Collaborative
Leadership, Motivation and Performance
A Comparison of
Collaborative leaders are motivators and they facilitate higher levels of performance in groups as they build trust and develop critical thinking, problem solving and group learning skills in their organizations. Collaborative teamwork involves putting the mission and goals of the organization or group first over individual interests. And, as group members become dedicated to service and goals beyond their own interests, they become more motivated to achieve and often exceed their own group as well as individual goals. The more high-minded and service-oriented workers and employees become the more motivated they are to achieve and perform at levels of peak performance. At these levels of high synergy ordinary individuals are capable of extraordinary achievements as the group becomes greater than the sum of its parts. The following consists of two examples of how school systems handled the problems associated with the motivation and performance of their students and teachers – one using a competitive money-based system and the other a collaborative system of motivation to improve both the curriculum and performance of teachers and students (Also see Leadership in Education).
School System A was run by a new ambitious superintendent who was hired to bring better teachers into the school system and to improve the performance of existing teachers. He had the full support of his board that approved a pay for performance plan to attract new teachers. And, for those existing teachers willing to risk their tenure, they offered the same pay for performance plan. Those teachers willing to give up tenure would be paid to raise the levels of student performance in their classes and if they succeeded over the following year to lift student results, they would be given tenure back as well as a significant increase in pay based upon performance.
On paper the plan seemed like a good way to improve student performance as well as the quality of teachers in School System A. However, they began to encounter significant problems with the plan including major resistance from the teachers as well as their union. With the new criteria for teacher performance, many teachers fell short within the first year and were fired. Others succeeded for awhile in improving student performance but because of the pressure for immediate results they increasingly geared their teaching to the tests that would measure student progress and the size of their paychecks. At first, stimulated by the change, students found themselves working hard to meet the new standards, but gradually grew tired of the constant memorization and testing that was required to lift their performance. Over the following three years, seventy law suits were filed by teachers against the school system who believed they were fired too quickly based upon one dimensional educational criteria. Although student performance on the objective tests improved significantly, overall student motivation declined as the richness of class discussion, writing and creative pursuits were sacrificed for more focus on testing and narrowly construed measurements of teaching and student performance. Gradually, The Pay for Performance Plan of School System A fell apart under the weight of teacher resistance, student decline in motivation and the law suits that drained school resources.
In contrast, School System B also hired a new superintendent to improve teaching and lift the performance of students. However, he took a totally different approach based upon building collaborative partnerships among the teachers, the school and the community. As a collaborative leader, he realized studies support the fact that workers, especially teachers, are motivated by more than just increased pay. Also, he understood that the more high-minded and service-oriented students and teachers were the more motivated they were to achieve. So, he developed a plan to help the teachers to connect their teaching and classes to benefits for humanity and career paths for students that could make a difference in society. He also included in addition to better pay, new core curriculum consisting of courses that would help students to develop better writing, critical thinking, collaborative learning and group communication skills that assisted students in their classes as well as improved student collaborative leadership abilities across curriculum. Finally, he developed more programs to expose students to opportunities for community service and to bring parents into the schools to discuss student progress periodically with the teachers. Gradually, all of these efforts seemed to enrich the curriculum for the students and the teachers giving them more meaningful discussion and greater focus on improving the study and the social skills that helped them to develop as individuals as well as students and teachers.
Although their performance on tests did not improve as rapidly as the students in School System A, the students in School System B slowly did raise their levels of academic performance, but more importantly, student dropout rates declined, more students graduated, and the motivation of students and faculty to improve and help others increased significantly. And, with the new and improved curriculum more quality teachers were attracted to School System B who were able to further motivate the students as they developed more opportunities for growth in the enriched collaborative and connected contexts for learning and achievement.
Discussion
Questions
- What were the elements of motivation that were the keys to success for the Collaborative Plan of School System B?
- Does rapid improvement in tests scores necessarily correlate with improved motivation and overall learning and performance?
- Why did the teachers resist the Pay for Performance Plan of School System A ?
- What is involved in quality teaching that motivates students and helps them want to improve and be better students as well as people?
- What are the important elements of academic performance that are not reflected in a student’s ability to perform well on tests?
- Discuss the importance of critical thinking, collaborative learning, problem solving, group communication and clear writing skills for academic success.
- Discuss the Collaborative
Leadership abilities of School System B Superintendent with the more
traditional management style of School System A Superintendent. How did
their different leadership approaches help or hinder them?
