Teachers have little free time during the course of the workday. Lunch breaks are often short, leaving just enough time to eat and get ready for the afternoon. After-school hours are spent in meetings or prepping for the next day. Teachers lack the built-in time during a regular day to collaborate with their colleagues. On teacher in-service days, the agenda is often filled with trainings and meetings. Even if the teachers do get dedicated collaboration time, it may not occur frequently enough to make it effective.
The typical school layout keeps teachers separated for the majority of their working hours. The individual classrooms mean teachers typically don't see one another or other students during the day beyond brief encounters in the hallway. Teachers often stay in their own classrooms to handle administrative tasks and planning. This means teachers rarely see other classrooms or teaching ideas used by their colleagues. (see ref 2, pg 4) Teachers have to take an active role and responsibility in coming together for collaboration.
Differences in philosophy can cause difficulty with teacher collaboration. (see ref 3, pg 2) Teachers may have different opinions on how collaboration within the school should look. To one teacher, collaboration means planning all activities together and occasionally teaching together, while a fellow teacher may only want to discuss ideas in general and plan the specifics on her own. Problems also arise when two teachers trying to collaborate have vastly different teaching philosophies. For example, a group of elementary teachers planning the specifics of an upcoming unit may have difficulty collaborating if one prefers paper and pencil assignments while another prefers hands-on activities.
The school administration sets the tone when it comes to teacher collaboration. A principal who doesn't value collaboration among teachers won't likely provide the time and support to allow teachers to successfully work together. Principals who force teachers into collaboration might also experience little success. Forcing the collaboration makes it a less natural process that the teachers may resist. (see ref 3, pg 2) Even when teachers are given more control over how the collaboration looks, they may lack the experience to know how to effectively work together. Administrators can encourage collaboration by providing training and support for the teachers to work together.