What? In the context of Learning by Design collaboration means teachers engaging with each other in workshops and meetings, in classrooms and lunchrooms, thinking and talking about the concepts and theory and working together to design Learning Elements. It means teachers analysing and discussing the impact of their designs on students, working with each other to refine or redesign their Learning Elements. It means being a critical friend and providing feedback and having the opportunity to explain one’s purpose or intent to an interested other.
Why? Collaboration creates one of the conditions necessary for more fully understanding key concepts such as the Knowledge Processes and how these can be employed in the classroom. Collaboration provides opportunities for teachers to engage in dialogue and for the development of a professional language and for an expansion of one’s pedagogical repertoire of practice as ideas are shared. It is through collaboration and dialogue that teachers understanding of the concepts of Learning by Design are explored and their meaning thickened. It may be enough to read about ‘Analysing functionally’ in order to understand its meaning however the meaning of such concepts are significantly deepened through dialogue and application, via teachers collaborating on their designs together and discussing the outcomes of these designs on their students.