famous Non-Discrimination Policy, which is
used by hospitals, educational facilities, and business alike. This is so because
collaboration can happen anywhere, at any time, and between anyone. Tufts University
(2019) defines their non-discrimination policy as, “Tufts prohibits discrimination against
and harassment of any employee or any applicant for employment because of race,
color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity and expression, veteran status or any other characteristic protected under
applicable federal or state law” (sec 1).
Working together not only benefits multiple people as well as various disciplines,
but also builds a sense of mutual trust. I feel as the most beneficial characteristic of
collaboration is trust. I feel this way because there needs to be a trust between all
parties involved so that everyone can work together and have success at the end of
every day. I believe that there needs to be trust within the teachers and the
administration, the teachers and the other teachers that they work with (whether it be
between grade levels, specialists, or even vocational teachers), but most importantly

8. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 8
trust between the teachers and their students. Marlow, Kyed, and Connors (2005)
support my thoughts by saying, “While collegiality and collaborations are indeed key
components, they are not adequate to maintain a successful, long-term partnership… A
major component of trust is the responsibility to learn what is important to others and to
act accordingly” (pp 558-559).

9. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 9
References
Marlow, M. P., Kyed, S., & Connors, S. (2005). Collegiality, collaboration and kuleana:
Complexity in a professional development school. Education 125(4), 557-568.
Ostovar-Nameghi, S., & Sheikhahmadi, M. (2016). From Teacher Isolation to Teacher
Collaboration: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings. English
Language Teaching, 9(5), 197-205. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1099601.pdf
Pedro-Carroll, J. (2010). Information for professionals. Retrieved January 30, 2019,
from http://www.pedro-carroll.com/professionals/education/
Ripley, S. (1997). ERIC Number: ED409317 Record Type: Non-Journal Publication
Date: 1997-Jul Pages: 4 Abstractor: N/A Reference Count: N/A ISBN: N/A ISSN:
N/A Collaboration between General and Special Education Teachers. ERIC
Publications, 1-6. Retrieved January 28, 2019, from
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED409317
Shaw, A. (2016). Vision, mission, passion, and luck: The creation of a university press.
Learned Publishing, 29, 354-359. doi:10.1002/leap.1051
Skouteris, H., Watson, B., & Lum, J. (2012). Preschool children's transition to formal
schooling: The importance of collaboration between teachers, parents and
children. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 37(4), 78-85. Retrieved
January 31, 2019.
T, R., & Johnson, D. (2009, August 26). An Overview of Cooperative Learning.
Retrieved January 29, 2019, from

10. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION 10
http://understandingrequirements.com/resources/7.8%20%20Overview%20of%2
0Cooperative%20Learning.pdf
Tufts University. (2019). Non-Discrimination Policy. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from
https://oeo.tufts.edu/policies-procedures/non-discrimination-policy/
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2015, May). How Small Towns and
Cities Can Use Local Assets to Rebuild Their Economies: Lessons From
Successful Places. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-
05/documents/competitive_advantage_051215_508_final.pdf