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Collaborative Philosophy

Preparatory Preschool Atlanta Suzuki Philosphy


The Suzuki School has employed a collaborative teaching approach since the fall of 2004. This technique was implemented because we recognized that collective experiences, talents and abilities are far greater in a team of several teachers than in a team of 2 to 3 teachers.
The children benefit from the collaborative approach for several key reasons:

  1. With collaboration, a village is created where the children are supported and can support each other.

  2. The children forge stronger relationships with the teachers because there will always be several teachers who can relate to that child.

  3. We have found a higher continuity of care; when teachers are ill, on vacation, or leave Suzuki, the child will still have strong relationships with other teachers in the room.

  4. There is more diversity with collaborative teams – diversity of thought, experience, education, background and approach - which translates into the care and education of each child. Excellence in instruction is the norm because a collaborative team creates the highest level of accountability possible.

  5. Children in collaborative classrooms have more opportunities to develop leadership skills.

As in any approach to teaching, there are unique challenges with this approach. The biggest challenge for parents is communication with teachers. Dialoging about the children and their day is obviously a bit more complex in a larger team than in a small one! The biggest challenge for new teachers is acquiring new skills around emotional intelligence that are required in order to collaborate effectively.

The teachers at Suzuki are attracted to this teaching approach because of the strong support they give and receive, and because they find that they are replenished through the collective effort. Since there are no lead teachers, each teacher assumes part of the role of a traditional teacher and takes responsibility to ensure that everything is done to the Suzuki standard. These self-directed teaching teams work very well together because teachers are able to specialize based on their talents and interests, and no teacher takes on the full burden of decision-making and leadership.