Kurs21Nord workshop panel/team models

The participants for Kurs21Nord seminar in Oulu, 18th-22nd September, 2010.

1 - Managing the Thinking

Blue hat: overview and/or process control hat

• Päivi Mäki : A presentation of the purpose of the panel

• sharing best practises with the help of the Six Thinking Hats and the Meeting Accelerator

• TEAM WORK/LEADERSHIP in focus

2 - InformationWhite hat: present facts, figures, information

• Päivi Mäki: The PANELISTS present themselves:

30 seconds each “ Name, school, size of the school, one secret (which was not written down)!

• Faroe Islands:

The headteacher presented herself and the school, 530 pupils

• Sweden:

Deputy headteacher, 900 pupils at the school

• Denmark:

Headteacher, c. 700 pupils

• Finland:

Headteacher, 870 pupils

3 - Information• Päivi Mäki: The PANELISTS have 5 minutes each to present their team model:

a.How do you put together the teams in your school/your municipality (subject based, class levels, different areas of school leadership etc.?

b.How is the team leaders´ work compensated (eg. money, reserved hours)?

c.How long do the same teams work (one school year, two years etc.)?

Panelist 1/Finland• "old-fashioned" way and new way blended:

*teams and work groups• *teams: according to the architecture, i.e. who teaches who and WHERE in the building!• 1 teacher works only in one team• team leaders are paid, 120 € a month• *work groups: themes eg. internationalization, sustainable living• the school has reserved some money for the people who are responsible for a theme• *work groups differ from year to year, the work groups´ assignments are different every year (if

necessary)• the leading group: the head and two deputies• *meet at least once a week, but quick meetings are also possible since they work close to each other in

the building• the team leaders´ working span is two years (3years is a definite maximum)

4 - Information

Panelist 2/Denmark

• 3 separate buildings A, B and C: A: years 0-3, B years 4-6 and pupils with special needs, C: grades 7-9, grade 10 from the whole of the municipality

• the leadership team: the strategic leader with 10 focus points, the administrative leader, the pedagogical leader, the after-school administration

*meets twice a week: administration and pedagogical issues

*4 co-ordinators in charge of the different buildings

*the teachers form a team which functions 3 years

(=the years in the same building)• -sometimes it is necessary for a teacher to change the team A->B

5 - Information

Panelist 3/ Sweden

• 5 lines in the school• in each line there are 6-16 year-old pupils• the teams are coloured ->the child will follow the colour• the team leaders: one for the earlier part, one for later

*they are paid c. 160 €/month• the teacher stays in a team for several years, but there are

changes if needed• 90 minute-meetings , once a week

6 InformationPanelist 4/Faroe Islands

• class teams before, now: four independent teams• grades 1-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10• the architecture also plays a part in the division• *the teacher usually works within one team• a rule when forming the teams: both sexes are represented in each team• another rule: people with varied working experience• at least one teacher follows the pupil so there is someone who knows

him/her• 80 hours to work in a team• a leading team consists of 4 people

*the leading team is responsible for the other teams

*3 meetings with the individual teams/term

5 - Feelings

• Red hat for EVERYONE: Intuition, feelings and emotions

• *Don´t justify! Don´t comment on others!

• Päivi Mäki: How do you feel in general about team models in schools?

• Feelings were expressed but not written down.

6 - Benefits

The yellow hat is the logical positive. Find something of value!

• Päivi Mäki: Why the model/some part of the model works/work and what are the benefits? Justify! Only PARTICIPANTS are allowed to talk!

• The team organization is essential. The minimum is to have developing teams at least

The developing team has a crucial role in developing the school• ->the workload is shared, everything is written down for others to see

• Different people have different strengths, use them!-> synergy

• no single person can be perfect, a team can:

it brings quality and more thinking, discussion to the school

• the teams are organized in many different ways (in different countries, in different schools)

6 - Benefits

• rotation is good for team work

• children are very different: adults can see better what the strengths in them are if there are more than one

• it´s important that you can base a team system on thinking at the age of the pupils because the school is for them! The pupil is in focus!

• the leadership teams: the load is on many shoulders, not just on one´s

• a poor leader is compensated by a good leadership team!

• the leadership teams: the headteacher is like "the adult" for the staff, he/she is needed in that sense, too

7 - Caution• Black hat: judgment and caution. Why doesn´t something work or fit?

Ahman on Sunday: "too much energy is wasted on defending your viewpoint"->the other way round today.

• Päivi Mäki: Only PANELISTS are allowed to talk (c. 3 minutes each):

Find challenges in the team model system in general (and your own system, too)

Denmark:• the main challenge is communication between different levels• it´s necessary to share the same values->otherwise there will be three

different systems in terms of values, for example

Sweden:• communication is a problem• the grades are very separate• some teams don´t have a born leader which is a problem• generally speaking, the biggest problems is that we are focused on subjects,

subject-teaching• not enough room for feelings• sharing responsibilities means that no one takes care of them (sometimes…)

8 - Creativity

• Green hat: alternatives, proposals, what is interesting, provocations and changes

Use the random picture/word provided by the meeting accelerator programme!!! It might lead to the best idea.

• Päivi Mäki: This is a green hat for PARTICIPANTS only:

What is the greatest idea/observation you made during the presentations and discussions. Discuss in groups!

• (meanwhile the PANELISTS think about their models and the next green hat for them:

"Choose on thing that you could change in your model according to what you heard from the others during yellow and black hat".)

9 - Creativity

• Green hat: alternatives, proposals, what is interesting, provocations and changes

• Päivi Mäki: This is the green hat for PANELISTS only: tell about the one thing that you could change in your model according to what you heard from the others during yellow and black hat.

The panelists told what they would change:

Finland:• the most important thing is to get more planning time• the head would like to show appreciation for team work• *eg. giving time, money, in-service courses

Denmark:• development discussion with all the teams

*emphasis on the interaction, not only on the actual work

9 - Creativity

Sweden:• Why not let the born leaders be leaders

->realization of dreams is easier!

*reorganization of teams

*the white hats gave inspiration!

Faroeislands:• focus on the leading team

*to meet at least twice a week for a short time

10 - Managing the Thinking

Blue hat: overview and/or process control hat

• Päivi Mäki: The notes will be on Kurs21Nord Website for everyone to go through again. John puts the Power Point based on the notes on the website on Thursday the 23rd.

• There will be a question on the ZEF - evaluation form on how you found using the Six Thinking Hats in this session. The instructions for ZEF are sent to the participants after the seminar.

• Kurs21Nord is going to go on working on team models! Let us know about it, please.