A new year of the so-called post-pandemic era has begun, bringing along its fair share of challenges. Many educational institutions have fully returned to face-to-face lessons, others have consolidated their blended/hybrid offer. It is interesting to explore, however, the fact that most teachers around the globe required guidance and support in the early stages of lockdown for a number of reasons: lack of familiarity with digital resources, or difficulty managing their students’ emotions and demands. Coordinators, trainers and authorities reached out to them to good effect in numerous cases, and they started becoming familiar with the new setting. Now that lessons have returned to tangible settings, this experience cannot be forgotten. Teachers still do need support, so how can it be guaranteed in different teaching contexts?
One possibility is to create or join professional learning communities (PLCs): groups of teachers who collaborate on improving their teaching practices. PLCs allow teachers to share ideas, strategies, and resources, and to receive feedback and support from their colleagues. This may involve peer observation, meetings to discuss strategies to tackle any particularly challenging situation, organizing tailor-made training sessions, etc. These communities do not need to be restricted to one particular context, but they can group professionals from different schools or even countries, using the internet to hold live meetings or discussions. The idea is that, after a while, teachers can see that their practice has improved and that they have learned from each other.
The other option, although it may seem old and repetitive, is to foster collaborative work. Depending on the context, it could be aimed at easing the pressure to plan activities for the school year, creating or sharing resources for a particular class, creating joint projects, and even splitting major duties into small ones that are more easily achievable and can cater for each member’s unique skills. For example, a group of teachers can set out to develop materials for a particular class. One of them may search for relevant online resources, another could take care of their design, another might proofread the work, and yet another can put the new resources to trial. This way, we will feel that of all the members of a team, each one has assumed responsibility for one part of the project, which can be regarded as a remarkable achievement.
Either way, it can be said that coordinators and department heads should demonstrate the leadership skills that will sow the seeds for initiatives like those described above, and be able to follow up on them, so that they become sustainable over time and grow in importance in the context that teachers work.
Now, it’s YOUR turn
How do you and your team foster teamwork?
