Address: Sachkhere Municipality Village Sairkhe

Country: Georgia

Project: “Effective collaboration of school departments”

Working language during the project:

• Georgian
• English
   

Themes of the Council of Europe project “FREE to SPEAK, SAFE to LEARN - Democratic Schools for All” covered:

• Making children’s and students’ voices heard
• Addressing controversial issues
• Improving well-being at school
   

Competences from the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC) addressed and where / how they were integrated:

• Valuing democracy, justice, fairness, equality and the rule of law
  Implemented Activities:
  - Peer Observation and feedback
  - Exchange of roles
• Analytical and critical thinking skills
  Implemented Activities:
  - Teacher development using group discussion and reflection
• Co-operation skills
  Implemented Activities:
  - Integrated lessons
  - Joint creation of resources
  - Mutual teaching
  - Meetings of school departments
   

Target group age range:

• 5 - 11
• 11 - 15
• 15 - 19
   

Level of education:

• Primary education
• Lower secondary education
• Upper secondary education
   

Short description of the project:

Collaboration is considered an important basis for education and involvement because it develops social and other essential skills, attitudes, values. Collaboration is considered to be the most important professional competence. This is why the focus on teacher competence in education theories does not focus solely on knowledge.

According to the difficulties encountered during the research stages of the project, it was found that teachers did not have adequate experience and practice, departments did not cooperate on common themes, did not share the practice of successful implementation of new strategies, identified common problems, planned / implemented joint interventions. Through collaboration within the project, teachers did not feel alone with existing difficulties, because having a partner allows teachers to take risks, use new methods and experiences. The joint reflection they produce at the end of the month also helps them to solve current problems and continue working. Research has shown that collaboration is a necessary factor in working both to gain self-confidence and to find new ways to solve problems.
 

Aims/objectives

Continuous professional development of teachers and the formation of a culture of cooperation means the development of sustainable and long-term plans for these processes. Collaborative activities include all aspects of teaching, including: planning, decision-making and problem solving. All lead to the sharing of collective responsibility between teachers and students.

The aim of the project is to introduce the following models of cooperation in everyday life in order to create an effective learning environment:

• Integrated lessons
• Critical Friend Institute
• Constructive feedback
• Swap roles
• Joint creation of teaching resources
• Mutual teaching
• Teacher development using group discussion and reflection
• School department meetings

Our goal as the research team is to study the impact of teacher collaboration on the quality of their teaching and learning activities in detail, the difficulties associated with it, and to find optimal ways to solve problems that will help teachers develop school-based professionalism.
 

Expected results/outcomes

• There are regular department meetings that are specifically dedicated to student learning.
• Self-assessment is done to improve team performance.
• The department conducts and analyses midterm assessments that are consistent with the school curriculum.
• Department members use self-assessment results to improve their own activities.
• The department helps to improve the teaching-learning process by systematically reviewing / improving teachers' pedagogical practices.
   

Changes

School teachers are organized into departments suitable for them.

Department members plan the work process based on students' academic achievement.

Specific time is allotted for regular meetings of chair members.

The terms of the action plan are met, and the results of monitoring and evaluation are taken into account.

There is a focus on critical aspects with the products presented.

The school has a system for timely monitoring of the progress of the departments and their effectiveness.

All departments have developed norms that define the reciprocal duties and principles of the department.

Departments have the appropriate knowledge base, time and support to maximize their effectiveness.

All school representatives share common values ​​and interests. Each teacher cares for students ’high academic performance and self-regulatory discipline. Teachers collaborate regularly to improve teaching and classroom management strategies. They analyse data on each student or common problematic issues, and try to jointly find ways to improve the situation. In a collaborative environment, communication is not just about meetings, it is about the classroom and the work process.
 

Challenges you faced

There were of course challenges during the project, meeting the deadlines for the tasks to be presented, meeting the time limit during the implementation of the activities, creating additional motivation in terms of involvement.
 

Time-frame of the project:

2019-2020 school years.
 

Council of Europe materials on citizenship and human rights education used while preparing or implementing your practice:

• Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture
• Living Democracy - manuals for teachers
• Addressing violence in schools through EDC/HRE
• Human Rights and Democracy Start with Us – Charter for All
• Freedom(s) - Learning activities for secondary schools on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights
• How all Teachers Can Support EDC/HRE: A Framework for the Development of Competences
• Multimedia Material (ex. video “Beat Bullying”, series of cartoons “Democracy and Human Rights at School”, video “Corporal punishment at school: how two parents decided to change things”)