Group Dynamics: Stages of team developement

According to Blankstein (2010), "Collaboration is not natural or common in a school environment." He went on to say that teachers used to go in their rooms, shut their doors and acted as individual monarchs of their domains (p.159). More and more teachers are required to work with their grade level teams and collaborate everything including lessons plans, grade level goals, etc.

When a group or a team first forms they are polite to each other but are untrusting. They may begin to get to know each other by talking and asking questions like: Are you married, what do you do, where do you live, etc. The next phase is when people begin to communicate with each other on a deeper level but still feel separate and not a part of the team. They may even attack each other subtly stating their opinions like I do not like Chick-Fil-A or say it is not cold in a room if another says it is while guarding their own selves.

They then begin to form a team and accept each other's opposing viewpoints realizing together they can accomplish both the individual goals and team goals. This was shown today when everyone took part in helping Cassandra with her movie maker presentation. Finally the team works together in a trusting atmosphere where flexibility and hierarchy is of little importance. The team is working towards a common goal. I experienced this when I worked in a factory called JCI on a line making car parts. My line had seven great people an old guy, a heavier young guy, a Hispanic guy, a man from Chile, a 7th Day Adventist, a middle aged woman who was our mom and myself. Our goal: to make as many interior headliners with the least amount of defects in a shift. We did whatever it took to meet our goal, we laughed together, cried together and celebrated together with potlucks. Even though it was a factory I learned a lot about teamwork and celebrating the differences of others. How does this tie into education and leadership? I believe that a school learning community is a team and can not have success without working together. Blankstein (2010) also said building truly collaborative teams is difficult but necessary (p. 163). The leader must help teams develop and go through the phases of development and growth in order to achieve student achievement.