A harmonious collaboration at all levels is critical to Aspire’s success as an organization. CEO Don Shalvey reflects on the value of collaboration at Aspire, and how we keep fine-tuning our collective voice to serve our students and grow our organization.

The theme of this month’s Aspire Works is collaboration. So, you may ask, what does that have to do with the opera?

Singers are best categorized as soprano, mezzos, tenors or basses, based not only on whether they can hit certain notes, but also on their comfort level in hitting those notes. For example, both sopranos and mezzos can hit the high “C” note, but sopranos are actually much more comfortable singing in that range more often.

Like singers, schools have a collective voice. I believe the best organizations are those who are most comfortable in hitting the high “C.” For singers, different C’s are at different octaves. For organizations, these octaves represent the ways we work together. Many organizations can hit the low “C:” congeniality. The individuals in congenial organizations enjoy one another’s company; they share hobbies and opinions about life, leisure, family and recreation. Most schools hit this note. To hit the middle-range C note is a bit more difficult: Cooperation and Coordination don’t always come easy. To be cooperative, individuals must make compromises and sometimes do things they don’t want to do - like signing up to clean the lunchroom refrigerator. Still, most schools are reasonably good at coordinating and cooperating. Often, we get good at this out of necessity: STAR testing, student exhibitions, schedules, and student-led parent conferences all require coordination.

But hitting the high “C” – and being at ease in that range - is something few organizations master. Collaboration leads to a deep sense of the joy that comes from staff voluntarily sharing their craft with colleagues. Collaboration rises out of two beliefs: that every individual is enhanced as a result of the teamwork, and that the mission of the organization is best served through a collective effort. Collaborative conversations are elegant in their simplicity and focus, grand in their sense of collective caring, and majestic in the results.

The results of collaboration are visible all around us in non-school settings. The rapid identification of the SARS virus by scientists around the world, the design of the Apple iPod, and the creation of Cirque du Soleil performances are all examples of what is possible through collaboration. Unfortunately, collaboration is not as common as it should be in the education field. There is a prevailing wisdom that educators must be “private and tactical.” The traditional culture in schools often dissuades collaboration, for fear of exposing one’s weaknesses or appearing to be arrogant in celebrating successes. Teacher training, both formal and informal, conveys a series of subtle messages that educators have to learn to “go it alone.” In fact, just the opposite is true.

Happily, at Aspire, we are already better than average at collaborating. And, every day we become more comfortable staying in the range of the high “C.” We work collaboratively with school districts and community partners to create new schools, such as the two new Aspire schools that will open in Oakland this fall. We make time during the school year and school day to enable teachers to look at student work, analyze data, and create lesson plans together with their colleagues. And we hire managers who harness collaboration as an essential quality in successful school operations.

Don Shalvey, CEO
Aspire Public Schools