High performing, collaborative leadership teams are critical for schools’ success and growth. The leadership team sets the teamwork standard for the school community at all levels. If the leadership team is modeling and teaching high performance and collaborative teamwork, the entire community will likely get on board. Those who cannot or refuse to work collaboratively on teams should find a school where they would be a better fit. Teamwork is absolutely critical for schools to thrive and achieve ambitious goals.
Teacher morale or faculty culture has greater impact on student learning than any other factor. Students learn little when the faculty is suffering from low morale. Students learn a lot when the faculty is enjoying high morale. One of the main determinants of faculty morale is teamwork. When teachers are working together in teams and with the interests of every team member at stake, morale is high and students thrive. When teams are dysfunctional, morale is low and students suffer, students learn very little.
Critical to engaging students in learning to the best of their abilities, are highly effective faculty, staff and leadership teams. Team building through Appreciative Inquiry is probably the best way to build collaborative, high performing teams that will also increase faculty morale and student performance. Appreciative Inquiry is reflection and research that groups use to create new understandings of themselves based on an affirmative approach to looking at the past. The four action research principles are to begin with appreciation, be applicable, be provocative and be collaborative. Appreciative Inquiry begins with thoughtful observation of the “best of what is.” The next step is to envision collaboratively “what might be”, while reaching consensus on “what should be” and experimenting with “what can be.”
The Appreciative Inquiry approach to team building creates powerful, collaborative and high performing teams based on the past, present and future. Teams learn from the past, identify and honor the strengths of their team members in the present and commit to working together to achieve the goals for the future.