If you disagree with the team, there may be a temptation to not participate in events or support a team's mission. Also if your ideas are not listened to, work unacknowledged, or support not forthcoming, you may get the feeling you're not valued and that leads you to not support team endeavor. Yet, contributing to the team and being a team player matters.
Ideally teams are inclusive, transparent, and welcoming by giving every member choice and voice. There's most often a continuum at play in this regard with teams that give little to no choice and voice to those teams that invite all members to the decision/idea table. Whatever the case, you have a choice as to your own efforts and membership in this regard? How do you support the team?
In schools, it's impossible for everyone to do everything given their personal and professional expectations, but if you contribute when you can, the whole team benefits. Even if you contribute in areas that you may not fully support, your effort and contribution matter.
As school communities continue to move from isolation to greater team, how can we distribute support so that it's manageable and that everyone has a chance to contribute where they can and when they can.
First, I think it's important to note the large array of efforts and endeavor at the start of the school year with a calendar. It's valuable for the team to look over the events, assess what's there and what may be missing, and then create support teams for every event so that all events enlist needed contribution.
Next, as events unfold, I think it would be great if the contributors had some voice and choice over the events with regard to how its managed and carried out.
Finally as the year ends, teams of contributors could assess the large array of events and outcomes--what events had significant impact with regard to the school's mission and vision, and what events are possibly ready for review and revision.
A holistic look at school events and endeavor will invite more choice and voice, and choice and voice, in return, will result in greater contribution and effect.
In the meantime, it's good to look at your own practice, and ask yourself if you're a team player. Where do you contribute and where can you contribute more? What does your contribution look like and how does that positively affect the event? The work you do to be part of the team matters, and the way the team invites your work and contribution also matters. The path to school contribution and effect is a two-way street that we all need to travel in order to build dynamic learning/teaching organizations.
