I’ve been having a series of amazing conversations lately about the nature of collaboration. We have been exploring individual examples of excellent teamwork or exemplary collaboration to analyze them through the lens of a formal skill rubric. In one discussion, a colleague shared her experience on a team adapting a children’s book for students with multiple impairments. The team was “stacked” with exceptional specialists in adaptive learning, but she was specifically included for her unique perspective as a parent of a child with multiple disabilities. This highlights a commonality in high-level collaboration: the team was not a random assembly, but a group curated for their specific skill sets. This contrasts with the classroom setting, where groups are often randomized or grouped by heterogeneous variables like reading level. It raises the question: can these randomized classroom groupings ever achieve exemplary collaboration?
Students in Skyline High School’s Green Energy Pathway collaborate to solve a problem.
In another example, a medical provider identified a problem with a patient whose individual test results seemed fine but didn’t match up when viewed together. Despite specialists dismissing concerns based only on their specific areas, the provider persisted until the group saw the problem holistically. This persistence created a common understanding of the task, ensuring everyone had enough information to make informed contributions. This aligns perfectly with the CTL’s Postsecondary Success Skills (PSS) Model, which utilizes the definition from Roschelle, Teasley, and Dillenbourg:
“Mutual engagement of participants in a coordinated effort to solve a problem together or learn something together.”
In both professional stories, ideas were generated, modified, and dismissed because the goal was more important than any one person’s ego.
The Challenge of Complexity in the Classroom
For collaboration to be exemplary, the task must be complex enough to require multiple solution pathways and diverse knowledge backgrounds. If we don’t challenge students with these types of demands, we aren’t allowing them to develop their capacity to collaborate. I equate this to reading: if students always read below grade level in class, they will struggle when they face high-stakes, grade-level tests. As Vygotsky would say, we must work within the “zone of proximal development.” We need tasks that require negotiation and compromise to achieve an outcome that is better than what any individual could create alone. To me, this is the heart of the matter: collaboration is not just people doing their part; it is a group working together to address a complex problem to create a superior product.
When piloting our PSS curriculum, we found that students often conflated “working hard” with “exemplary work.” While their reflections were thoughtful, providing evidence for their analysis and targeted next steps, many rated themselves as exemplary simply because of their effort. However, within our model, we define collaboration through specific, measurable components:
- Plan for Success and Clarify: Setting the foundation and expectations.
- Contribute Thinking & Build Consensus: Moving beyond individual ideas to collective agreement.
- Active Participation & Monitor/Reflect/Adapt: Continuously assessing how the team is working together and achieving the goals.
Whether in a chemistry class, on a chess team, or on a varsity basketball court, these constructs remain the same. The purpose of this exploration is to determine what truly defines “exemplary” in terms of collaboration. Is it the individual effort, the team synergy, or the resulting product? Can you have exemplary collaboration that doesn’t result in a successful product?
I want to hear from you as we continue to define these essential skills. Reflecting on your own professional or personal history, when have you experienced a collaboration that felt truly “exemplary” rather than just “accomplished”? I challenge you to share your experiences and insights in the comments below so we can explore these connections together.