The Finland Challenge Part 1 - Help!!!

Before embarking on the biggest test of my teaching career I sat and tried to positively refocus my feelings of anxiety at the prospect of undertaking the task ahead. It was a sink or swim feeling which was made worse by my own need to build some credibility with my experienced and well respected colleagues.  I didn’t want to do a bad job and the pressure I put myself under was intense.

However one by one a number of colleagues informally stopped me in the corridor, invited me in to their office or popped in to see me with advice.  I was overwhelmed by the support including how to structure my sessions, what the students have responded well to in the past, where to eat and even to pack some creams for my hands and face as the cold weather cold weather could cause blisters.

This generous support whether spontaneous or prompted by a predetermined plan by the senior officers in the faculty reminded me that creating a positive support network is a really powerful tool in my development. I recently commented on a blog (Teaching practise + teaching practice = teaching perfect? – By Teaching through the looking glass) that although being relatively new to teaching having the opportunity to experiment and observe new strategies in a risk free and supportive environment whilst undertaking my professional teacher training was pushing my delivery forward. During my response I commented that there is potentially a culture of isolation in higher education, which in my opinion was potentially a deliberate attempt by some to protect individual egos or sense of perceived status. This culture concerns me as my supportive yet artificial training environment will disappear in less than 18 months, leaving me with potentially no way of continuously improving my teaching. This for many may not be a problem, but being a bit of a perfectionist I have a need to push myself as I do not want my teaching to stagnate.

Teams

My recent experience reminded me that a supportive environment is vital and that maybe we just need to work harder to create supportive teams. Dumbrajs (2007) suggests that teachers can use cooperative methods to develop their teaching including activities at school where teachers form groups, for example when they plan and develop curricula, plan for school celebrations, or take part in work conferences. An observation that fits with the experiences I have had since initiating my teaching career. However Dumbrajs (2007) argues that such groups seldom develop into real teams. Dumbrajs (2007) instead defines teams as stable groups of individuals, who themselves regulate their actions and that teams take responsibility for the work that is done in close collaboration between the individuals.  Katzenbach (1993) simply states that members of team pursue common goals and visions with the help of common rules of action.

So what should I be looking for – at present the word team is banded about loosely often in a vain attempt to draw individuals closer together. Dumbrajs (2007) offers a simple list suggesting the key attributes of a successful teaching team;

·         Common Purpose – shared interest and prescribed goals

·         Self regulation – Equal involvement in collaborative work

·         Individual differences – embrace diversity to push each other’s learning

·         Performing together – Succeed, fail, learn, reflect together take equal responsibility

·         Dialogue – communicate, problem solve, provide feedback

·         Knowledge & Learning – Share practice and experiences

This may not be a traditional list for effective teams but an interesting observation on how teaching teams could be effective. It serves as a personal reminder that collaborative work and the enthusiasm of the others helped me believe that I could be successful. Rather than leave these experiences to chance in the future I need to identify colleagues that I can engage with in a learning process. A process which I should acknowledge may not result in a formally sanctioned team.  Instead I will use the next 18 months attempting to creating my own virtual team - identifying people that I can surround myself with that will support my development beyond my initial teacher training.     

 

References

Dumbrajs, S. (2007) Learning in a Team of Teachers. International Journal of Learning, 14 (1).

Katzenbach, J.R. & Smith, D.K.(1993) The wisdom of teams: creating the high-performance organization. Boston (Mass.): Harvard Business School Press.