Tea2C - empowering teachers through collaboration?

Abstract

The proposed research project endeavours to investigate conditions and quality aspects through which collaboration empowers teachers to navigate the increased demands and complex challenges, develop professionally along the way, and reduce stress. Following this aim, the study will address this core research question: What conditions and quality aspects of collaboration lead to: (1) teachers effectively dealing with increased demands and complex challenges, (2) professionalizing themselves, and (3) teachers concurrently reducing their stress levels? To answer this question, questionnaire, social network, event sampling, and interview data will be collected from teachers in multiple schools in three larger school municipalities in German-speaking Switzerland. These data will be combined employing a longitudinal sequential explanatory mixed methods design. The design focuses initially on quantitative data to investigate relationships between conditions, quality aspects, and outcomes of collaboration, and then focuses on qualitative data to delve deeper into understanding the underlying reasons and meanings behind the quantitative findings. Finally, the two phases will be merged to work towards a professional framework model of effective collaboration.