Collaboration Spotlight: Parent Ambassador Annual Meeting

In June 2017, Mariana Merritt, MNPS Coordinator of Family and Community Engagement, Pre-K, attended the Leading Collaborative Inquiry Teams workshop.  A challenge at the end of the workshop was to use some of the structures, strategies, and principles at your next meeting.  Mrs. Merritt was up to the challenge and is willing to share with us strategies she used and how it affected her meeting.
 
On July 15, 2017, Mariana Merritt facilitated the Parent Ambassador Annual Meeting.  Since this group just formed, their first task was to develop a vision and mission statement to guide their work for the 2017-2018 school year.  During her reflection, she shared three strategies that helped her effectively lead this collaborative team.

Collaborative Inquiry Process

• Currently, MNPS defines collaborative inquiry as “Collaborative Inquiry is a data-based team process that consciously uses the collaborative learning cycle (activating and engaging, exploring and discovering, and organizing and integrating) and the qualities of effective teams (fostering a culture of trust, maintaining a clear focus, taking collective responsibility and data-informed decision making” (MNPS Collaborative Inquiry Community of Practice, 2017). 
  

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• Mrs. Merritt used the collaborative learning cycle to plan her session and then used group dynamics strategies to successfully facilitate the group.
  • Activating and Engaging: Mrs. Merritt used a visual synectic to start the meeting, which helped generate ideas and foster psychological safety at the beginning of the meeting.
    

• Exploring and Discovering:  Mrs. Merritt provided some information about mission and vision statements, including examples.
• Organizing and Integrating: Now that everyone had a working knowledge of vision and mission, the team created mission and vision statements.  
  

Vision

Mission

The vision of the MNPS parent ambassadors is for all new Non-English language background families at every school to have access, support and resources to be empowered and engaged in their child's educational success.

We are welcoming parents, helping Non-English language background families that are new to Metro Nashville Public Schools to understand and navigate the school system.

Third Point

“The third point is an inanimate object in the room that becomes the focus of attention” (Lipton & Wellman, 2015, p. 44).  The premise of using a third point is two fold--“to focus a conversation and create the appropriate level of emotional protection” (Lipton & Wellman, 2015, p. 44) so honest dialogue can occur. 

While Mrs. Merritt stated that the third point was not used explicitly during the one hour session, she did use the participants’ membership applications to help refocus the conversation.  “This helped everyone focus on individual reasons they wanted to participate along with the stated information in the application form of what membership meant” (M. Merritt, personal communication, July 24, 2017).

Diamond Pattern of Interaction

A diamond pattern of interaction is “a sequence of individual work, followed by structured sharing, ending with an opportunity for individual integration of new ideas” (Wellman & Lipton, 2017, p. 86). 

Mrs. Merritt (personal communication, July 24, 2017) observed when using this group dynamic principle that it helped participants have a vested interest and personal connection to the dialogue and the outcome of the meeting. 

Thanks to Mariana Merritt for allowing us to learn with her.

If you have a collaborative inquiry story and/or need support with collaborative inquiry, please email Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org.

References:
Lipton, L. & Wellman, B. (2015).  Leading groups: Effective strategies for building professional community.  Charlotte, VT: MiraVia, LLC.
MNPS Community of Practice. (2017).  MNPS collaborative inquiry toolkit website.  Retrieved from http://www.mnpscollaboration.org/
Wellman, B. & Lipton, L. (2017).  Data-driven dialogue: A facilitator’s guide to collaborative inquiry.  Charlotte, VT: MiraVia, LLC.