Managing through Teams

The concept of teamwork embodies the principles of working together, sharing and common purpose. Since it thus appears to epitomise the essential spirit of the new Republic of South Africa, it would seem to offer one of the more obvious ways forward for effective management in the nation’s schools. The report of the Task Team on Educational Management Development (Department of Education 1996) makes no specific references to teams within schools, but its language is concerned with a world of ‘partnerships’, ‘supportive rather than directive’ management (p 64) and ‘agreed’ values and principles. An international report on How Schools Improve (Dalin 1994), summarising factors contributing to school improvement in developing countries, includes ‘team spirit’ (p.xiv). This is elaborated as teachers cooperating and helping each other with problems (ibid.). However, it is clear that this is a characteristic of an improving school, not necessarily a reason for its improvement. This chapter examines some of the issues relating to team management in schools, suggesting that managers need to consciously foster and develop a teamwork approach in order to facilitate school improvement.