Norms for Collaboration

We are all here to share ideas and practices that spark transformative learning and unleash the potential of MAICP educators and students. We need everyone’s help to keep our community strong and effective. As our Community of Practice has grown, we have identified aspects of how we work together that contribute to developing and sustaining a culture of collaboration. We hope and expect that new members will learn about these practices and that all members will abide by them, whether interacting in person, in a virtual event, or over email.

To guide our collaborative conversations, we use these Community Agreements, adapted from the work of Glenn Singleton:

• Stay engaged. Be physically, intellectually, and emotionally present for our shared work.
• Speak your truth. Bring your own authentic self to the work, and respect the lived experiences of others as their truths.
• Listen for understanding – without jumping in to make comparisons, offer suggestions, or give solutions.
• If you wonder, ask. There aren’t any quick fixes or easy answers, but all our learning benefits by asking the hard questions.

We also acknowledge the generosity of members who share their work with the wider community in the form of links to resources, templates for documents, advice, and sometimes site visits. If you benefit from this generosity, please remember to credit the provider on any related work you produce, and remember to say thanks! If you are asking for someone’s time, on the phone or for a site visit, please keep the convenience and needs of the host as your top priority. These small but significant moves will help us preserve our positive, student-focused, and equity-centered culture even as the Innovation Career Pathways initiative expands to encompass more schools and students.