Why Does Collaboration Work? Linking Positive Psychology and Collaboration

Authors in this special issue edited by Cook and Friend provide analyses of many important relationships within a school: teacher to teacher; teacher to paraprofessional, educators, and home caregivers; and whole-building systems. Their focus on collaboration prompted us to reflect on a possible theoretical mechanism behind the success of collaboration. In this article we suggest that positive psychology processes mediate the influences of collaboration upon the improvements in schools. We hope our perspective facilitates research and practice. In a perfect world filled with wisdom and resources, Pre-K through 12 schools might be designed quite differently. Although the details of such a design would vary with the priorities of the planners, a few parameters might be universal. For example, teachers would have access to material assistance so that their focus could be always on children’s learning. This assistance would include clerical help with routine tasks, expert consultation about children with special needs, continuous professional development to hone their skills in subject areas and pedagogical competences, and assistance in their understanding of their students. They would have time in their days protected so that they could meet with colleagues to plan instructional and behavioral plans for children with all levels of need and potential. They would have regular access to classroom assistants who were skilled in extending and reinforcing the teachers’ instructional plans. Further, their schools would be led by principals who were experts at maximizing relationships among teachers and with parents, district leader