He waka eke noa
A canoe which we are all in with no exception
Strength Building
How is a team greater than the sum total of each individual part? This is the magic ingredient that defines good teams from the great ones. It is this key ingredient which is the pre-requisite to building and leading a high performing team.
Although high-performing teams have many things in common, there is one clear question that can determine whether you are building and leading a high-performing or low-performing team:
At work, do your people have the opportunity to use their strengths every day?
If people feel that they are using their strengths more often – contributing their unique talent out into the world – they will be more respected, more productive, more willing to sacrifice, more likely to stay at your school, less likely to have accidents at work, and have many, many more positive outcomes.
If you are a leader, the difference between a low-performing team and a high-performing team comes from you (the leader) having the emotional intelligence: knowing oneself and knowing the strengths of your colleagues, and asking them to contribute those strengths every day. This is the single most important driver of team performance.
Collaborating
It is vital that we collaborate in schools to meet the needs of learners. Schools have many complex problems that need to be solved on a day-to-day basis, from a classroom level to a school-wide leadership and governance level. No one mind can solve all these complex problems, so we need to harness the power of collaboration –
“The smartest person in the room, is the room” – David Weinberger.
We also know that teachers working together to improve outcomes for students has an enormous impact on student achievement. John Hattie’s research indicates that “Collective Teacher Efficacy” has a huge effect size; 1.57 and defines this as “the collective belief of the staff…. in their ability to positively affect students.” (www.visiblelearningplus.com)
Ensuring Quality Teaching
Remembering your team’s core business is important – teaching and learning. Your role as a leader is to ensure your team keeps this at the heart and remains focused on ensuring the teaching and learning in the team is ‘top notch’ and continues to be developed. Even the highest performing teams and teachers can become even more effective!
It’s an old saying but remains true – your team is only as good as its weakest link. Any expertise and knowledge must be shared as the learners in your team are your collective responsibility. It is no good having one ‘shining star.’
It is likely an important part of your role to lead inquiry into practice, which involves encouragement and building excitement and engagement, as well as rigorous inquiry into effectiveness of initiatives and learning from the team’s successes and failures.
Your role, therefore, is to prioritise your time to ensure you have oversight of the teaching and learning in your team. You will also need to ensure that you have a thorough and evidence based understanding of teaching and learning. You will use this understanding to help grow others’ knowledge and practice, and to help you measure the impact of the teaching practices employed by the team on individual learners. This may feed into target setting, teaching inquiries, problem solving, diagnosing and resolving issues in teacher practice and goal setting. You will also use your knowledge of teaching and learning, coupled with observations (formal and informal) to initiate conversations about teaching practices that, ultimately, improve outcomes for learners.
The resources below explore two aspects of collaborative practice and building effective teams:
- The process of creating teams.
- The characteristics of effective teams.
Note: You will need to explore the resources below prior to completing the task.
Task:
- Where in the process of team creation is your team at the moment? What do you see as key next steps to move the team to a more highly performing state? (See resource 2)
- Which of the Ten Tenets of Collaboration do you see as strengths and weaknesses of your team? What might you do to capitalise on the strengths and work on the weaknesses? (See resource 1)
Please post your reflections on the forum in 150 words or less.
Resources:
- “Collaborative Professionalism: When Teaching Together Means Learning for All” Andy Hargraves and Michael T. O’Connor – Chapter 4 LINK.
- Tuckman’s model of “Norming, Storming and Performing.” Summarised here – https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm
- Collective Teacher Efficacy – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCMV692itfg and https://visible-learning.org/2018/03/collective-teacher-efficacy-hattie/
19 Responses
Our team is currently in the “Storming” phase of Tuckman’s model. With the recent changes, including our team leader stepping down due to the overwhelming stress of curriculum changes and team dynamics, we’re experiencing conflicts and challenges in collaboration.
To move towards a more highly performing state, key next steps include:
Facilitating Open Communication: Encouraging mutual dialogue to ensure everyone feels heard and valued. This could involve regular team meetings where each member shares their thoughts and concerns as we mainly just fly through our minutes during team meetings without much collaboration happening
Redistributing Workload: Addressing the imbalance in workload by clearly defining roles and responsibilities. This will help alleviate stress and ensure everyone is contributing equally.
Building Collective Initiative: Fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility among all team members. This might involve setting team goals and celebrating small wins together.
Regarding the Ten Tenets of Collaboration, our strengths lie in our commitment to the kura and our students. However, we need to work on:
Collective Initiative: By setting clear, shared goals and encouraging everyone to contribute ideas and solutions.
Mutual Dialogue: Creating a safe space for open communication, where feedback is welcomed and acted upon.
Joint Work: Encouraging collaborative projects that require input and effort from all team members, ensuring everyone feels valued and appreciated.
By focusing on these areas, we can strengthen our team dynamics and move towards a more cohesive and effective team.
Thank you for your thoughtful answers over the course of this study Kayleigh. I look forward to seeing where your career goes as you have much wisdom for one so recently qualified. Reach for the stars!
My main team is the maths department where I teach. We are currently between the ‘storming’ and ‘norming’ stages due to ongoing and unresolved friction between the Head of Department and Assistant Head of Department. It’s fairly low-level stuff but the lack of trust between them means that neither goes out of their way to support each other in their respective areas of responsibility. I suspect that my growing responsibilities (Year 12 Calculus and now Year 11) are a response to the HoD’s lack of trust in the Assistant HoD. The Assistant HoD thinks the HoD is too abrupt and inflexible, and is best avoided when stressed.
What could I do to improve my team? I think I could be more honest in my conversations with the Assistant HoD and initiate collaborative work on their areas of responsibility. I could also initiate a culture of being more supportive of the HoD during high-stress times of the year as discussions with other team members suggest this would be supported by the whole department (except one perhaps).
10 Tenets of Collaboration.
Strengths: Collaborative autonomy and inquiry. As a department we are the masters of our own destiny and have very little direction from outside. For each programme (Year 9, Year 10, Year 11, etc.) there are sub-teams with defined roles and responsibilities and a clear plan. Data is collected, and successful resources and initiatives are adopted.
Weaknesses: Collective responsibility and initiative. We can be guilty of sitting back and waiting for someone else to do their job. I sometimes have a nagging sense of being taken advantage of and this affects my goodwill towards others.
What a clear analysis of the situation you are in Richard. If the HOD is competent then they are worth supporting and if you can manage the extra responsibility that has been devolved to you then all power to you. Your positivity may shame the Assistant HOD into more professional behaviour or alternatively they might just move on in which case you would be the logical choice to step into the gap. With regard to your nagging doubts. Nothing is forever Richard and to have a reputation as a capable, unselfish team player is no bad thing even though it makes you feel a little bit resentful at the moment. They are lucky to have you.
Our current team has been together for four years and all mid to experienced teachers, creating a strong foundation of trust and collaboration. This year, we welcomed a new Head of Faculty—who brings both fresh leadership and continuity, having been part of the original team. I see us as being in the Norming to performing stage of development, we work effectively together, valuing open communication, mutual support, and shared purpose. Being in the Humanities department I see our collective EQ as a strength, allowing us to navigate challenges with empathy. We do foster a positive, respectful culture that encourages growth, creativity, and the ability to adapt and thrive together. I think to fully get to performing we would want to be more over the 10 tenets of the collaboration professionalism. We do have some work ons definitely.
10 Tenets of collaboration professionalism
A strength for us is Collective efficacy in our Team. We have put a lot of hard work in Collective efficacy across the board over the past 4 years and hard work is paying off now. Teachers and students are seeing the benefits of both collective efficacy and responsibility.
A work on for us would be the collaborative inquiry. We do not tend to do inquiry as a team more so on our own or in smaller appraisal discussions. I could see this positively impacting our success stories and student outcomes.
It sounds as if you have all created a nice place to work Fleur. It looks as if you are all mature, responsible professionals who are there for the benefit of the students from which they can only benefit.
It would be good therefore to engage in that collective inquiry of which you speak. It would be so affirming to see the positive results of your collective actions.
Last year we worked through the storming stage in aspects of our practice related to structured literacy. We then had a reshuffle and had two new members join us and one leave. These two teachers had worked a little with SL but were now thrown into the full junior programme. Due to the work we had done the previous year, our team was in a better place to support their transition into SL because we had a better understanding of what it looked like for our school. We are moving through the norming stage now – focusing on collaboration. Our next step is ensuring everyone feels safe to honestly share the challenges they are facing so we can work together to support each other to be successful.
Strengths
Collaborative Inquiry
We do this well in our school wide co-construction meetings. Integrating aspects of these meetings into our team hui would be a positive next step. This may include, protected speaking time, coaching conversations using prompts, the setting of clear goals with time frames.
Weakness
Collective Responsibility
This can be a strength when related to the general population of our school but can disappear when we are supporting a student with challenging behaviour needs. As a school we are continuing to develop teacher and support staff understanding of these students so they can use appropriate strategies as a wider staff rather than a small team working with them in isolation.
You have developed a strong team culture and have good processes for inducting new staff Anna. You have got some really positive ideas for moving forward. I sense the weakness you have identified has arisen out of a particular situation you have been confronted with.
Our team is currently transitioning from Forming to Storming as we get to know each other’s working styles and begin to define clearer roles and expectations. A next step is to continue building trust and open communication, so we can work through challenges together. One of our strengths is a shared focus on what’s best for our learners, and we are all committed to supporting student progress and interests. A current area for growth is clarifying how we can best use each team member’s strengths day-to-day. Taking time to talk about roles and responsibilities, and how we can support each other, will help strengthen our collaboration and move us forward as a team.
Yes it takes a little time to develop those trusting relationships doesn’t it Lauren. It is helpful to know ‘who has your back’ because at times teaching can be a lonely job even though you are surrounded by people on a daily basis. I am confident you will move through storming to developing a really productive working relationship.
I would say we as a whole are at the forming moving into he storming stage. We are all positive but know there is a underlying theme of who has a defined role, so we look to them for guidance. Some of us speak up if we need clarity or want to voice an opinion but conflicts are still occurring as we are testing their boundaries I guess. SLT are frustrated with Kaiako and what they deem to be push back, when really we just want mutual dialogue and an collective responsibility. Most of us are aware that the DP gets offended if we challenge her ideas that she wants to implement. We remind her that we are a team and lets collaborate / brain-storm her idea so it fits the bigger picture for our Tamariki and kura, wanting the desire for shared ownership and respectful dialogue. So in short, there are some barriers, there is definitely push back, but there is a sense of togetherness at the end of the day where we show support by showing up and being there for each other. That sense of collective strength, even amid friction, is a strong foundation for us to be able to move into the norming stage, especially if trust and psychological safety are nurtured.
I think it’s helpful to appreciate (as you obviously do) that this is just a stage that needs to be worked through and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. You are a woman who knows her own mind and are not afraid to verbalise what you need from management in order to do your best work. Your akonga are very lucky to have you.
My team is transitioning from forming to storming.
We’ve built a positive working relationship, with the experienced LSA helping guide the two new LSAs.
However, tensions are emerging. The experienced LSA is frustrated by inconsistent classroom strategies, while the new LSAs have expressed concerns about her approach. Communication between them is unclear, and I plan to address this during upcoming appraisals to prevent further conflict.
A key strength is our collective efficacy—we’re all here for the students and share a strong sense of purpose. However, we need to improve in collaborative inquiry, as the new LSAs bring fresh ideas but lack experience in special education. We also need to strengthen collective responsibility by checking in with each other more regularly and ensuring everyone feels supported in their roles.
That’s a little bit tricky for you Jade. Three can be such an awkward number when two decide to ‘gang up’ on one. The fact that the two newbies lack experience in special education should I feel encourage them to defer to their more experienced colleague while she should welcome their fresh ideas. Negotiations around this will be a great learning experience for you Jade but I wouldn’t tackle it at the end of term when everyone is tired.
I absolutely agree Geraldine. Our LSA appraisals have a few steps. The first is where they rate themselves based on the criteria for the grade they are, then I rate them and then together we have a conversation and set goals. At the moment they are rating themselves. I plan on robust conversations individually at the beginning of next term. I am also going to offer some time in the 2 week break for them to come in for an uninterrupted class meeting to establish so ground rules etc for going forward for the next term.
At this stage I would say our staff are at the Norming stage of team development where differences are resolved and collaboration grows. We have spent a lot of time moving the focus of our meetings away from ‘administrivia’ onto teaching and learning. As a school that follows the approach of Russell Bishop’s Relationship-based pedagogy we engage in Co-construction meetings once, sometimes twice a term.
These are specific group coaching sessions where teachers discuss and share strategies, best practices, and problem-solving approaches and how these actions have impacted on their students’ learning. Teachers are expected to bring high expectations and evidence of students’ progress. Then through collaborative coaching, teachers would come up with goals and actions to accelerate their students’ progress.
More recently we have extended this to Hub meetings, but instead of coaching teachers, we use the collective skills of the group to listen and provide feedback. We talk about “fail fast” where we encourage our teachers to learn quickly from mistakes and adapt to find success faster. There is more urgency about the pace of progress.
To have our staff operating at peak efficiency, the next step would be to collectively understand the group skills that make a difference. I really liked Hattie’s term ‘social sensitivity’. This would be something I would be keen to develop and unpack with staff.
Ten Tenets of Collaboration Professionalism:
Strengths of our teacher workforce: I can see strengths in several tenets. In collective autonomy our practice is open and opened to each other for feedback, inspiration, and assistance. We do this through Impact Coaching. I think collaborative inquiry is also a strength of our team. The practices that have been mentioned earlier are evidence of this.
Weakness of our workforce: Collective initiative is a tenet that is possibly a weakness. I feel that in our setting people wait to be told what to do and often people do not do anything above and beyond what is expected unless there is remuneration. This might reflect the current climate in education with so many recent changes. However we have de-privitized our classrooms and there is an expectation that staff will follow up with new actions that will make a difference to their learners. Setting up expectations and systems that encourage teachers to be innovative would be our next step.
Collaborating with students could also be an area that needs development. While we respond to student voice in terms of gathering information on interests and engagement in learning, we are just at the beginning stage of having students working with staff to construct change. Currently we are using our student leaders to engage with teachers to promote schoolwide personal reading and schoolwide environment practices. But this places us in a good position to widen the practices of student collaboration.
What an amazing learning community you have Kim. None of this would work without the establishment of a high level of trust that means that teachers can be very open about their successes and failures. As well as being good for teachers, the students in your care are the real beneficiaries of your culture of improvement.
I was also interested in your comment about teachers waiting to be told what to do. I’d be interested to know whether you have ever looked at some of these attitudes in relation to age, gender and longevity in teaching.
Well done Damian. You are the first finished apart from the last on line session. You have also been a great contributor on the forum. Please keep it up.
How timely that you set out some rules of engagement for your team . It certainly simplifies things and makes it easier to pick someone up when they transgress. I also like the way you say that no-one in the team is into deficit thinking. I also liked that you report that there are positive expectations for being prepared.
My team is made up of 6 kaiako in 2 hubs. The team meet twice per term. This module is timed beautifully because yesterday’s team meeting was quite challenging partly due to the “big personalities”.
Earlier this year, we created a team hui kaupapa where we brainstormed how we would run meetings, deal with disputes, expectations for being prepared, etc.
Team strengths:
All believe all students can develop and succeed;
Regularly ask questions about own and others’ practise, with a view to acting on answers;
Talk about evidence of how “this” impacted outcomes.
Needs work:
Seize initiative without being asked in a way that is consistent with school values and expectations;
Deep dialogue- people seem pretty stuck;
Understanding the “big picture”.
Good leaders make sure collective teacher efficacy occurs.
Ensure all “hear” each other;
Team leader goal: improve in facilitating hui to ensure group efficacy, as it relates to student outcomes.
E kī ana te whakataukī: He hono tangata e kore e motu; ka pa he taura waka e motu.