Connect-ed+Issue+46+January+2019

Developing Teamwork Skills with your students
"What makes good
teamwork? It?s the
ability of people to
co-operate in order
to achieve a common
aim or goal."
In a recent survey run by the Clear Company, 97%
of employees and executives said that a lack of
alignment impacted the outcome of a team task or
project, and 86% cited lack of collaboration as
leading to workplace failures. Yet only 18% of the
same staff discussed communication issues at
their performance reviews. This leads me to follow
two conclusions: first that teamwork skills should
be at the forefront of our staff development
agenda; and second that these are fundamental
skills to develop in our students. Imagine what we
could all do if we worked better together!
What makes good teamwork? It?s the ability of
people to co-operate in order to achieve a
common aim or goal. There are many skills that
make up good team work, including being
organised, taking and receiving feedback,
influencing and leading others, decision making
and problem solving. Sadly, personal priorities,
team dynamics and our own egos often get in the
way of the greater good. To develop teamwork
skills yourself I recommend that you head over to
our personal skills courses area and look for a
Joanna Lay
Programme Lead for NAU
Education Team
short course that could give some ideas for how to
change your relationships in a team dynamic. For
example, how about negotiation and influencing,
communicating effectively or managing meeting
personalities?
How do we foster a sense of teamwork in
students? How do you structure a lesson to
develop friendship, loyalty and motivation
towards a common goal? I?d like to suggest that
you watch one of our video library playlists. It
features a complete lesson where students work
together on a common project and you can see
real life examples of how the teacher has set up the
project work and how she facilitates it. As you
watch the playlist reflect on what you see ? is this
how you would approach a similar project? How
does she set the project up for success?
Lesson summary:
We join a KS3 class developing their teamwork skills.
They are writing a bid to host an Olympics event.
With an emphasis?on being creative and reasoning,
the importance of teamwork is highlighted.
At the end of the lesson, we see a plenary session
where individual and group reflection is followed by
feedback and?discussion on how individuals worked,
and how the team could improve next time. An
interview with the teacher gives?background to the
learning and teaching experiences.
You could even watch the playlist with some
colleagues and reflect on it together.
If you?re interested in seeing other
examples of real classroom
interactions, take a look at our video
library to find end-to-end planning and
delivery of lessons, including examples
from NAE schools.