Before we talk about planners, transdisciplinary themes, or lines of inquiry, let’s pause and ask:
Do we really know each other as a team?
Collaboration doesn’t start in a meeting, it starts with relationships.
As PYP coordinators, our first responsibility is not to organize documents or chase deadlines. It’s to create a safe learning environment where teachers feel they can take risks, share unfinished ideas, and learn from mistakes without fear. Like our students, teachers need psychological safety to grow.
When we know the strengths of each teacher, collaboration becomes meaningful. Some are creative thinkers, others are strong organizers or great with technology. Starting the year by identifying and celebrating these strengths helps divide tasks fairly, share responsibilities wisely, and set everyone up for success.
Creating action plans for growth and improvement can make professional learning intentional. Growth doesn’t just happen, it’s planned, tracked, and celebrated.
Another essential step is to establish a buddy system: pairing new teachers with returning ones. This not only supports induction but models the mentoring culture we want to see inside the classrooms. Everything we, as PYP coordinators, model (reflection, risk-taking, collaboration) is exactly what we expect teachers to model for their students.
Team building is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. Celebrate achievements, share laughter. Teams that trust each other can have honest, productive conversations, even when they disagree.
A well-structured termly agenda keeps collaboration focused. Build it around guiding questions. Each meeting should have clear actions, deadlines, and responsibilities. Don’t let meetings become reporting sessions; make them thinking spaces. And when possible, move away from screens: use flip charts, sticky notes, and face-to-face dialogue. People connect better when they see each other’s eyes. Let one teacher complete the planner on any platform you use during the meeting.
At the beginning of the year, create essential agreements for collaborative meetings:
- Everyone comes prepared with ideas.
- Discussions lead to action.
- Respect, openness, and curiosity guide every exchange.
And let’s not forget the power of the IB documents. The section on Collaboration in The Learning Communities document reminds us:
“Supporting transdisciplinary learning requires time and a commitment to collaboration. This includes students, classroom teachers, subject-specific teachers, librarians, media-specialist teachers, inclusion specialists, and so on. Teachers and students learn from each other as they share knowledge, perspectives and experiences; discuss how to design, plan, facilitate and assess learning and teaching; and consider how to transfer knowledge. Teachers co-learn with students when inquiries take them beyond subject boundaries, exploring a potentially infinite number of opportunities to address the transdisciplinary themes.”
This paragraph says it all: collaboration takes time. It cannot happen in a rushed lunch break or a 30-minute slot squeezed between lessons. Leadership teams and PYP coordinators must find creative solutions : half PD days, termly planning days, or dedicated afternoon sessions, to allow true, reflective collaboration to happen.
Facilitating collaborative planning is at the heart of the PYP coordinator’s role. Within this framework, we recognize three collaborative practices:
- Co-constructed learning experiences:
- Supported learning experiences
- Stand-alone learning experiences
But collaboration is not limited to adults. It extends across the entire learning community:
- Grade 6 students can mentor Grade 5 during the Exhibition.
- Grade 4 can be reading buddies for Grade 1.
- An NGO can partner with Grade 3 around a unit of inquiry.
- A local artist can collaborate with Grade 2.
- An author can come and write with Grade 4 students
The possibilities are endless, as long as we slow down enough to see them.
We just need to stop running, take a deep breath, and focus on one, two, or at most three priorities per year. Deep collaboration doesn’t happen when we multitask too much, it happens when we give time, trust, and attention to what matters most.
Because in the end, collaboration is not just a meeting.
It’s a mindset.
It’s a culture.
And it all begins with connection.