PR E PA R ATORY S C HO OL
Collaboration and connection
As adults we seem to make a big deal
about collaboration – how to do it; working
with a range of personalities, agendas and
outcomes to achieve the obvious benefits of
collaboration. Articles in Harvard Business
Review and The Australian, as well as
MBA classes, all focus on the crucial role
of collaboration in leadership, business
development and economic growth. We
practice it, measure it, quantify the outcomes
and write more articles on how to improve
collaboration between adults and teams.
My thoughts – ditch all of the bits of advice
or articles and wander into the Preparatory
School on any day. What will you see? You
will see authentic collaboration happening
constantly, with clear outcomes and purpose
WITHOUT confronting personalities,
agendas and attitudes. You will see groups
of children with a range of abilities come
together to solve problems, engage in
meaningful play, work with complex designs
and openly encourage one another to
achieve their goals.
Collaboration
One of the many joys of the Preparatory
School is the ability to walk into a
Kindergarten class, a Year 6 lesson, a
Physical Education session and a Music
recital all in one morning wander. I love
the opportunity to get into classes at every
year level and just touch base with the
students and teachers to hear and see what
challenges they are trying to solve. Recently,
I did this with my “collaboration lens” firmly
affixed in anticipation of writing this article.
What I saw and heard is the epitome of
collaboration and connection.
In one lesson students had to cross a “fiery
lava pit” using magic floating flame-proof
tiles. The challenge was that they could
not speak and there were two less tiles
than students. Each group crossed the
lava safely as they wordlessly grouped
in pairs and threes and collaboratively
solved the problem. Trust in trying another
person’s idea was the starting point of
this collaboration. The next challenge was
how the group would deal with failure,
support one another and try a different
method. Their purpose was clear, but the
experimentation, connection and trust
required to achieve this challenge were
solely in the hands of effective collaboration.
The fact that they were able to do this with
non-verbal clues, hand gestures and signs
of encouragement were a true testament
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