Teaching teamwork made easy with this simple ABC guide

ABC guide

Here is our simple ABC guide to working collaboratively to shape effective teaching practices across the school. You’ll find examples of how working as a team has helped us make changes that have had a lasting positive impact on our students and staff.

A – Address challenges with regular get-togethers

Getting teachers together regularly encourages them to talk about what works and what doesn’t.

At the end of every week, our teachers join our Friday Briefings, which provide a space where they can share strategies, brainstorm ideas and even vent if they want to. These meetings have been a game-changer, especially for our newer teachers who benefit from the wisdom and experience of other colleagues.

One of our early career teachers noticed her students would get noisy and unsettled during the transition between the lesson and break time, for example. When she brought this up in our Friday Briefing, we all chipped in with suggestions to help. This was the catalyst for a solution which was put in place – clearer end-of-lesson instructions and a tweak to the pre-break routine.

Feeding back later, the teacher reported the new measures had worked like a charm. So much so, her confidence soared and she is now also aiming to smooth the transition of students back after the break.

B – Broaden teachers’ perspectives

Sometimes, when you’re in the thick of it, it’s hard to see what’s really going on in your classroom. Who is confused? What happened just before that outburst? Who’s really listening? Teachers need eyes in the back of their heads to get the full picture.

That’s where our use of video recordings has been a real eye-opener, to give teachers a 360-degree view of their own classrooms. Importantly, these recordings are only for teachers’ own use. They have complete control over if and when they record and can share clips with colleagues to get constructive feedback.

The footage gives teachers a chance to step back and reflect. One of our Year 6 teachers was puzzled by a group of students who seemed engaged during the lesson but never quite completed the work they were being set during lessons. Watching the video recordings back, the teacher realised her position at the front of the classroom meant some children had no way to get a clear view of the whiteboard and so were only getting half the information they needed to do the work.

After rearranging the desks and marking a spot on the floor where she could stand without blocking the view, there was a big improvement in students’ productivity.

C – Collaborate to support school improvement goals

Our collaborative approach isn’t just about solving individual classroom problems. It’s helping us to explore different ways to tackle bigger challenges too.

A while ago, some teachers were becoming concerned about students’ speaking and vocabulary. Whilst most children were able to write well-presented work in their exercise books about climate and weather or the human body, they would often find it challenging to articulate their knowledge when asked to talk about what they’d learned.

After team discussions, we agreed on a bold new, school-wide approach. This included a cut-back on book work in favour of more activities that encouraged speaking and listening. The results have been encouraging, with students now much happier to express themselves. Teachers have reported improvements across the curriculum too.