Structure, flexibility and pro-activity. A collaboration can be considered a series of meetings and it therefore should have a structure: a leader, a clear timeframe, set dates for follow-up meetings, goals to be achieved and roles for all collaborators. Several of my research participants asserted that collaborative meetings should be taken seriously by all participants. For example, the Science teacher from School A believes that no goal can be achieved in one collaborative meeting; thus, it is important that a number of them take place. The same teacher also explained that each project must have a detailed timeline so that it is easier to plan the time and know the exact length of the project. Having a good leader throughout a collaborative project is also vital. This is what she said, ‘‘But the goal can only be achieved if a few meetings take place. With one meeting, it wouldn’t be possible… Giving the timeline of the project helps me stay motivated… You need a good leader and enough time’’ (Xxxxxx, 22.9.2021). Another participant, Teacher 1 from School B, believes that during the first meeting of a collaborative project the roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined. This is what she said, ‘‘We had a meeting during which we divided the roles and responsibilities’’ (Grace, 18.9.2021). Another factor that could help collaborations be successful is flexibility, specifically flexible means of communication and timing. The former refers to the use of communications technology for collaboration such as Telegram, WhatsApp and e-mail, whereas the latter implies that not every collaboration should always have a set time and date, perhaps they should depend on the availability of all participants. Besides, for some collaborative projects it is necessary to relieve teachers of their teaching duties so that they can focus on making them happen. Here is what Teacher 3 from School B said, ‘‘…we had to use technology such as Google Classroom, Telegram, WhatsApp, e-mail, etc. We were pushing the use of Telegram instead of WhatsApp as it offers more functions’’, ‘‘Sometimes we need flexible timing, depending on the project, we may need some time off for meetings’ (Xxxxxx, 19.9.2021). Although this factor was not mentioned by the majority of the participants, it can still be considered important because collaboration and time are interdependent. The last significant factor which can make a collaboration more successful is pro- activity. According to the answers of most participants, they are reluctant...
