Collaborative Family-School Partnerships: Theory and Research

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Collaborative Family-School Partnerships
Theory and Research

• Alyssa Dretchen, B.A. and
• Avivah Dahbany, Ph.D., NCSP
• Seton Hall University
• Futures Task Force on
• Family-School Partnerships

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Collaboration

• Have you ever collaborated with another person or
  persons?
• What did you do together?
• What characteristics were the most important in
  your partner(s) during your collaboration?
• What stages did your collaborative experience
  go through?
• How do you define collaboration?
• See Intro Handout 4

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What is Collaboration?

• a service provided by a professional in which
  there is a shared responsibility for the outcome
  of the problem solving process, including
  participation in interventions (Dougherty, 2005,
  p. 18)
• Teams of professionals stakeholders
• Mutual, reciprocal consultation among the parties
  involved
• NOT the same as Consultation
• in consultation, the consultee retains
  responsibility for he outcome, is considered to
  be the determiner of the suitability of possible
  interventions, and is responsible for adequate
  implementation of the intervention (Zins
  Erchul, 2002, as cited in Dougherty, 2005, p. 13)

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Indicators of Professional Behavior Facilitative
of Collaborative Partnerships

• Communication
• Commitment
• Equality
• Skills
• Trust
• Respect

See Intro Handout 5
5
Professional BehaviorCOMMUNICATION

• The quality of communication is positive,
  respectful, and understandable among all members
  at all levels of the partnership, and that the
  quantity of communication is also at a level to
  enable efficient and effective coordination and
  understanding among all members (Blue-Banning et
  al., 2004, p 174).
• Indicators of Professional Behavior
• Sharing resources
• Being clear honest
• Communicating positively frequently
• Being tactful open
• Listening
• Coordinating information

6
Professional BehaviorCOMMITMENT

• The members of the partnership share a sense of
  assurance about (a) each others devotion and
  loyalty to the child and family, and (b) each
  others belief in the importance of the goals
  being pursued on behalf of the child and family
  (Blue-Banning et al., 2004, p 174).
• Indicators of Professional Behavior
• Demonstrating commitment
• Being flexible
• Sensitive to emotions
• Being consistent
• Regarding work as more than a job
• Accessible

7
Professional BehaviorEQUALITY

• The members of the partnership feel a sense of
  equity in decision making and service
  implementation, and actively work to ensure that
  all other members of the partnership feel equally
  powerful in their ability to influence outcomes
  for children and families (Blue-Banning et al.,
  2004, p 174).
• Indicators of Professional Behavior
• Avoiding use of clout
• Empowering partners
• Validating others
• Advocating with other professionals
• Allowing reciprocity among members
• Being willing to explore all options

8
Professional BehaviorSKILLS

• The members of the partnership perceive that
  others on the team demonstrate competence,
  including service providers ability to fulfill
  their roles and to demonstrate recommended
  practice approaches to working with children and
  families (Blue-Banning et al., 2004, p 174).
• Indicators of Professional Behavior
• Taking action
• Having expectations
• Meeting individual special needs
• Considering the whole child or family
• Being willing to learn

9
Professional BehaviorTRUST

• The members of the partnership share a sense of
  assurance about the reliability or dependability
  of the character, ability, strength, or truth of
  the other members of the partnership
  (Blue-Banning et al., 2004, p 174).
• Indicators of Professional Behavior
• Being reliable
• Keeping the child safe
• Being discreet

10
Professional BehaviorRESPECT

• The members of the partnership regard each other
  with concern and demonstrate that esteem through
  actions and communications (Blue-Banning et al.,
  2004, p 174).
• Indicators of Professional Behavior
• Valuing the child
• Being nonjudgmental courteous
• Exercising nondiscrimination
• Avoiding intrusion

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Seven Stages of Collaboration

• Awareness
• Tentative Exploration Mutual Acknowledgement
• Trust Building
• Collegiality
• Consensus
• Commitment
• Collaboration

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First Stage of CollaborationAWARENESS

• Making a conscious entry into a group
• Focus on goals of convening together
• Generate definition of collaborative process and
  what it means to team members

13
Second Stage of CollaborationTENTATIVE
EXPLORATION MUTUAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

• Tentative Exploration
• disclose professional skills for the desired
  process
• disclose areas where contributions cannot be made
• disclose values reflecting priorities
• identify roles and disclose personal values
• Mutual Acknowledgement
• clarify each members potential contributions
• verify the groups strengths areas needing
  consultation
• clarify members work style, organizational
  supports, and barriers to collaborative efforts

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Third Stage of CollaborationTRUST BUILDING

• Determine the degree to which reliance on others
  can be achieved
• Examine congruence between words and behaviors
• Set interdependent goals
• Develop tolerance for ambiguity

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Fourth Stage of CollaborationCOLLEGIALITY

• Define the relationships of members with each
  other
• Define the responsibilities tasks of each
• Define entrance exit conditions

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Fifth Stage of CollaborationCONSENSUS

• Determine the issues for which consensus is
  required
• Determine the process used for clarifying the
  decision making to reach consensus
• Determine the process for reevaluating consensus
  outcomes

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Sixth Stage of CollaborationCOMMITMENT

• Realize the physical, emotional, material
  actions directed toward the goal
• Clarify procedures for reevaluating commitments
  in light of goal demands and group standards for
  deviance

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Seventh Stage of CollaborationCOLLABORATION

• Initiate a process of joint decision making
  reflecting the synergy that results from
  combining knowledge and skills

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Literature Review

• Indicators of Professional Behavior
• 17 studies reviewed
• Most Support
• Communication
• Commitment
• Seven Stages of Collaboration
• 12 studies reviewed
• Most Support
• Tentative Exploration Mutual Acknowledgement
• Collegiality
• Collaboration

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Professional Behaviors Experience

• How does your collaboration experience compare to
  the research?
• Did you also find the first two items to be the
  most important characteristics of your partner(s)
  in the collaboration experience?
• Why or why not?
• Communication
• Commitment
• Equality
• Skills
• Trust
• Respect

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Stages of Collaboration Experience

• Did you go through these stages of collaboration?
• Did you also find the items in red to be the most
  important stages of your collaboration
  experience?
• Why or why not?
• Awareness
• Tentative Exploration Mutual Acknowledgement
• Trust Building
• Collegiality
• Consensus
• Commitment
• Collaboration

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Family-School Collaboration

• What do you think are the most important
  professional characteristics you have that could
  enhance Family-School Collaborations?
• What do you think are the most important stages
  in Family-School Collaboration?
• How can you use your Professional Characteristics
  and Stages of Collaboration to enhance your
  Family-School Collaborations?

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References

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