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W h ā n a u M a n a a k i K i n d e r g a r t e n sCreating a Collaborative Team Culture

Content

Overview

Introduction

Processes that Support Effective Teams

- Developing a Team Agreement

- Identifying how we will Work Together

- Values Discussion and Exercise

- Beliefs Discussion and Exercise around Principles of Te Whāriki

- Developing a Shared Philosophy

Resources that support creating a collaborative team culture

Additional Resources

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Shared PhilosophyWhat is important to you around how you will work with children and whānau?

Setting the Scene Team Agreements

about Routines Team Agreements for

how we will work together as a team.

Aim: To develop a team culture of: Belonging, Respect, Trust, Enquiry and Critique, Research, Feedback, Inclusion, Bicultural Practice and Fun

Creating a shared Team Vision

What are our Values? What are our Beliefs? What do our whānau

and children think?

Introduction

The principles of Te Whāriki inform our approaches and ways of working with children; but they also provide a sound structure for our approaches and ways of working as a team. As you work through this document keep the principles in mind:

- Whakamana/Empowerment: the team is empowered to be the best teachers they can be for all children and families

- Kotahitanga/ Holisitic development: the combined strengths, experiences and values contribute to the richness, diversity and effectiveness of the kindergarten environment

- Whānau Tangata/Family and Community: the wider world of the family amd community is an integral part of the early childhoodcurriculum

- Ngā hononga/Relationships with people, places and things: approaches and ways of operating promote responsive, respectful and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things

Creating a Collaborative Team Culture Document is designed to help teams work alongside each other in a collaborative way. One of the key purposes of this document is to facilitate a process leading to the articulation of a team culture and a shared philosophy. The articulation of a team philosophy that truly reflects your values and beliefs is essential for your core teaching practices as it underpins your practice in all aspects of your work.

Although there is not a defined period of time to work through this process, it is envisaged that it could take number of weeks. This process should be an opportunity for your team to delve in to their beliefs and values, negotiate a core philosophy and identify a way of working collegially and cooperatively within your team.

At the end of this process you will have developed a vision on how your team is going to work together and a team philosophy to guide your teaching

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practice. An important part of this process is documenting your discussions, decisions and commitments you make as you work through the process. You can link this to your Internal Review process.

Your Senior Teacher is available to help you work through any stage of this process and has a range of additional resources.

Other Whānau Manaaki Kindergarten documents that are relevant to this process include:

Induction of New Head Teachers Induction of New Teachers to WMK Induction of New Teacher to a kindergarten Induction and Mentoring Programme for Certificating Teachers WMK Appraisal Process Internal Evaluation/Self Review

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Processes that Support Effective Teams

Section 1: Team Agreement - Clarifying Team Routines Developing clear team routines and processes which are negotiated and articulated within the team supports your team to work effectively together. Kindergarten teaching is a ‘team’ effort. Team discussion about initial core practices clarifies routines, procedures and limits, and need to be covered very early in the process of working together. There may be some aspects of our work that are more difficult to negotiate due to diverse opinion and practice. Your team will need to develop a shared understanding and agreement around these.

The review of this agreement should become part of your systematic Internal Evaluations (refer to WMK Internal Evaluation document).

Section 2: Agreements about how we will Work Together A shared set of ‘ground rules’ provides a good foundation for critical, reflective discussions on a range of topics. This is not a definitive list, rather a starting point for you to discuss ways of interacting that you consider relevant for your teaching team. Record your team agreements so that these can be referred to later.

The review of this agreement should become part of your systematic Internal Evaluations (refer to WMK Internal Evaluation document).

Section 3: Identifying Team Values and BeliefsThis step of the process assists you to identify your values and beliefs – both as an individual teacher and those of your team.

To begin work through the ‘Values’ exercise. This will provide a basis for your team discussion as you seek to identify the values and understandings that you agree on.

The next step is to work through Te Whāriki exercise and identify your beliefs around how the Principles of Te Whāriki guide your teaching practice individually and then discuss and come to agreements as a team.

All of the first three sections will support the team in developing a vision around how you will work together.

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Section 4: Developing a Team PhilosophyA suggested process in developing your team philosophy is to:

Complete the Values and the Principles of Te Whāriki exercises

Identify those values and beliefs you agree on and some key words/phrases that have emerged

Negotiate the rest

Share these key words/phrases with your whānau and children and invite them to contribute/comment

Develop a philosophy statement using the agreed key words and phrases from the team, children and whānau

Present this philosophy statement to your whānau and children

The review of your philosophy should become part of your systematic Internal Evaluations (refer to WMK Internal Evaluation document).

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Section 1 Team Agreement

Discussion Topics and Agreements What Agreement Responsibility Next review

date Start and finish times What are the expectations?

Team meetings

When will these occur?

What will be included?

How will the agenda be set?

Who will be responsible for chairing the meeting?

Who will be responsible

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for doing the minutes?

How will issues be raised?

How do people like reminders?

Who will check that jobs are completed?

What are the expectations /processes around people asking for help if they need it?

What happens if a teacher is absent?

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Use of Non-Contact time

What tasks, apart from learning stories, may be required to be completed during this time?

Who will do what and when? How can this be managed equitably? e.g. expectations for full time /part time positions

Who does the kgtn shopping and when?

Personal use of telephone and ComputerUse of personal cell phones – what are the expectations?

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Work computers for personal use?

Use of facebook/ social media?

(All of the above must be discussed alongside WMK ICT and Cyber safety policy and kindergarten procedures)

Social Competence.(To discuss alongside teams Social competence procedure )

What everyday teaching strategies will the team use to ensure consistency?

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What is acceptable and not acceptable? e.g. outside inside toys, areas that children can eat in, water in the sandpit

Who talks to parents, how and about what? e.g. can teachers raise concerns with parents – does HT need to know before issues are raised.

Group Times What are the purposes of each of our group times?

What are the expectations?

How many group times?

Who is responsible?

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Are children expected to stay on the mat?

How flexible are the teachers with length of time, releasing children? What guides these decisions?

Celebrations What are the expectations around birthday celebrations?

Food?

Which/whose birthdays do you celebrate?

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How do parents participate?

Other cultural celebrations?

Committee meetings/ Whānau Group meetings etc

What are the expectations

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around attendance and writing of the report?

What do you do if you don’t have a committee?

What are the expectations around team members attending fundraising events and activities outside work time?

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Security

Who gets keys?

Who locks up and what is required. – Alarms set?

Children’s food routines

Healthy food procedure - do you have one?

Is there any food that is not acceptable (for whatever reason)

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Date of Agreement:Signed:Head teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher

Date of Planned review:

Teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher

Section 216

How We Work TogetherDiscussion Topics and Agreements

What Agreement Responsibility

Developing trust

How do you act when you trust people?

Behaviours that elicit trust: When I trust someone I …….( discuss behaviours,

feelings, thoughts and expectations )

• “When I want someone to trust me, I ……” (discuss behaviours, feelings, thoughts and expectations)

Building team culture What opportunities will there be for team building and team social events?

How will you support people to have a positive attitude?

How will you celebrate team / individual achievements

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Confidentiality Decisions need to be made about what information

needs to be kept “In house”

If team or kindergarten issues are raised outside the kindergarten and you are not happy about it how will this be resolved?

What is professional behaviour when discussing issue with those outside the team?

Times when it is appropriate to share information about the kindergarten or team with the Senior Teacher.

Constructive communication

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How will you ensure that everyone communicates in constructive ways?

Some initial General Guidelines No one gets put down We use “I” statements We only judge ourselves No sexist racist or homophobic language Talk time is shared equally We take responsibility for our own feelings.

What happens if this agreement isn’t adhered to?

Giving and receiving feedbackHow will you provide it for others?

How will you seek it?

Raising issues How will these be able to be raised? In what forum?

What opportunities will there be to discuss how team dynamics are working?

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Resolving issues or problems in the teamHow will this occur?

When?

What happens if the issue is not resolved? Seeking help from others in the team.What signals do you give to each other when you need help?

What areas would you like the team to give you feedback on or help with?

Each person needs to take responsibility to ask for help when they need it.

Ensuring everybody has a voice. What processes do you have for ensuring that everybody contributes to team discussion?

How are all opinions listened to and valued?

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What are you going to do if things are not feeling right for you?

These agreements will form the basis of how you will work together as a team and will give you a foundation for regular critical, reflective discussion that contributes to ongoing improvement

Date of Agreement:Signed:Head teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher

Date of Planned review:

Teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher

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Section 3 Values and Beliefs Discussion Everything you do as a professional teacher is affected by your value system. Values impact on how you act and react to experiences and events. There will be differences in values and beliefs. Sometimes these differences create ethical and professional dilemmas. The impact on practice of your personal values may need to be negotiated and agreed to by the whole team.To be able to articulate your values, you have to be able explain the rationale behind them. It is also important as teachers to respect and acknowledge the values of others.One of the values our organisation holds is biculturalism, it may be a good place to start.

Personal attributes and values:

What qualities do you value most in yourself and in other people? What are your values? To what extent do values form a part of your teaching philosophy?

The next step is to identify your team agreement around values and beliefs that are important to include in your team philosophy. Working through the ‘Values’ exercise will help you clarify your thoughts. It is also important to reach a team agreement about how these values and beliefs will be evident in your practise e.g. if you write “we believe all children have potential”, you need to discuss how this is going to be evident in your day to day practise.

These are not just our teaching values but the values that we hold dear in our lives generally and impact on how we interact in the world...

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Values Exercise

1. Divide the values cards into three groups:a. Non-negotiables – these are essential to meb. These are important to mec. These are the least important to me

2. Put the bottom two groups away in the Kete

3. Choose your six most important values

4. Choose your three most important values

5. Share with the rest of the team what these three values mean to you – how do they influence the way you live... (different people may see the words used to describe the values in differing ways so important to unpack what they mean for the individual)

6. Share these 3 values from each teacher with your children and whānau and seek their feedback on the ones that are most important to them

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Aaro-nuiConsideration

Maioha, MatawhāitiTact

Rangimārie, HūmāriePeacefulness

Aroha, NgaririLove

Manaaki, Tiaki-paiCaring

Tino Pai-rawaExcellence

Āwhina, ManaakiHelpfulness

Matatika-ngaTrustworthiness

Tuku-márieTolerance

Harikoa, HakoakoaJoyfulness

Ngākau AtawhaiKindness

Ū-ki-te-tikiJustice

HautoaCourage

Ngákau TapatahiIntegrity

Ū-tonu-tangaPerseverance

Hiri-ngaDetermination

HūmārikaGentleness

Waihanga-tangaCreativity

Kai-ngākauEnthusiasm

Ngāwari-wariFlexibility

Whaka-hoahoaFriendliness

Kotahi-tangaUnity

Nohomā, NohotikaCleanliness

Whakaata-ponoTruthfulness

Mahi TahiCooperation

Puku-mahiDiligence

Whakatara-ngaPurposefulness

Mahi-pono-tiaReliability

Pūmau, Ngākau PōnoLoyalty

KahaStrength

Mahi rōpōTeamwork

Iwi whānauCommunity

WhānauFamily

Principles of Te Whāriki

Te Whāriki is the basis of all our work with children, families and whanau and the community.

Your next task is to think about your beliefs in relation to the principles of Te Whāriki and how you believe they guide your teaching practice.

Consider the following before working through this exercise:

Your aspirations for children under each of the Principles The Relevance of current theory What is important for children to learn at this kindergarten The role of Inclusive practice The role of Bicultural practice The involvement of parents, whanau and community How you believe children learn The role of the learning environment How this links to Te Manawa: Criteria for Curriculum Implementation How this links to your Social Competence procedure

As a team under each of the Principles of Te Whāriki identify how you think the principles guide your teaching practice – and what your aspirations for children are. If you are a big team work through this exercise in smaller groups and then get together and agree on a final set of beliefs.

Share these beliefs with your children and whānau, seek their feedback on what is most important to them and make changes.

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Principles of Te WhārikiWhaka mana- Empowerment

Nga Hongonga-Relationships

Whanaungatanga- Community

Kotahitanga -Holistic

Include any other areas that your team identified as important

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Section 4Developing a Team Philosophy

To now develop your team philosophy use the: Agreed words from the ‘Values’ exercise and Agreed statements from the Te Whāriki ‘Principles’ exercise

Develop an agreed statement that best describes all of these words and statements.Once you have your agreed philosophy unpack what it will look like in practice.

Philosophy Statement

What does this look like in practice philosophy in practice?

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Resources to support creating a collaborative team culture

The following resources are available from your Senior Teacher to support the development of effective teams.

Self-awareness and contributing to a team What’s my driver? Belbin team types Communication Styles exercise Generational challenge – different times, different perspectives Myer Briggs, personality characteristics. Emotional self-awareness and associated competencies.-E.I

analysis (Interlead) Johari window – a model of personal awareness Individual questionnaire on teaching practice

Working successfully in a team Management matters, Team and team work -by Cushla Scrivens Sharing my values and what’s important to me Some distinctions of team Effective teams, Team Dynamics Forming, storming, norming, performing Effective delegation Team Dynamics, Adult Parent Child Team Communication – key strategies Fish philosophy

Developing a culture of mutual respect Definition of a team, some distinction of team Creating a team vision and mission statement Characteristics of effective team cultures Points to consider when building a culture, documentation of this

revisiting Active listening, Using Ears. Trial listening exercise Establishing a culture of inquiry and reflection What team building opportunities do we want to encourage

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Leading effective meetings Effective team cultures Emotional Intelligence survey for the team

Feedback who, how, when why Professional feedback – example Giving and receiving feedback – styles Do and don’ts of negative feedback Positive and negative feedback giving and receiving The characteristics of constructive feedback What is feedback? Specific critical feedback Deliver feedback on target Feedback

My responsibility as a professional NZEI –workshops available How to discuss professional Ethics

Addressing challenging situations and have courageous conversations Dealing with disruptive people Barriers to delegation Bullying and Harassment Conflict resolution Processes to deal with conflict Conflict resolution within teams Team reflective questions Positive communication in difficult situations Some ground rules for dealing with conflict Raising issues

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Leadership We are all leaders Leadership styles. Mentoring Early Childhood Professional’s Mentor overview The role of the mentor Effective time saving ideas Shaping team dynamics Directory of counsellors in private practice. Coaching: Great listening, Questions, Feedback= Empowerment The art of inspiring others to commit to and strive for shared

aspirations 6 skills for chairing effective meetings Leadership characteristics and management role

Bicultural perspectives of working together WMK Te Ao Māori Strategy Te Kopae Piripono Centre Of Innovation Framework Te Whai Takohanga – having responsibility Te Mouri Takohanga – being responsible Te Kawe Takohanga – taking responsibility Te Tuku Takohanga – sharing responsibility

Other Resources to Support Teams

Whānau Manaaki Resources:

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Definition of Leadership Resilience Developing a Critical Culture Appraisal Self Review Induction Te Pukapuka Ako Te Manawa Workplace bullying Problem Solving in a team Registration – Induction and Mentoring

Useful Texts:

Beyond Quality Understanding Children Weaving Te Whariki Professional Standards

Web Sites:

www.minedu.govt.nz www educationcouncil.govt.nz www.wmkindergartens.org.nz www.lead.ece.govt.nz www.educate.ece.govt.nz www.nzei.org.nz

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