Four years ago, I had just taken on the role of literacy coordinator and felt a little isolated. When working as part of a successful, like-minded department, the shared vision is clear and your support network is strong. Coordinating literacy could not be more different.
I quickly came to realise that if I wanted to feel less isolated, I needed to create my own network. When I was first starting out, I delivered a speech at a teach-meet, exploring the idea that literacy needs to be more than simply one person steering the ship. It was this experience that led me to compile and coordinate Litdrive.
Litdrive started as a shared online resource drive for primary and secondary reading lists, spelling tasks and whole-school initiatives to share with other literacy coordinators. As secondary schools were beginning to rethink their key stage 3 curriculums for the coming year, I collaborated with other teachers. I set up a Twitter handle and encouraged other teachers to share resources and work together to lighten their own workload.
The Litdrive movement proved to be popular. The inbox was full of heartfelt thanks as teachers shared with me their lack of confidence in their work, or spoke about the hours that had been taken away from spending time with their families as they tried to sufficiently resource their departments.
Teachers emailed over their resources to share and were thrilled when others gave them amazing feedback or offered to exchange something in return. Having a Twitter presence for Litdrive gave the community an outlet to “meet” and connect with one another.
Litdrive has been a success, but I don't think that it stops here. I think that the same success could be replicated by teachers in other departments, subjects and schools. Realising the power of collaboration is empowering, so here are my tips on how to start your own collaborative movement:
1. Be clear about your common goal
This could be a teaching or a learning focus, subject knowledge development or even a commitment to building a network of individuals to work together across local schools. Whatever your goal, make sure you are clear about it. If time is tight and meetings (even remote ones) are difficult to organise, set up a shared working document to record your ideas collaboratively or use a file-sharing space to share ideas.
2. Share ownership
If you have an idea for a project, utilise the skillsets of your collaborators and share ownership of the project with them. This will make it easier to get things started and maintain your momentum. Sharing ownership will also give you the advantage of a range of perspectives and mean that others have a chance to build towards their own professional development.
3. Reach far and wide
Social media is a fantastic resource that means you don’t need to rely on just local businesses, universities and schools for support. During my time setting up Litdrive, I have reached out to individuals from London to New Zealand to Minnesota for help and advice. Depending upon the project you want to get off the ground, sharing your obstacles online may result in being pointed in the direction of some brilliant charities, companies or existing collaborative groups that can help make your idea a reality.
Katherine Howard is a teacher of English at Brockington College. She tweets @saysmiss
Litdrive, a free sharing space for English teachers, will relaunch at the end of July of this year, to support teachers with preparation for the new term.
