Collaboration Is Not a Meeting: Redefining Teamwork for Busy Schools
One of the most common barriers I hear when supporting teams in curriculum planning is that decisions cannot be made until everyone is in the same room at the same time. The assumption underlying this is understandable: collaboration means being together, and we value the perspectives all our team members bring. But in a busy school environment, where multiple staff commitments often collide, waiting for perfect attendance is not only unrealistic, it is professionally paralysing. More importantly, it prevents us from doing what matters most: ensuring that students experience coherent, challenging, and conceptually aligned learning. Over the past few weeks, I have found myself returning to the same observation again and again. While many teams are strengthening their Stage 1 planning, identifying the conceptual understandings, knowledge, and skills from our updated written curriculum, there is a noticeable disconnect when they move into Stage 2. Sometimes this is even omitted, and they...