As Roland Barth articulates so well, “All too often, the adult relationships are (in that wonderful phrase from preschool education) parallel play. For hours at a time, two- and three-year-olds in a sandbox can be so engrossed in themselves, in their own work and project and tools, that they are oblivious to anybody else in the sandbox. This is thought to be a stage of development through which two- and three-year-olds soon pass on their way to far more sophisticated forms of human interaction. But I’d say that parallel play characterizes most of what I see going on in schools. The self-contained classroom is parallel play. The English department that doesn’t interact with the math department is parallel play.”
Yet we know that when teachers work in teams to develop the curriculum, integrate teaching and learning across disciplines, share information about students, and serve as mentors for each other, student performance improves. In addition, building and nurturing faculty and staff teams reduces burnout and turnover, and creates a collaborative and supportive environment in which to work. Who doesn’t want that?