Exploring the links between interdependence, team learning and a shared understanding among team members: the case of teachers facing an educational innovation

Abstract

Teams are increasingly regarded as the building blocks of organizations, for teams of employees are better able to deal with complex problems and ever-changing demands than individual employees. The effectiveness of teams depends, to a large extent, on team members learning together and developing a shared understanding of the complex problems they face. As a way to meet the call for more research on conditions that foster team learning, we conducted a multiple case study in which three teacher teams participated. The data showed links between teachers’ goal interdependence, their engagement in team learning activities, like observing each other and preparing lessons together, and a shared understanding of the educational innovation they had to implement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords:

• task and goal interdependence
• team learning
• workplace learning
• competence-based education
• teacher teams