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Working as a Team

This lesson will highlight the importance of teamwork when managing your preschool classroom. You will learn how collaborating with colleagues and family members creates high-quality practices and better outcomes for the children and families in your care. You will also learn the importance of reflecting on your own experiences in teamwork and practices in classroom management.

Objectives
  • Learn about the importance of working together to create positive experiences to strengthen the management of your preschool classroom.
  • Examine the significance of working collaboratively with families in the day-to-day operation of your classroom.
  • Reflect on practices that highlight working as a team to care for preschool children and their families.

Learn

Know

"Unity is strength…when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved." - Mattie Stepanek

In the previous lesson, you were asked to reflect on your own strategies when managing the day-to-day experiences and activities in your life. You probably acknowledged that working with others may be part of your daily routine, and helps get things done. We are by nature social beings and our relationships with others greatly affect our personal and professional lives. Think about your daily life and how working with others helps you with sharing household responsibilities, taking care of children, taking care of families, and taking care of yourself.

In early childhood, collaboration is a dynamic process in which individuals come together and share their knowledge, experiences, resources, and strengths to promote growth and development. When it comes to caring for preschool children, these individuals are family members, preschool teachers like yourself, related service providers, administrators, and community partners. Collaboration builds on the expertise, interests, and strengths of everyone involved in the process. By acknowledging that each of these individuals has something meaningful to offer, collaboration creates opportunities to set goals and objectives, make plans for implementing those goals, monitor progress, and solve problems jointly. The goal of collaboration is to ensure progress and growth for each preschooler, their family, and ultimately your classroom and program.

The Process of Creating Collaborative Teams

When you work together with colleagues and families, the time spent on collaboration can benefit preschool children and their families, as well as yourself. Like everything else we do, learning to work with others is a skill that does not develop overnight. It is a process that takes place over time. Just like when you are learning any new skill or experience, you have to invest time and effort in getting to know information and practicing new skills. Being able to work well with others requires ongoing commitment, energy, and work.

Remember that each person you engage with is unique. In your daily interactions with preschool children, families, and colleagues, you always bring with you who you are: your interests, your personality, your temperament, your background experiences, and your special abilities and talents. The way you view yourself as a team member can define your interactions and relationships with children, families, and colleagues.

Building collaborative relationships takes time, effort, and commitment, but often has meaningful outcomes in terms of enhancing the overall quality of your program. As you work with fellow preschool teachers, your T&CS, or administrator, you should share with each other your opportunities and successes, as well as your challenges. These experiences are opportunities to make new friends and network with others who have similar interests with you.

Two of the country’s leading experts on building collaborative teams, Jacqueline Thousand and Richard Villa, identify five elements as critically important in creating a collaborative process. (Johnson & Johnson, 2017; Thousand & Villa, 2000). As you read these, think about how they reflect your experiences with collaboration in your program:

  1. Face-to-face interaction among team members on a frequent basis
  2. A mutual “we are all in this together” feeling of positive interdependence
  3. A focus on the development of small-group interpersonal skills in trust building, communication, leadership, creative problem solving, decision making, and conflict management
  4. Regular assessments and discussion of the team’s functioning in setting goals for improving relationships and effectively accomplishing tasks
  5. Methods for holding one another accountable for agreed-on responsibilities and commitments

In your daily work, you make conscious and intentional decisions about how to interact in daily encounters with preschoolers, family members, and colleagues. Being part of a team requires that you enter partnerships with a positive attitude and commitment to ethical behavior. No matter how experienced you are, being part of a collaborative workplace should be central to your practice as a preschool professional. Child care settings are primarily people-centric workplaces. The biggest resources are people. Collaborative workplaces promote happy and secure children and families.

Collaborating with Families

Family-professional partnerships are a central part of your work as a preschool professional. One key feature of a successful family-professional partnership is a sense of equality between family members and professionals (Turnbull et al., 2012). Being equitable means ensuring you consider each child’s and family’s strengths and needs to provide the opportunities that will support each child in reaching their full potential. As highlighted in the Professionalism course, individuals who deal directly with human welfare have a special obligation to behave in ways that benefit those they serve. Values that are foundational to professions based on human relationships are caring, compassion, empathy, respect for others, and trustworthiness (Feeney, 2011). Effective preschool teachers are dedicated to serving the needs of the young children and families they work with. Your program’s parent handbook is the ideal place to share with parents your program’s vision, philosophy, and offerings. A program should also have a clearly articulated shared mission and philosophy that is demonstrated by everyone who works in the program and that all staff understand. You should familiarize yourself with this mission and philosophy.

When discussing family-professional relationships, Janice Fialka, in her highly regarded article The Dance of Partnership: Why Do My Feet Hurt? (2001), compares collaboration with dancing. She reflects on her experiences as a social worker, and as a parent of a child with disabilities, as she shares the complexities in the dancing-collaborating experience. At times, she notes, moving across the dance floor with professional partners may seem less than graceful. Their movements can seem awkward, stiff, and uncoordinated, as if each partner is dancing to different music. Sometimes, partners may even step on each other’s feet while trying to figure out what to do next. However, she notes how important it is to have each partner’s perspectives, hopes, dreams, and expectations be heard, valued, and respected at different times throughout the dance.

In your daily work, in order to truly get to know a child in your care, you have to get to know their family. In this process, you need to be open-minded, flexible, and genuinely interested in order to make a difference. There are several positive outcomes of collaboration between you and family members. During this process, families become active participants, share valuable information, and work with you to promote their child’s optimum development. Through collaboration you are better able to get a window into each family’s dreams, hopes, and aspirations for their young child. Having a better understanding of families home life and culture, allows you to support the alignment between their vision and furthering their child’s development, which leads to better outcomes. In your daily work, in order to truly get to know a preschool child in your care, you must get to know their family. During this process, you need to be open-minded, flexible, and genuinely interested in order to make a difference.

Reflecting on your Own Experiences and Practices

Effective preschool teachers value collaboration and acknowledge it is important to work together with families, other staff members, and supervisors to be successful. They know it’s important to critically think about their practices with children and families, and to make changes when needed. Reflection can support many aspects of your work as a preschool teacher. Parlakian (2001) shares, “Reflection is the time to slow down, to see what can be learned if we take the time to carefully look at and listen to ourselves, and those with whom we work.”

High-quality environments for children cannot be created unless these environments are also good for the adults who work in them. Education professor Lilian Katz, in Talks with Teachers of Young Children (1995) urges professionals to ask themselves the questions below. As you read each of these questions, think about how things are in your own work environment.

On the whole, are relationships with my colleagues:

  • Supportive rather than contentious?
  • Cooperative rather than competitive?
  • Accepting rather than adversarial?
  • Trusting rather than suspicious?
  • Respectful rather than controlling?

They also know it is important to celebrate successes and acknowledge the efforts of others, like family members and colleagues, in their daily work. Your program may plan joyful events that build community at different levels: among children, families, and staff. (e.g., acknowledging individual staff members during staff meetings, celebrating staff birthdays and life events with potluck suppers, attending a professional conference together, organizing family nights, inviting families to participate in classroom and program experiences, inviting families to spend time with children in the classroom).

While working with others can be one of the most rewarding parts of your job, it can also present challenges. It requires dedication, commitment, problem-solving skills, and a willingness to learn, change, and flexibility, in order to address the multiple, and often complex, needs of those in your care. It is your responsibility to maintain professional conduct and seek the advice of your T&CS or administrator when faced with difficult situations you’re not sure how to deal with.

See

Working as a Team

Watch this video to learn about collaborating with others in your work.

Do

Take time to review the practices below, which highlight collaborative teamwork in caring for preschool children and their families:

  • Respect each preschool child in your care and their families. Acknowledge their diversity and individual differences in growth, background, beliefs, and values. Invite and include each family in planning and decision-making about their child’s development and learning. Make sure every family has an opportunity to share their views or ideas with you.
  • Meet regularly with colleagues to plan experiences for preschoolers and their families. Regular meetings allow you to discuss children’s progress, plan experiences, and make necessary changes.
  • Ask clarifying questions when not sure about something. Miscommunication can lead to unnecessary frustrations, delays in getting things done, and a negative work climate.
  • As a team member, make sure you have a clear understanding of procedures, rules, or regulations, and always talk to your T&CS or administrator when in doubt.
  • Share ongoing observational information on each preschooler in your care with colleagues and family members and use that information to plan for individual children and your group.
  • Invite families’ input when planning.
  • Provide a variety of developmentally appropriate choices and experiences for children in your care.
  • Have developmentally appropriate expectations about children’s behaviors and be proactive when dealing with challenging behaviors.
  • Be open-minded and use creative thinking skills, like brainstorming, when planning or problem-solving. Be willing to see others’ viewpoints and consider multiple options or solutions when tackling a problem or challenge.
  • Most importantly, have a good attitude and demonstrate respect for each individual you collaborate with. Appreciate each member of your team and welcome the knowledge, experience, or expertise that they have to offer.

Explore

In the Working as a Team activity below, take some time to reflect on the information you read in this lesson. Think about your program and describe how you work with others.  Share and discuss your responses with your trainer, coach or administrator.

Apply

Read the article in the Collaboration activity to learn more about working with parents and family members. Think about new ways to involve families in their children’s care and share your ideas with your trainer, coach or administrator.

Demonstrate

What are some positive outcomes of collaborating with families in your program?
Which of the following practices does not encourage preschool teachers to work together as a team?
Which of the following practices does not demonstrate collaboration with a team to promote growth and development?
References & Resources

Allred, K. W., & Hancock, C. L. (2015). Reconciling leadership and partnership: Strategies to empower professionals and families. Young Children, 70(2), 46-53.

Baker, A. C., & Manfredi/Petitt L. A. (2004). Relationships, the heart of quality care: Creating community among adults in early care settings. National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Bernhardt, J. L. (2000). A primary caregiving system for infants and toddlers: Best for everyone involved. Young Children 55(2): 74–80.

Caster, R. J. (1993). Restructuring for caring and effective education: An administrator's guide to creating heterogeneous schools. edited by Richard A. Villa, Jacqueline S. Thousand, William Stainback, and Susan Stainback. Baltimore, Md.: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1992. NASSP Bulletin, 77(551), 98–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263659307755119

Division for Early Childhood. (2014). DEC Recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special education 2014http://www.dec-sped.org/recommendedpractices.

Feeney, S. (2011). Professionalism in early childhood education: Doing our best for young children. Pearson Education, Inc.

Fialka, J. (2001). The dance of partnership: Why do my feet hurt? Young Exceptional Children, 4(2), 21-27.

Godwin, A., & Schrag, L. (1996). Building relationships with parents. In setting up for infant/toddler care: Guidelines for centers and family child care homes (pp. 51-52). National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Hanson, M. J., & Lynch, E. W. (2013). Understanding families: Approaches to diversity, disability, and risk (2nd ed). Paul H. Brookes.

Harry, B., Kalyanpur, M., & Day, M. (1999). Building cultural reciprocity with families: Case studies in special education. Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

Harvard Family Research Project (2013). Family engagement. http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement

Howes, C., & Ritchie, S. (2002). A matter of trust: Connecting teachers and learners in the early childhood classroom. Teachers College Press.

Hunt, P., Soto, G., Maier, J., & Doering, K. (2003). Collaborative teaming to support students at risk and students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms. Exceptional Children, 69(3), 315–332. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290306900304

Johnson, D.W., & Johnson, F.P. (2017). Joining together: Group theory and skills (12th ed.). Pearson Education Inc.

Kalyanpur, M., & Harry, B. (1999). Culture in Special Education: Building reciprocal family-professional relationships. Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

Katz, L. K. (1995). Talks with teachers of young children: A collection. Ablex.

Keyser, J. (2017). From parents to partners: Building a family-centered early childhood program (2nd ed.). Redleaf Press.

Lynch, E. W., & Hanson, M. J. (2011). Developing cross-cultural competence: A guide for working with young children and their families (4th ed.). Paul H. Brookes.

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009). NAEYC standards for early childhood professional preparation: A position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-statements/2009%20Professional%20Prep%20stdsRevised%204_12.pdf

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2020). NAEYC Position Statement: Developmentally Appropriate Practice.
https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-statements/dap-statement_0.pdf

Parlakian, R. (2001). Look, listen, and learn: Reflective supervision and relationship-based work. Zero to Three.

Simon, F. (2015). Look up and out to lead: 20/20 vision for effective leadership. Young Children, 70(2), 18-24.

Sullivan, D. R. (2010). Learning to lead: Effective leadership skills for teachers of young children (2nd ed.). Redleaf Press.

Thousand, J.S., & Villa, R.A. (1990). Strategies for educating learners with severe handicaps within their local home schools and communities. Focus on exceptional children, 23(3), 1-25.

Thousand, J.S., & Villa, R.A. (2000). Collaborative Teaming: A powerful tool in school restructuring. In R. A. Villa & J. S. Thousand (Eds.), Restructuring for caring and effective education: Piecing the puzzle (pp. 254-292). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

Turnbull, A. P., Turbiville, V., & Turnbull, H. R. (2000). Evolution of family–professional partnerships: Collective empowerment as the model for the early twenty-first century. Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention, 630–650.
https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511529320.029

Turnbull, A., Shogren, K., Soodak, L., & Turnbull, H. (2014). Families, professionals, and exceptionality: Positive outcomes through (7th ed.). Pearson.

Turnbull, A. P., Turnbull, H. R., & Wehmeyer, M. L. (2012). Exceptional lives: Special education in today's schools. Pearson.