Whether you are a teacher or a learner there is little doubt in my mind that in order to be successful in either field a certain degree of team working is required. Lets face it without some degree of cooperation it is unlikely that any learning would take place. Equally many other so called team skills have in my opinion an important place in the classroom.
Before I retired I had the pleasure of developing team working skills in learners at a large FE college. Now most people if asked would probably define teamwork along the lines of a group of individuals working together for a common purpose.
So let me tell you a little story, unrelated to the classroom but relevant to teamwork.
Like most places in the world you find teams of workers here in Thailand, some like the employees of the project development officer where I live, consist of painters, builders, shutterer’s for the concrete, ground workers and labourers. Plus the odd “expert” for such things as air-con, mosquito mess and security grids.
Work starts at around 8 am and finishes about 5pm. The teams work hard in difficult conditions of heat and dust. Whilst individual teams work well there is no co-ordination between teams, so the security bars get fitted before the windows are painted, the builders build only to find that the shutterer’s are doing their thing where the builders need to be. So it goes on. Finished work is soiled by other employees from a different team.
So it was with some trepidation that I awaited the wall finishers to come and complete my garden wall last year. What a surprise I had, a multi-skilled team working in a co-ordinated way, men and women working like a well oiled machine. Women mixing the finish(feminists please note), men skimming and finishing, with a constant supply of mortar provided by a legion of bucket carriers. Finally a tidy up team following behind. Three hours hard graft and the job was done. To top it all they laughed and joked as they worked, genuinely enjoying their task.
BTW I felt quite guilty sipping a cold beer and watching the football while all this was going on!
Call me the Resource Coordinator*
Now I wonder if you can make a link between my story and the way you see teams as a teacher or learner. Which classroom would you sooner be in, one with all the painters builders etc doing their own thing or part of the second team with the teacher acting as the coordinator.
*see Belbin’s teamwork roles.
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