Team Development Challenges

Study Notes

Adults learn and grow when working together in teams, but teams face challenges and difficulties.
Effective teaming can help adults develop internal capacities and make a difference in their roles.

Adults make sense of the world through one of four qualitatively different ways of knowing:
- Instrumental knowers (focus on rules and procedures)
- Socializing knowers (orient towards feelings and approval of others)
- Self-authoring knowers (share their own perspectives and expertise)
- Self-transforming knowers (explore complexities and paradoxes)

Each way of knowing has strengths and growing edges, and developmental supports can help adults grow:
- Instrumental knowers: provide opportunities to consider alternative paths, model flexibility, and encourage dialogue.
- Socializing knowers: provide opportunities to share individual perspectives, model accepting differences, and challenge assumptions.
- Self-authoring knowers: create opportunities to identify and share goals, support different approaches, and encourage critique.
- Self-transforming knowers: build teams with diverse experiences, provide space for discussion, and challenge them to be patient.

Teaming: collaborate on curriculum, literacy, technology, and diversity teams to increase individual and organizational learning.
Collegial inquiry: engage in purposeful dialogue to examine assumptions and share perspectives.
Mentoring and coaching: support adults in broadening perspectives, examining assumptions, and sharing expertise.

Role-playing and applying a developmental lens can help teams navigate challenges and improve communication.
Investing time in learning about team members' ways of knowing and providing supports can help improve relationships and productivity.
Expressing genuine appreciation and recognizing the importance of adult development in teaming can lead to stronger relationships and better outcomes.### Authors and Their Works
Eleanor Drago-Severson is a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.
Christy Joswick O'Connor is a doctoral student and curriculum supervisor in New Jersey.
Jessica Blum-DeStefano is an instructor at Bank Street College, New York.
Katie D. Lewis is an assistant professor in the Department of Education at York College of Pennsylvania.
Angela M. Novak is an assistant professor in the College of Education at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
Christine L. Weber is an associate professor in the Department of Childhood Education, Literacy and TESOL at the University of North Florida.

Drago-Severson, E. (2004). Helping teachers learn: Principal leadership for adult growth and development.
Drago-Severson, E., & Blum-DeStefano, J. (2016). Tell me so I can hear you: A developmental approach to feedback for educators.
Drago-Severson, E., & Blum-DeStefano, J. (2016). Teaching, learning, and leading in today's complex world: Reaching new heights with a developmental approach.
Coronado, J. (2015). Where are gifted students of color? Continuing the conversation: Critical issues in gifted education: A case studies approach.
Ford, D. Y., Moore, J. L., & Nelson, S. W. (2004). Beyond cultureblindness: A model of culture with implications for gifted education.

Drago-Severson's research focuses on developmental approaches to teaching, learning, and leadership.
The No Child Left Behind Act (2002) defines gifted students.
Researchers have explored teacher perceptions of gifted Hispanic bilingual students and the underrepresentation of Blacks and Hispanics in gifted education.
Studies have investigated educator beliefs and cultural knowledge, as well as implications for school improvement efforts.

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