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

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
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
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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 Teamwork
Consultants 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 Solving
1. 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
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
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 5.4
Exploring 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.

effective problem solving

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