effective problem solving

Effective Problem Solving

9/25/2012

Methods for Addressing Conflict in Co-taught Classrooms

By Greg Conderman

A whole group discussion Please have your article ready and be

prepared to discuss it.

Coteaching

Who may be selected to be a coteacher?

What skills are needed to have effective coteaching?

Interpersonal skills, willingness and ability to work collaboratively, and skills in successfully handling conflict.

Conflict may produce positive outcomes

Clarify each partner’s issues Increase each person’s involvement in

the process and outcomes Promote professional and personal

growth. Strengthen interpersonal relationships Rebuild organizational systems Foster problem solving.

Nature and Sources of Conflict – Defining Conflict

Occurs when individuals experience unresolved differences in terms of needs, values, goals and/or personalities.

Controversies are situations where teachers have incompatible ideas.

5 Types of Conflict

Value-based Structural Relationship Data-based Interest-based

Sources of Coteaching Conflict

Coplanning Coinstructing Coassessing

Proactive Strategies Discuss instructional-related issues

before you begin. Ask your coteacher how he or she

wants to address conflict. Put plans in writing. Address issues early. Use effective communication skills. Do not expect perfection

5 Conflict Approaches

Avoiding Accommodating Compromise Collaborating Dominating/Forcing

Dos and Don’ts

Conclusion

Be proactive by assessing how they typically address conflict

Discuss ground rules for dealing with difficult issues

Practice effective communication skills Acknowledge that neither partner is

perfect.

Problem-Solving Strategies for Collaborative Consultation and

Teamwork

Chapter 5

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Recipe for Collaborative Consultation Using a structured process for collaborative school consultation has been compared to cooking with a recipe. Once the basics of cooking have been mastered, the cook can take more liberties and adjust and fine tune the recipe.

In a similar fashion, with experience and practice, consultants can adapt their early adoption efforts of collaborative consultation to fit the needs and styles of individuals and schools with whom they work.

Collaborative School Consultation Recipe Communication Skills

Trust

Preparation

Problem Solving Strategies & Tools

Teamwork

Following Through and Follow-up

Ethics Measure each carefully and adapt recipe to fit the needs of individuals within their school contexts.


Focusing Questions

What are fundamental components in a problem-solving process?

Why is problem identification so important in collaborative consultation?

What basic steps should be included in the collaborative school consultation process?


Focusing Questions (cont.) What kinds of things should consultants and

consultees say and do during their professional interactions?

What problem-solving techniques are particularly helpful for collaborative consultation and teamwork?

What are interferences and hurdles that must be overcome when problem solving with co-educators?


The Problem-Solving Process

Unlike a tiger’s stripes, problem-solving skills can be changed (improved) with training and practice.

Collaborative consultants deal with two general categories of problem solving:

1) school-wide problems, and

2) specific student problems


Problem-Solving Teams

Regardless of the type of problem (i.e., learning or behavior), problem-solving teams must work together to:

Delineate the Problem

Implement a Plan

Follow Through and Follow Up

Generate Possibilities


Delineating the Problem

Multisourced information provides a more accurate picture of learning and behavior problems, where they occur, the severity and frequency of the problems, and the persons involved.


Layers of Problem Solving

Problems are like artichokes—they come in layers.

Only after the outside layers are stripped away can we get at the heart of the matter.

Good listening facilitates movement to the heart of the problem.


Problem Solving is Not Done by Individuals in Isolation

Eager consultants often jump in looking for the “quick fix” and try to solve problems alone.

You must first listen before you can be heard. All learning situations and students are unique.

Some problems may seem similar but the combinations of various factors make each problem and solutions distinct.

Good collaborative consultants do not “solve” problems–they see that problems get solved.


Decision Making and Implementation

Implementing Plans

Each possible solution is put out on the table and the merits and consequences of each are discussed.

The problem-solving group selects a workable solution they are willing to try, at least on an experimental basis.

Follow Through and Follow Up Up

Once a solution has been chosen, it is tempting to breathe a sigh of relief and move on, but follow through and monitoring progress is crucial.

If progress is less than desired, or if other problems have surfaced, the problem-solving process should be repeated.


Problem-Solving Roles

Consultation Collaboration TeamworkConsultants must facilitate problem

solving with understanding, skill, objectivity and self-

confidence.

Consultants encourage collective thinking and facilitate

everyone’s ideas being heard.

The role of the consultant is to

facilitate interaction and teamwork.

Problem Solving through . . .


Ten-Step Process for Collaborative Problem Solving1. Prepare for consultation.

2. Initiate the consultation.

3. Collect and organize relevant information.

4. Isolate the problem.

5. Identify concerns and realities about the problem.

6. Generate solutions.

7. Formulate a plan.

8. Evaluate progress and process.

9. Follow through and follow up on the consultation.

10. Repeat or continue consultation as appropriate.


What to Say

Sometimes, after an interaction, we think back to what we wish we would have said or in hindsight think, “I could have handled that differently.”

Practicing verbal responses that are helpful at each step of the problem-solving process will help your interactions become more natural and automatic to use the facilitative phrases when the need arises.


Using the 10-Step Consulting Process

Use the 10-step process to consult with each other about the following scenario.

LaShawn is an 8th grader with some behavior problems. He has been known to target girls for sexual harassment, to continually speak when the teacher is talking, and to interrupt class focus time. He is on a behavior plan and is supposed to take 10-minute time out breaks when he gets out of control, then go to the counselor for another time out.


What if Group Problem Solving Is Not Successful?

If the 10-step process does not work, consultants should ask the following questions:

• Were feelings addressed?• Was the problem defined accurately?• Were good listening skills used by all?• Were there hidden agendas that were not addressed?• Was the consultation process evaluated & discussed?• Was there follow-up?• Do problem solving techniques need to be practiced?


Tools for Group Problem Solving Working together and drawing on the collective expertise to solve

problems is common practice in the business and professional world but educators often don’t feel as comfortable utilizing these techniques. Autonomy and self-sufficiency have been more standard practice and maybe more convenient than collaboration and teamwork.

One area where educators do have an ongoing opportunity for problem solving in schools is the IEP process. Thus, a simulated IEP can be used to practice and enhance consultation and collaboration skills.


Tools for Group Problem Solving

Brainstorming - useful when the group wishes to explore as many alternatives as possible and defer evaluation of ideas until the options have been exhausted.

Reverse brainstorming - useful when group is stuck and needs to find another approach. Participants propose what would be considered the opposites of good ideas. (Should be used with caution to avoid possible misconceptions.)

There are a number of easy-to-use problem-solving techniques suitable for group participation. Examples include:


Tools for Group Problem Solving (cont.)

Lateral Thinking - vertical or sequential thinking is the conventional method of planning and thinking but lateral thinking causes you to change the approach or direction of your thinking. Meant to complement rather than replace vertical thinking.

Six Thinking Hats - group participants are each asked to figuratively “put on” a different hat to consider looking at the problem from a different perspective or vantage point other than their own.


Tools for Group Problem Solving (cont.)

Concept Mapping - tool for identifying concepts and showing relationships between them. Users display ideas, link them together, elaborate on them, add new information as it surfaces, and review the formulation of ideas. Seeing the visual relationships can help verbalize problems and interventions -- recorded for all to see.

Idea Checklist - College texts, teaching manuals, and other resources can be used to get ideas for solving problems. (E.g., sometimes new ideas will surface for helping a struggling students by perusing off-level curriculum

manuals.)


Tools for Group Problem Solving (cont.)Synectics, Metaphors and Janusian Thinking - making the familiar

strange and the strange familiar is the idea behind synectics. An example might be if a teacher heard a colleague from the school’s gifted education program talk about incorporating complex thinking skills into the general education curriculum for all students. The teacher of the developmentally delayed students takes this basic idea and figures out a way to apply the idea with his students.

Metaphors use one subject to strengthen and deepen the understanding in another.

Janusian thinking involves using two or more contradictory or opposite ideas simultaneously—for example, sweet and salty. The term “Janusian” was coined from the Roman god Janus who looks backward into the old year and forward into the new (i.e., the month of January).


Application Activity 5.4Exploring the Power of Janusian Thinking

With colleagues, use the technique of group brainstorming, permitting no judging of the ideas, and having a disposition in which the strange becomes familiar, such as in Sweet Tarts, dry ice, jumbo shrimp, and snow blanket, to generate more examples of Janusian thought.

Then shift to a socially focused mode and try for ideas such as win/win, and friendly fire. After thinking of several clever product-type examples, the power of the process becomes evident. But that is the easy task!

Now strive for new, Janusian-based concepts that can help students, such as creative homework, innovative drill, elementary/secondary student mentorships and more. Not so many years ago some considered collaborative consultation to be a Janusian phrase, but no more.


More Techniques for Collaborative Problem Solving

Other collaborative activities can also be used to nurture creative thinking.

Jigsaw

Reciprocal Teaching

Compare and Contrast

SCAMPER

Plus-Minus-Interesting

Role Play

Concentric Circle or Fishbowl

In-Basket Techniques

Case Studies

Role Rotation

TalkWalk


Use of Multiple Intelligences

A unique way to generate many perspectives is to frame questions in terms of Gardner’s multiple intelligence categories.

For example, to build interest, rapport and skills for team teaching among staff with no experience doing it, you could generate some questions like these around the multiple intelligence categories.

Linguistic: How can we use words and stories to describe team teaching?

Bodily-kinesthetic: How can we move throughout the room, arrange materials, and get students’ attention when we are teaching together in the same space?


Interaction Formats

Knowing how to set up a variety of group formats for stimulating interaction among professionals is a useful tool.

Buzz Groups: Works well for groups as large as 50 or more.

Huddles: Works best with groups of 5 or 6.

Circle Response: Small groups of collaborators interact in a circle.


Interferences and Hurdles to Overcome

Before engaging in collaboration, co-educators should first examine their own perspectives and preferences to identify any potential aspects that might impede their ability to collaborate. Caplan (1995) suggested four interfering themes that can reduce co-educators’ ability to be divergent thinkers and problem solvers.

Knowledge and

understanding

Skills

Self-confidence Objectivity


A Team Approach

Much in the same way that astronomers from all parts of the world must collaborate because there is no one place from which every part of their “work area,” the sky, can be observed, educators and parents must also work together as they address each child’s total needs to develop learning and behavior goals for the child.

These goals become building blocks for decision making. Without goals, decision making is like a hammer without nails. A goal motivates action and provides direction for that action. Reviewing goals helps educators stay focused and sort out the things that are important from those that are not.


A Sample of Potential Hurdles

Consulting teachers are likely to experience at least a few of the following hurdles: Loss of touch with students when not providing direct

service to them Being regarded as a teacher’s aid Territoriality Running into veils of professional politeness Unrealistic expectations Too many “hats” to wear in the role Resistance of colleagues toward change of any kind


Positive and Not-So-Positive Consultations

Share within a small group examples that group members have experienced, good and bad, or greatest fears of those who have not yet been in a collaborative teacher role.

What might the persons with “not-so-positive” experiences do to result in a better outcome either before or as a follow-up to the situation?


Ethics for Collaborative and Consultative Problem Solving

Special educators must deal with sensitive issues and matters of confidentiality on a daily basis. IEP conferences with a number of people in attendance is a prime example.

Collaborative consultants cannot assume that all colleagues have the necessary skills to collaborate and successfully navigate all the ethical nuances they might encounter. They must be ever watchful for behaviors that might result in negative outcomes.

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