TY - JOUR
T1 - What makes teacher teams in a vocational education context effective?: A qualitative study of managers' view on team working
AU - Truijen, Karin
AU - Sleegers, Peter
AU - Meelissen, Martina
AU - Nieuwenhuis, A.F.M.
N1 - DS_Citation:Truijen, K. J. P., Sleegers, P. J. C., Meelissen, M. R.M., & Nieuwenhuis, A. F. M. (2013). What makes teacher teams in a vocationaleducation context effective?: A qualitative study of managers' view on team working'. Journal of Workplace Learning, 25(1), 58-73,
DS_Sponsorship:Max Goote Leerstoelenfonds
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Purpose – At a time when secondary vocational education is implementing competence-based
education (CBE) on a large scale, to adapt to the needs of students and of the labour market in a
modern society, many vocational schools have recognised that interdisciplinary teacher teams are
an important condition for this implementation. In order to provide students with the right
competences for the labour market, different subject teachers should work and learn together and,
by doing so, should be able to develop changes and improvements to ensure the effective
implementation of CBE. In spite of the appeal of forming teacher teams in vocational education,
studies on this subject show that teams in educational settings are not easily implemented. This
paper aims to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach – In this study, 28 managers from a Vocational Education and
Training (VET) college in The Netherlands were interviewed in order to find factors that are related to
effective team functioning. The authors choose to rely on a qualitative approach, because there has
hardly been any empirical validation of factors that are related to effective team functioning in a
vocational education context. In order to determine what factors influence team effectiveness, the
results from the interviews have been related to what is known about team effectiveness from the
literature.
Findings – By relating the results from the interviews to what is known about team effectiveness
from the literature, a framework for future research on team effectiveness in schools is provided. In line
with the organisational and psychological literature on team effectiveness, the managers distinguished
several aspects in their definition of team effectiveness. Moreover, the findings of the study highlight
the importance of the development of task interdependence, transformational leadership, and group
efficacy for producing effective teams in education.
Originality/value – Although teams and team functioning have been the focus of researchers from
different disciplines and have been studied from different perspectives, studies on the conditions that
support or limit the successful implementation of teacher teams in vocational education are still scarce.
The results of this study are expected to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanism that
underlies the ability of teacher teams in vocational education to function effectively.
AB - Purpose – At a time when secondary vocational education is implementing competence-based
education (CBE) on a large scale, to adapt to the needs of students and of the labour market in a
modern society, many vocational schools have recognised that interdisciplinary teacher teams are
an important condition for this implementation. In order to provide students with the right
competences for the labour market, different subject teachers should work and learn together and,
by doing so, should be able to develop changes and improvements to ensure the effective
implementation of CBE. In spite of the appeal of forming teacher teams in vocational education,
studies on this subject show that teams in educational settings are not easily implemented. This
paper aims to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach – In this study, 28 managers from a Vocational Education and
Training (VET) college in The Netherlands were interviewed in order to find factors that are related to
effective team functioning. The authors choose to rely on a qualitative approach, because there has
hardly been any empirical validation of factors that are related to effective team functioning in a
vocational education context. In order to determine what factors influence team effectiveness, the
results from the interviews have been related to what is known about team effectiveness from the
literature.
Findings – By relating the results from the interviews to what is known about team effectiveness
from the literature, a framework for future research on team effectiveness in schools is provided. In line
with the organisational and psychological literature on team effectiveness, the managers distinguished
several aspects in their definition of team effectiveness. Moreover, the findings of the study highlight
the importance of the development of task interdependence, transformational leadership, and group
efficacy for producing effective teams in education.
Originality/value – Although teams and team functioning have been the focus of researchers from
different disciplines and have been studied from different perspectives, studies on the conditions that
support or limit the successful implementation of teacher teams in vocational education are still scarce.
The results of this study are expected to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanism that
underlies the ability of teacher teams in vocational education to function effectively.
KW - Team building,
KW - Team working,
KW - Education
U2 - 10.1108/13665621311288485
DO - 10.1108/13665621311288485
M3 - Article
SN - 1758-7859
VL - 25
SP - 58
EP - 73
JO - Journal of Workplace Learning
JF - Journal of Workplace Learning
IS - 1
ER -