Page 224 - Learning to Learn

READING EXPERIENCE 8: PERFORMING IN TEAMS AND WITHIN A C OMMUNITY
224 L EARNING TO LEARN: BECOMING A SELF-GROWER
Everyone was silent, waiting to see who would speak. The tension grew.
“Aw, man, I’m sorry, Sandra. I interrupted you, even after I asked for your input as our Reflector,”
Sam says, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Fred, thanks for blowing the whistle on that play.”
Fred nods.
Jennifer speaks up, “I’m sorry too, Sandra. And now I’m curious: what does assessment language
mean?”
Sandra clears her throat. “Thanks, Sam and Jennifer,”Sandra says. “Guys, it all has to do with how
we use and present assessment. The formal Reflector’s Report is what I’m supposed to do at the
very end of the process, after we’re finished with the presentation. But the idea of assessment
language is that we should focus on helping teammembers—other improve our performance,
not on evaluating the presentation. I’ve been thinking a lot about assessment language and
can actually give an example right now:
In reflecting on our current performance as a team, using assessment language, I would say
that we’ve learned to be thoughtful and respectful about listening, but that we might be faster
about catching ourselves not listening next time. See? I gave a strength and a way we can
continue to improve. As an insight, when we rush the process—our discussion—and focus
just on the product—our presentation—we tend to get off-track and don’t improve much as a
team.”
In the preceding dialogue, members of our team have performed an effective intervention within the
team. An intervention is action taken to immediately resolve a problem. Fred shared his belief in the
importance of Sandra’s ideas, effectively reminding the team to respect what all members contribute.
Sam, as Captain, followed through with Fred’s intervention by recognizing that Fred had a valid point
and that what Sandra had to share was worth the team’s time and attention. Table 3 provides additional
examples of typical problems that teams encounter and how they can be solved through interventions.
Table 3 Examples of Team Interventions
Problem Solution
An individual in a team is deferring to
other members of the team
Say to the Captain: “Do you realize that ____ has great ideas that
I see them keeping to themselves but could really help the team?”
The team comes in last in a
competition and is feeling down about
their comparative performance
Say to the team: “Can we try to identify which learning skill we’re
struggling with and figure out how to perform better?”
A person being ignored by the team Say to the team: “Did you hear the great idea ____ just gave?”
A team has finished a given activity
and is relaxing before the next
challenge
Say to the team: “Are there things we can explore while we’re
waiting for others to catch up?”
Think of teams you have been on in the past. These don’t have to be formal academic teams. Your
family, roommates, grade school gym class “teams,” or any group of people with a common mission
will work for this short exercise. What is an example of a positive intervention you’ve seen?