5 Comments

  1. ataramona

    Alicia, I think that this subject is key to any organization that wants to be successful. The following are some quotes that I gleaned important from your paper:

    – “‘Collective efficacy is not the sum total of different individuals’ sense of self efficacy within a group, but rather the perception the group’s members have of the entire group’s efficacy in accomplishing tasks.” Pg.4
    I liked that you broke down even more what collective efficacy meant. This takes it from ‘me’ to a ‘we’ mentality. By changing it from an individual’s lone perspective of the group to the group’s perception of the group, it provides the opportunity for a group to analyze their efficiency together and makes it more of a team effort

    – “School leaders attempting to increase teachers’ sense of mastery should focus on recognizing skills and achievements that everyone can do as opposed to specific talents that not all teachers may possess (Gruenert & Whitaker, 2017, p. 146)” Pg.9
    This is another concept that I think is crucial for school leaders as well as in the athletic realm. I touched on this in my paper, but we should focus on the process rather than the product. Teachers all have different strengths and weaknesses, and us as leaders cannot change that; instead, we need to emphasize what each teacher can improve on, such as time management. This being said, I think that there should also be the opportunity to challenge the individual for the better of the school.

  2. amiller17

    Alicia, I find this topic extremely intriguing because it ties so closely with the very goal at the core of why I became an administrator. The lack of collective efficacy is why I believe many schools fail.
    An important point that you made was that a teacher can have a strong self-efficacy yet have a lack of collective efficacy. That teacher who alone is a phenomenal teacher but does not buy into the vision or mission of the school cannot be entirely successful. And you pointed out that collective efficacy is not a matter of the sum total of all of the individual self-efficacies.
    I loved the statement you made that “Schools with high CTE are characterized by high levels of trust, collaboration, job satisfaction, positive morale- even in the face of difficulties, commitment to the teaching task, determination and viewing struggles as problems to be solved as opposed to obstacles.”
    My hope is that in improving each teacher’s self-efficacy, we can then begin rebuilding the collective efficacy our campus greatly needs.

  3. mwillis2

    Alicia,

    Soon after I started teaching 8th grade science in the 90’s, North East ISD implemented a version of team-teaching in the middle schools. It was intended, we were told, that we would be on interdisciplinary teams of each of the core subjects. We would (regularly) develop a common lesson plan that taught each teacher’s objectives. Kinda scary and also exciting. Get your subject taught using your fellow teacher’s subject matter as the basis of the lesson. I looked forward to seeing how my more experienced fellow teachers would Implement the lesson. I note that this would be an example of vicarious persuasion on my part. And, of course, it was intended that we would each give immediate feedback on how it went in our own class. This would be an example of social persuasion. Unfortunately, it never went further than simply keeping track of our common cohort of students’ grades, problems, successes, and emotional potentials. Later I figured that we would have to either work after school most days to implement the original idea of shared lesson planning, or we would have to get an additional period per day free from teaching… the latter an idea we liked but was not going to happen.

  4. mcuervoybennet

    Because this concept has been recognized internationally, I believe it is very important to note the impact on schools in the United States. I completely agree with how the key is to develop faculty to their full potential rather than focusing on what could limit the school. However, it is wise to have a disclaimer of the CTE and student achievement relationship. When CTE increases, so does achievement, and vice versa when CTE is not as strong. Increasing CTE stems from the climate and culture of the school. When there is a more positive climate and culture, the CTE increases. Challenging faculty with a growth-mindset and building a collaborative culture could be the turning point for the “disadvantaged” schools.

  5. kbarton

    Your topic got my attention because it is a topic I do not know a lot about. While reading your paper, I was thinking about my school and how we find ways to implement this with each other. I think this is fascinating in education and should be used across the country in every school. It is not enough for one teacher to believe in this, but every teacher in a school setting.

Leave a Reply