Being able to effectively collaborate is a vital skill in school social work. Week five of SOWK 587 is a synchronous week, with in-person class on Saturday (02/21/26). Students will read about collaboration in their textbook (Jarolmen & Batista-Thomas, 2023) and have opportunities to engage in with other sources exploring how we work together in schools. In discussion forums, students will share real-world examples of collaboration and engage critically with the material. During class, we will build on these discussions by practicing key collaboration techniques in simulated team settings.

The agenda for class is as follows:

• Multi-disciplinary team meetings
• Best practices and strategies for effective collaboration
• MTDM Role-Play Scenarios
• Intersectionality and working with diverse team members

The Learning Objectives for the week include

• Critically reflect on the experiences of effective collaboration to draw out common elements
• Analyze the topic of collaboration from a number of different perspectives and focuses
• Identify practices that are effective working in teams and strategies for implementing them
• Assess methods to develop rapport and work with diverse team members
• Implement a collaborative meeting using active listening, shared decision-making, and conflict resolution skills