Teamwork in Schools
Teamwork is the process that involves people collaborating in working together so that the group can achieve its given goal. Teamwork is often an important ingredient to an organization. Many school administrators usually provide autonomy together with teamwork. A distinctive feature of teamwork is the successive work actions of teachers to bring together students of diverse backgrounds. In learning institutions where the aim is to improve the process of learning, teamwork applied in the organization is effective with increased communication and work integration. This study examines teamwork as applied in two schools in groups of teachers and students with having collective tasks to achieve. Teamwork in schools begins with administrative teamwork, departmental teamwork, and lastly, teamwork among students (Critchley, Edwards & Fallon, 2007).
Components of Teamwork
Organizations that employ teamwork in their productive work usually include the various components of teamwork. According to Rouse & Boff (2005), a destructive organizational climate that is characterized by high turnover, distrust, negative attitudes, and negative attitudes usually lead to high employee turnover in such organizations or they make their employees products of destructive organizational culture. Despite being the responsibility of every group member in the organization, the positive corporate culture should come from the administration of the school down to the small groups of individual teachers and students in the school. The team members usually search for recognition. Delarue and De Prins (2004) argue that the administrators in schools should positively recognize the members of the various teams in the departments and students. Positive recognition entails recognizing outstanding performance, continued performance, and improved performance in the schools.
Teamwork in schools is depicted by administrative teamwork, student teamwork, and faculty teamwork. In academic magnet high school and Aiken Christian high school in Stovall (2010), effective teamwork begins with the school administration. The school administration lays the basis for teamwork in the school. The administration encourages teamwork in schools through planning for meetings that include all teachers once every one or two weeks. The difference between teamwork administrative teamwork in the two schools is that while in an academic magnet high school the school administration conducts biweekly meetings, in Aiken Christian high school, the administration calls for meetings once per month. However, in the meetings, the negative or positive reports of meetings in different departments in the schools are discussed.
Faculty / departmental teamwork are other forms of teamwork in these two schools. The different departments in the schools show teamwork with the specific teachers working as a team to ensure the success of their departments. The teachers participate in the professional development of their departments throughout the year. The difference between these two schools is that in academic magnet high school, teachers’ teamwork and group work is subdivided into individual student groups. However, in Aiken Christian high school, teacher teamwork remains with teachers with student groups working with individual teachers in their subjects (Stovall, 2010).
Students also show teamwork in their groups both in elementary schools and in high school. Working in groups, students ensure that they concentrate on their focus. Teamwork strategies are effective in middle school due to the effect of maintaining discipline for the young adults that struggle with their approaching adulthood. Teachers oversee the working of the teams (Stovall, 2010). Despite the progress in teamwork in the schools, there are cultural factors that undermine the use of teamwork. Teamwork is affected by cultural diversity. With many students coming from culturally diverse backgrounds, it undermines the effectiveness of working in teams both at teacher levels and at the student level.
Conclusion
Teamwork in schools is very effective in ensuring that students learn the right thing in class. However, teamwork in schools is initiated by the administration and embraced by teachers in their respective departments. Students follow the example and work in teams in their classes to succeed in their studies. Teamwork is important in ensuring the success of schools.
References
Critchley, D,Edwards, CFallon, R. (2007). The importance of good teamwork. Nurs Manag (Harrow). Vol. 14(7): pp. 8-12.
Delarue, A., Stijn, G. and Van Hootegem, G. (2003). Productivity outcomes of teamwork as an effect of team structure, Working paper, Steunpunt OOI, Catholic University of Leuven. Web.
Rouse, W. & Boff, K. (2005). Organizational simulation, John Wiley and Sons.
Stovall, A. (2010). Effective teamwork in Schools.