Collaboration among teachers and administrators improves the retention rate among teachers, according to a September 2008 article on the District Administration website. If teachers feel they have the support of administrators, they are more likely to stay where they are. Moreover, administrators who actively engage in collaboration with teachers show they care about the input of their teachers. Teachers are the infantry of the education army, and they see everything that happens on the front lines. Collaboration makes teachers feel they can take ownership of the curricula they must teach, boosting the chances that they will stay. Through collaboration, teachers and administrators can package a more comprehensive and viable plan to educate young people.
Teacher collaboration helps boost student achievement, as a 2008 study by the Institute of Education Sciences reveals. When the institutional structures are in place to foster collaboration among teachers, teachers can share ideas with each other about what works in the classroom and what doesn't. When teachers can learn from their colleagues' mistakes, they more quickly see how to navigate through the jungle of successful and unsuccessful teaching techniques. Students, in turn, are offered a more effective learning experience.
Collaboration teaches students how to work with other people. Throughout their academic careers students will be asked to perform group projects and presentations as well as participate in peer reviews. Knowing how to relate with and work with others goes beyond the classroom, too. When students enter the labor force, they will have to know how to listen to other people's ideas and work as a group. Collaboration teaches students the requisite skills to do this.
Student collaboration teaches students how to cultivate new or better ideas through teamwork and critical analysis, according to the Georgia State University Teaching and Learning With Technology Center. If a group of students is presented with a problem, they will often have to formulate a multitude of ideas or potential solutions to the problem before agreeing on the best solution. By working as a group, students can evaluate ideas they may not have ever thought of individually as well as learn how to think outside their comfort zone.