By Lisa Teitler and Dr. Josef Vice
Collaboration can improve almost every aspect of life, including our teaching and learning environment, and is especially important for those of us who teach online and may feel isolated and siloed at times. An intentional collaboration with colleagues can help reduce burnout, awaken awe and curiosity, and encourage a joyous and courageous approach to taking positive risks. Growing and learning together is building for another day: a better, brighter, more beautiful day.
Scager et al. (2017) confirm what most teachers already know: when students collaborate, whether in a group project or on a course discussion board, great things happen. As these researchers and countless others note, collaboration between students, no matter how diverse their experiences or skill sets might be, is consistently linked to higher levels of “achievement, effort, persistence, and motivation” (Scager et al., 2017, para. 2).
But what about collaboration between those in front of the classroom? Especially in the online classroom, individual instructors often work alone in the isolation of their virtual offices, sometimes never having met even after years of teaching at the same institution, and this may discourage them from participating in one of the most important of human endeavors–connecting with, learning from, and thriving as a result of the support of others. As colleagues in the English and Rhetoric Department at Purdue University Global, we decided to lean on Davidson and Dahl’s (2026) definition of connection: “an inner sense of care and kinship that leads to supportive interactions and caring relationships with others” (p. 124). We embraced togetherness, which helped spark joy and vitality, renewing our happiness and engagement and shaping how we see ourselves and our relationships with others. This is the story of our collaboration, built on joy, patience, and compassion.
Drago-Severson explains that “teamwork takes passion, compassion, and dedication to sharing lessons lived and learned in order to make the world a better place. Growing highly effective […] teams takes time–it takes practice–it takes patience–it takes understanding–it takes love” (as cited in Zimmerman et al., 2020, p. xii). Additionally, Clark et al. (2024) share that “people who love and are loved, who are inspired and inspire others, who have vitality and spark vitality in orders are well prepared to do meaningful work” (p. 76). This is certainly true of any collaborative effort, but the online teaching and learning environment can make this process seem particularly challenging. Colleagues may live in different time zones, making working together more complex. The Forbes Communications Council (2024) in fact notes that virtual teams are often more challenging to build and sustain because of the inherent higher opportunity for miscommunication, decreased opportunities for building rapport and trust, and because “keeping track of work progress can be more complicated” (para. 16). Because we may not have met our online colleagues face-to-face, we may not have built strong emotional bonds, the honesty, patience, and maybe even the love required for good collaboration. That doesn’t mean that effective collegial collaborations don’t happen. They just take effort.
A Little Background
We have collaborated on presentations before and have gotten to know each other, learning about and caring about each other’s families. We have become invested in each other’s continued growth, successes, and smiles. If we are being truly transparent, our connection surfaced after one of our beloved colleagues, TK, passed away, both of us needing a lifeboat to numb the drowning feeling. That’s when our connection really fortified itself: in a moment of sincere sadness. But this year, we were more intentional about the collaboration than in the past. We created a long-term plan to learn about and apply a new pedagogy aligned with transformational learning theory and set an intention to immerse ourselves in the research, meet regularly, focus on short and long-term goals, and stay committed to the collective learning experience. We committed to the long haul: to thrive and flourish.
The Long Haul
First, we met to craft a goal that would not only allow us to learn more about something we were personally interested in but would also hopefully impact how we teach and help us become even more effective, individually, in our classrooms. We started a deep dive into the literature of transformational learning.
Second, we committed to meeting twice a month to discuss what we learned and how we could apply this knowledge to practice. During those meetings, we brainstormed, listened, and bounced ideas off of each other. We also went into this process recognizing that if we wanted a true collaboration, nobody would be “in charge.” We would listen to each other’s ideas, even if they might seem “wrong,” without judgment. We would toss out as many ideas as possible to see what might land.
That may sound like we were embracing chaos, and if you were to listen in on any one of our Google Meet sessions, you might mistakenly assume this is true. What we were embracing, though, was the philosophy of “Power With,” a team dynamic all about listening to each other, building long-term growth, and, in contrast to “Power Over” hierarchical collaborations, shedding the traditional focus on immediate, tangible, quick results that form when one person is in charge (Wei et al., 2025).
The Results
- Energized Learning. We learned that learning together can be energizing and awe-inspiring. Reading multiple articles on a given topic certainly leads to knowledge, but talking about what we learned and exploring each other’s “take” on the concepts in our co-curated reading list led to an increased awe of learning itself. According to Bai et al., (2017), “awe diminishes the self and promotes collective identity, making it a powerful social glue” (p. 1).
- Courage. We learned from each other’s teaching styles and gave each other the courage to try new teaching strategies. Though we might have been uncomfortable, for example, with using breakout rooms in seminar, we met to strategize how to best navigate the process. We honestly shared why we were uncomfortable with trying out a new classroom process. Somehow, knowing that someone else had the same hesitations helped us get out of our comfort zones.
- The Power of Honesty. We also debriefed. We would admit when things fell flat, when students didn’t respond well or engage in seminar. And we strategized how to make things more productive next time.
- Embracing Grace. But a lot of good things landed. Our energizing collaboration proved infectious. We found ourselves more willing to share our own writing challenges with our first-year students, to share the roadblocks we faced in our own learning processes, and to share ways that working with, reaching out to, and listening to others can be a powerful problem-solving and growth tool. Doing so helped us build a more collaborative, process-oriented classroom where mistakes and stumbles are seen not as failures but as part of the learning process. We approached the process with more willingness to give grace and encouraged students to give themselves more grace and to establish intentional moments of flourishing in the seminars and discussion boards. In short, we brought more joy to the classroom. We now feel more productive and motivated to share our findings and experiences, planning future blog posts, articles, and continued collaborations.
Conclusion
We encourage you to also embrace the power of a sustained, intentional collaboration. Together, you can accomplish the unexpected, become more motivated, more energized, and more connected, both with yourself and others. We’re ending the academic year not tired, worn out, or alone, but flourishing, collectively energized, and ready to continue together. Our lifeboat was transformed, buoyant with love and care. We hope you are too.
References
Bai, Y., Maruskin, L. A., Chen, S., Gordon, A. M., Stellar, J. E., McNeil, G. D., Peng, K., & Keltner, D. (2017). Awe, the diminished self, and collective engagement: Universals and cultural variations in the small self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(2), 185–209. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000087
Clark, K. B., Clark, J. R., & Clark, E. E. (2024). Leadership through: Activating the soul, heart, and mind of leadership. Harvard Business Review Press.
Davidson, R. J & Dahl, C. (2026). Born to flourish: How new science and ancient wisdom reveal a simple path to thriving. Avid Reader Press.
Forbes Communications Council. (2024, June 21). Virtual teams and remote communications: Challenges and best practices. Forbes Councils. https://councils.forbes.com/blog/challenges-and-best-practices-for-remote-communications
Scager, K., Boonstra, J., Peeters, T., Vulperhorst, J., & Wiegant, F. (2017, October 13). Collaborative learning in higher education: Evoking positive interdependence. CBE–Life Sciences Education, 15(4), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-07-0219
Simula, B. L. (2021, June 16). Cultivating personal and professional flourishing in the Academy: The flourishing framework. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/university-venus/cultivating-personal-and-professional-flourishing-academy
Wei, H., Wu, B., Park, H., & Bilimoria, D. (2025). A power-with versus power-over framework of leadership behaviors, employee expectations, and employee creativity: A meta-analysis. Journal of General Management, 51(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/03063070231167221
Zimmerman, D. P., Roussin, J. L, & Garmston, R. J. (2020). Transforming teamwork: Cultivating collaborative cultures. Corwin Press.
About the Authors:
Lisa Teitler is a full-time faculty member in the English and Rhetoric department at Purdue University Global. She has taught undergraduate writing courses for the past 18 years and loves the collaborative spirit.
Dr. Josef Vice (he/him) is a full-time faculty member in the English and Rhetoric department at Purdue University Global. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses for the past four decades, focusing on creating a collaborative and student-centered classroom.
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