COLLABORATION and PARTNERSHIP BUILDING
Whereas a collaboration is a partnership; a union; the act of producing or making something together. To collaborate is to commit to the possibility of producing an outcome greater than for one... the partners agree to benefit the other and as a result they benefit themselves.
TOTCUS participants (students, teachers, experts) learn to engage as collaborators.
TOTCUS groups, once they have been brouGht (FORMING) together, will typically struggle (STORMING) to get going/working together. The diagram below shows the typical early cycle in the development of a performing group.
Forming -- meeting and finding out about each other and what you would like to do together, but...
Storming -- ....there will at first be difficulties and disagreements until...
Norming -- ...the group members all agree trust and respect each others ideas and styles; be willingness to be open to accept different points of view (KNOWLEDGE), empower ideas and where they came from (ENCOURAGEMENT), and together establish effective communication. These are the groups agree upon rules -- agreement of what you wish to accomplish (MISSION) and how you are going to get there.
Performing -- you and on the way and if your group has a a challenge or barrier, (PRACTICE) revisiting step 3 will help.
Getting Your Group Started
This a good starting point for all groups starting out