Managing collaborative relationships has never been easy. Today's post-Janus world and broader national context of political polarization present even more challenges. Nonetheless school district teams of union leaders, teachers and administrators from Washington and Oregon gathered at Northwest TURN on November 2 & 3, 2018, in Federal Way to focus on building stronger, collaborative relationships. We know those relationships matter at every level of a school system and they make a difference for students and the adults in our schools. The teams at NW TURN looked at ways to strengthen relationships at both the district and building level.
Jo Anderson, Co-Executive Director of Consortium for Educational Change, moderated a panel on ways to use labor-management negotiations to improve conditions even in these challenging times. As part of that panel, Janet Gilman, Oregon State Conciliator, reviewed programs the Oregon Employment Board has to support districts and union teams in negotiations through Interest-based Bargaining (IBB). Phyllis Campano, a teacher and president of the Seattle Education Association, described how they modified IBB to manage conflict and produce an innovative contract for Seattle educators in their recent negotiations.
And as we know, relationships matter at the building level just as much as at the district level. Principals and teachers from Salmon Creek and Hazel Dell elementary schools in Vancouver, Washington, described how teachers can embrace their role as professional practitioners and how school principals can support that work through Professional Learning Communities. Ann Cummins-Bogan from the Consortium for Educational Change deepened the conversation with a review of the right drivers to deepen student learning.
The teams active in NW TURN are looking forward to our next conference set for May 10 & 11, 2019, to continue our work to build collaborative relationships for student success and expand our understanding of social-emotional learning competencies to address the needs of all students.