When our Subject Coordinator broached the topic of group work for our case studies, I confess that I had nothing but apprehension and dread. Not that I dislike working with people but my lack of experience collaborating combined with the anxiety I already feel about submitting things on time really did nothing to excite me. So, in the online meeting when she asked how we feel about participating in the case studies, I could have responded in the default position of sounding positive and optimistic. But I took too long thinking about it, the moment passed and I just didn’t respond. However, I know it is a skill I need to obtain experience in and be able to do it well.

At the beginning of the case study, one major consideration I had was that the task would blow out, become a mammoth task and, I just don’t have the time to become bogged down trying to wade through oceans of information. One group member, jumped in with quite a bit of information – preliminary thoughts and then in another posted another one with some issues listed. Her entry had some excellent insights. I began to type my addition but it took me some time and by the time I had finished and posted a few more posts had already come in. I stressed about this too. However, after a while I calmed down about the volume of work coming in and I realized that this was a productive part of the process. Nevertheless, we did need structure.

Next, we started to group headings in the wiki from the information we had already come up with. We allocated pairs to the groups. A group member took the initiative to divide up all the input under headings and groups allocated which was extremely helpful. Then each of the pairs began the process of refining.

Victoria_Borodinova / Pixabay

I feel that even though we had not explicitly talked about roles, a couple were naturally defined:

1. One member instigated the process.
2. Another member facilitated with the technology side of the case study.
3. A couple of members were organisers.
4. All were valuable contributors.

I have been finding it difficult to pinpoint a leadership style. We all worked as a team, acted as professionals working together to achieve a shared goal. The process was diplomatic. It could be argued that the process was a combination of transformative and servant. Our team experienced many of the traits that Holmes, Clement and Albright (2013) have asserted consist of the six features of effective principals. In particular, all of us were focused on the same goal and driven to action; additionally – all of us stood on the same level rather than anyone positioning themselves as leader. One participant excelled at the research and it seemed to me that she had the team’s concerns in her best interests – which lead to the team being motivated to complete better output thus displaying servant and transformational leadership attributes. I initiated and encouraged reflection so that our next collaboration might be streamlined. Hence, took on a more of an opportunity for the group to grow from experience, taking on transformational leadership.

At the beginning of this process, I had packed my suitcase with all that I possessed – H2O and set off at a frantic pace up a long road that had numerous obscure and dangerous bends in it. We are nearing the end of the process now and I am realizing that the long road was a mirage and I was delirious with expectation. My perception is that we worked well together and that I will be happy with the quality and the outcome. I still hold onto the hope that it is not a rush at the end. As part of the reflective process, we can streamline our path. A suggestion will be made for our next case study, that the first thing we do is to brainstorm the issues so that we can develop headings and we all can contribute to those headings. Additionally, more communication on my behalf will enable me to experience less apprehension. Progress has been made and we are getting there.

Reference:

Borodinova, V. (2017, 17 October). Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/suitcase-rain-street-wet-weather-2861491/. The image has been acquired pursuant to Pixabay Licence.

Holmes, K., Clement, J. & Albright, J. (2012). The complex task of leading educational change in schools. School Leadership & Management, 33(3), 270- 283. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2013.800477