Guidepost #2: Where Are Your Learners On Their Own Teamwork Journey?
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson
Now that you have a better sense of teamwork and where you are on your own journey, it is important to identify where your learners are as growing team members. Below we share with you some of the most significant contributions from our three-year research project: practicing teamwork is a holistic, embodied experience involving thinking, feeling, and doing.
Using the “I, We, Us” framework outlined in the Welcome module, we focus on three key aspects of demonstrating teamwork. Click on each label below to learn more.
What Did Our Research Reveal?
Based on our research data, four key criteria for demonstrating teamwork emerged:
- Communication
- Relationship Building
- Role Setting
- Goal Setting
As you consider your own learners and context, we encourage you to reflect on each criteria and the three domains of thinking, feeling, and doing. We have provided a few reflection questions below to get you started.
When thinking about where your learners are on their teamwork journey, and how you might best support them, ask yourself:
- How do I support my students to recognize, acknowledge, and act in ways where different forms of communication are valued and prioritized?
- How do I ensure my students feel trusted and respected?
- How can I cultivate a teamwork environment that is flexible, collaborative, and reciprocal?
- How can I reinforce the importance of individual and team goal setting?
To support you adopting or adapting our research into your classroom or learning context, we have designed a rubric that you can use, formatively or summatively, to evaluate your learners. The rubric supports a holistic approach to understanding, practicing, and embodying teamwork. It is not prescriptive, but rather acts as a flexible guide. Click through the slides below to learn more about the key criteria and how these manifest by thinking, feeling, and doing. A fillable copy of the Teamwork Evaluation Tool is available to download at the end of this module.
