Although they often end up intertwined and mistaken for each other, congenial and collegial are two different things entirely and have completely different affects on an organization.

Congenial is friendly, good-natured and hospitable. Congeniality is a decent attribute for an organization to have – people are nice to each other and staff is compliant.  However, a good-natured, compliant staff does not necessarily yield increased creativity or productivity.  In addition, friendly, congenial systems are sometimes a façade disguising a hierarchal structure where most of the decisions are made using a top-down approach.

Collegial on the other hand means shared, mutual and interrelated; decisions are made together and responsibility is communal. It’s more than being friendly; it’s getting work done in an effective way as a team by identifying opportunities for improvement and solving problems together. Collegiality is often a catalyst for difficult conversations, contention and even conflict to take place.  Ultimately, collegiality is essential for impactful work to transpire.

Carl Glickman, organizational leadership in education guru, says a paradigm shift away from a congenial model toward a collegial model is necessary for cultivating an effective organization. Educational leaders must employ specific practices to cultivate collegial relationships in schools.

First, leaders must create the collegial culture by making space and time for staff to work together formally as in structured professional learning communities or informally (my favorite) in action research/brainstorming/problem-solving sessions.  This takes time.  Before groups can thrive collegially, a solid foundation and culture must be in place.  Establishing that foundation doesn’t happen quickly and can even take a whole year.

Leaders must also understand appreciating people is superficial unless that appreciation is in the form of freedom and a shared decision-making.  In addition, gratitude can be shown in the act of giving educators time to nurture their talents and skills by attending conferences, seminars, continuing education classes and other endeavors.

Leadership in a collegial organization means spreading the wealth by maximizing resources such as knowledge and experience. Focus efforts on finding groups of people within the building who excel in certain “marketable” areas and have them train and educate those who want what they have.

Finally, to achieve collegiality leaders must create space for innovation, inquiry and creativity.  That means giving staff time to be collegial.  Skip the department meetings.  Instead create space where ideas are shared and problems are solved.  To do this, some items must be taken of the plate of educators.

These steps to collegiality must be taken again and again; they have to be reworked and reapplied in different unique ways to keep a communal school culture thriving. The more interconnected a system, the more ownership those involved will take; the system becomes empowering rather than corrective, investing rather than counteractive, and effective rather than simply agreeable.   After all, nice and pleasant may get you a fake smile and a middle finger at your back as you walk away; collegial will get you investment from staff and stock in productivity.

 

2 Responses

  1. john koski

    Bravo! I applaud this post! It took me a good ten years working as an elementary teacher to articulate the frustration I was feeling. Priorities of congeniality over a group of people working toward a common goal –colleguiality– plagues elementary schools. May ten years ago while working in Paraguay, after a counter productive faculty meeting, I ran to the old Websters in the library and looked up both words. Following, I marched into the principal’s office and laid it down. My comments were well received. Although that type of change is widely preceded by major conflict, I have continually brought up the subject in amongst various faculties in which I have worked. The irony is that in order to be well received when presenting the issue, one must be extremely congenial in order to get collegiate effects. With pleasure, I will refer (and give credit) to this fine piece in a current blog post I am writing for an Edtech grad couse in which I am enrolled. In our current readings, I see a trend among digitally connected groups with common interest. The are incredibly dynamic in achieving their goals. Could this possilby be due, at least in part, to the ease in which they can get away from a congenial model of interaction?

    Reply
    • Kathleen Jasper

      Thanks John. I am glad you enjoyed it. Posts like these are a result of my doctoral work in educational leadership. The funny thing is, things like the difference between collegial and congenial are often overlooked in the practice of education. To answer your question, I think you may be on to something when you refer to people being connected digitally. They can definitely ditch the congenial and opt for collegial because business is done online. It’s an interesting point you raise. Glad you’re here, John!

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