TEACHING TEAM SKILLS – HINTS ON HOW TO TEACH TEAM SKILLS IN THE YEAR OF ADOPTION OF PRIMARY INVESTIGATIONS
by Judith Mulholland, School of Education, Australian Catholic University, Michelton, Qld

In Primary Investigations activities students work in teams so that they can share their experiences, consider different points of view and discuss solutions to a problem. This helps them to develop the social skills of shared leadership, communicating, building trust and managing conflict.

Students begin each year by engaging in a team game lesson designed to allow them to practise team skills and roles. It is usually better to introduce one team skill at a time, to monitor use of this skill and give specific feedback after each activity. Lessons and questions that help to assess competence in team skills are listed below.

Book 1 Shapes
Invite the children to assess how well they worked with their partner and discuss the importance of co-operation.

Book 2 Paper shapes
In what ways did your teams work well together? How did you practise all the team skills?

Book 3 Play clay
Did your team work well together?
Did you remember to practise all the team skills?

Book 4 Magnets make patterns
Which team skills did you find difficult?
How could you do your team job better?

Book 5 Making a balloon rocket
Encourage teams to suggest ways in which they could improve their skills and incorporate them into the next team investigation.

Book 6 Liquid layers
Which skills did your team perform well?
Which skills does your team need to practise?

Book 7 Sand pendulums
Did your team work well together?
How could you improve your team skills and job skills?

Anecdotal evidence from teachers showed that some found the team approach very helpful as a classroom management strategy. Others found that students had initial difficulties with team skills, particularly older students who are using the team investigation strategy for the first time.

The team game lessons designed for all year levels are part of a seven-year sequential program of skill development, and those in later years require skills learnt in earlier years. In Books 6 and 7 for example, the team game lessons are more challenging in terms of team skills than those in earlier books.

Some students may not be ready to begin with the team skills designed for their level, especially in the first year of Primary Investigations adoption. One solution is to look at the way team skills and jobs are introduced over the seven years. Teachers could use pairs of students (manager and speaker) before including the more challenging role of director, or simpler team games from earlier books before or in place of the more complex ones.

For example, team games from Books 1 and 2 have been enjoyed at teacher inservice sessions and can easily be adapted for older students. Teams that finish these successfully could graduate to more complex games from Books 3,4 or 5, and then complete their own year-level game as a reward for reaching the required skill level.

Remember that most students will take the whole year, with teacher support, to become proficient team members. Being able to work quietly (not silently) and staying with their teams is a good starting point.