Go team!
Teaching teamwork

Helping students learn to work well with others has long been a goal of education. Today, this “soft” skill is more important than ever. Learning to work well as part of a group puts students in good stead as they head toward high school, where collaboration and presentation are becoming more common ways for students to learn and to show what they know. This “soft” skill also will be an asset as students enter college and then workplaces that require people to work in creative ways on a variety of projects and with many different colleagues, who are perhaps from different countries

“Today’s economy is vastly different from 50 years ago, fueled now by brains rather than brawn. In order to survive, businesses need individuals who possess a wide range of high-level skills and abilities, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork and decision-making.”

—Excerpt from Why Business Cares About Education by the Business Coalition for Education Reform.

Finding common ground

Fortunately, much of what students experience during the middle school years can help them become better team players. More and more, teachers design lessons and projects that allow students to work toward a common goal. Middle school students also are offered the opportunity to participate in many co-curricular activities. When it comes to team-building, teachers and social workers say that sports, intramurals, academic and social clubs, music and art are as valuable as students’ in-class experiences.

Following are some examples of the intentional and more subtle ways teamwork is taught each day in middle school:

Academics

None of us is as smart as all of us.
—Japanese proverb

Frequently, today’s students are asked to work together in teams to tackle learning challenges and projects. This may seem like a familiar concept to parents who worked with lab partners in earth science class to identify rocks.

However, today’s teamwork is no longer limited to the science lab. In fact, many of today’s group projects require students weave together what they have learned in all of their classes. For example, students might be studying ancient Egypt in social studies, learning how to calculate the size and scale of pyramids in math class, and writing a research paper on the culture of Egypt for English.

Group learning also has become decidedly high-tech. Consider this modern earth science project about our solar system:

• Working in a group, students brainstorm what they know about Earth and the other planets in our solar system. They record what they’ve come up with, either on paper or into such speadsheet programs as Excel. Students may be assigned roles as reporter (one who summarizes the group’s findings for the class), questioner (one who encourages quiet group members to participate in the discussion and prevents highly verbal members from dominating the conversation), recorder (one who records the group’s ideas and writes up a report for the presenter) and time and materials manager (one who helps group members stay focused on the assignment, complete it on time and reminds the group to move forward to the next question or task when time is running short.)
   

• Students verify what they think is true at space.com and NASA’s Web site.
   

• Using library resources, students dip into history to learn about the origins of astronomy and about the tools and structures designed long ago to study the planets. If working solo, students report their findings (orally or in writing) to their larger work groups.
   

• Using such computer software as Starry Night Backyard, students can take a virtual tour of the stars and planets in the night sky.
   

• Once the groups have thoroughly researched the solar system, they join together with other teams to create a class PowerPoint presentation detailing all of their findings.

 Sports and intramurals

The strength of the team is each individual member...the strength of each member is the team.
— Los Angeles Laker’s coach Phil Jackson

 I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.
—U.S. Soccer star Mia Hamm

Without a doubt, sports teams and intramural games can teach powerful lessons about working together for the common good. Rarely is a run scored or game won without the combined efforts of all players—those on the field, as well as those who cheer a team on from the sidelines and bleachers.

Performances (music, dance and theater)

I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity...to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.
—Beatle Paul McCartney

An orchestra performance requires students to practice, attend rehearsals and take their lead from the conductor. A theatrical performance includes teachers, student actors, scenery and costume designers, stage managers, publicity and promotion folks and parents all pulling together to create a really great show.

Clubs and activities

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
— Margaret Meade ,anthropologist and writer

Whether creating the school yearbook or raising funds to buy warm blankets for soldiers in Iraq, school-based clubs and activities require that students pool their creative resources and energy for the greater good. [top]