It's a 'we' thing: Five principles of collaborative teaching, with implications for school leadership

Increasingly, teachers are expected to collaborate because of recognised learning gains for diverse students and a variety of professional benefits. Policy directives globally and in New Zealand support collaborative teaching in flexible learning environments. The focus of this article is on the what, why, and how of collaborative teaching. We report on a small-scale study exploring collaboration from the perspective of junior school teachers who have recent experience in modern learning environments in three New Zealand schools. The findings suggest keys to successful collaborative teaching and its implications for teachers and school leaders.