When Teams Hit Rough Waters

IDEAS

When teams hit rough waters

Navigate challenges with a developmental approach

By Eleanor Drago-Severson, Christy Joswick O’Connor and Jessica Blum-DeStefano

August 2018

Vol. 39 No. 4

Teaming — when done well — can make all the difference. Nearly all the teachers and leaders we work with serve on one or more teams. Yet where do we learn how to be effective team members? What common challenges do teams face? And how can a developmental approach help teams thrive? As part of our work in schools and districts, we have the gift of facilitating developmental teacher leadership institutes. These institutes focus on helping teacher leaders understand adult development. Participants learn how to grow other adults and themselves, and they hone practices conducive to good teaming. In one of our institutes this past year, we asked participants what they did when difficulties arose on their teacher teams. One senior teacher with 15 years

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Authors

Eleanor Drago-Severson, Christy Joswick O'Connor, and Jessica Blum-DeStefano

Eleanor Drago-Severson (drago-severson@tc.edu) is a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.
Christy Joswick O’Connor (christy.oconnor@fpks.org) is a doctoral student and curriculum supervisor in New Jersey.
Jessica Blum-DeStefano (jblumdestefano@bankstreet.edu) is an instructor at Bank Street College, New York.

References

Drago-Severson, E. (2004). Helping teachers learn: Principal leadership for adult growth and development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press/Sage.

Drago-Severson, E. (2009). Leading adult learning: Supporting adult development in our schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin/Sage and Learning Forward.

Drago-Severson, E. (2012). Helping educators grow: Strategies and practices for leadership development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Drago-Severson, E. (2016). Teaching, learning, and leading in today’s complex world: Reaching new heights with a developmental approach. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 19(1), 56-86.

Drago-Severson, E. & Blum-DeStefano, J. (2016). Tell me so I can hear you: A developmental approach to feedback for educators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Drago-Severson, E. & Blum-DeStefano, J. (2018a). Leading change together: Developing educator capacity within schools and systems. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Drago-Severson, E. & Blum-DeStefano, J. (2018b). The DNA of development: A new model for school change focuses on adult learning. The Learning Professional, 39(3), 22-27.

Kegan, R. (2000). What “form” transforms? A constructive-developmental approach to transformative learning. In J. Mezirow & Associates (Eds.), Learning as transformation (pp. 35-70). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.