Teachers and administrators in schools often talk about working together and building a strong team, however, few schools truly understand how to create the experience of team work or how to develop an effective team. Belonging to a team, in the broadest sense, is a result of feeling part of something larger than ourselves. It has a lot to do with our understanding of the mission, vision, and objectives of the school and district and doing collective work to accomplish these school goals.

In a team-oriented environment, we contribute to the overall success of the school and district. We work with fellow staff members to produce improvement in student and school results. Even though we have a specific job function and we belong to a specific department or grade level, we are unified with other staff members to accomplish the overall objectives.

Working as a team requires members to understand the tenants of teamwork, operationalize team procedures and develop team norms.