Navigating Hub Teaching: A Foundation of Trust
Embarking on a hub teaching journey with a diverse team of educators is both exciting and challenging. Our Grade 4 team at the International School of Addis Ababa is no exception. With a mix of experienced and novice team teachers, we recognized that building a strong foundation of trust was essential for our success. We knew that a collaborative and supportive environment would be crucial for creating a dynamic learning space for our students.
“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships,” Stephen Covey.
We began our year together by building trust. Trust-building within a newly formed, diverse team is paramount for effective collaboration. Research by Amy Edmondson highlights the concept of psychological safety, a climate where individuals feel comfortable being themselves and taking risks without fear of negative consequences. In a hub teaching model, where shared decision-making and experimentation are essential, a psychologically safe environment is crucial for fostering open communication, shared risk-taking, and collective problem-solving. Without trust, team members may be hesitant to contribute their ideas, leading to a stifling of creativity and innovation.
To foster a shared sense of purpose and belonging, we embarked on a journey of co-creation. We began by exploring the concept of hierarchy-free collaboration through Margaret Heffernan’s inspiring TED Talk, “Forget the pecking order at work.” This challenged our traditional thinking and opened up conversations about power dynamics within our team.
To delve deeper into our shared experiences and values, we employed the Amicus Touchline tool. This facilitated a reflective dialogue around a powerful teaching moment, encouraging us to articulate our roles and responsibilities in supporting student learning. Through this process, we gained insights into each other’s strengths, perspectives, and shared passions.
Building on these conversations, each team member visualized their ideal collaborative teaching and learning scenario within our hub. These visualizations were rich in detail and revealed our collective aspirations for student growth and well-being. By synthesizing these visions, we crafted a shared statement of purpose.
“We belong here in Grade 4; our unique personalities are appreciated and reflected in the spaces. We build upon our strengths by REACHing for our goals. We LEAN IN to and smile at challenges by actively owning our learning. Encouraging productive struggle through feedback is a careful balance of perseverance and scaffolding. And, our learning journey is visible (goal achieved or not) because the space is another teacher. We take care of the small stuff (ie. personal organisation) so that we can achieve the big stuff.”
Our shared vision gave birth to essential agreements that would guide our interactions and decision-making. These agreements included a commitment to having fun together, fostering a culture of candour, embracing open-mindedness and celebrating mistakes, and being present and prepared for our collaborative time.
Building a strong foundation of trust is essential for the success of any collaborative endeavor, especially in a hub teaching model. By investing time in relationship-building and co-creating a shared vision, we’ve laid the groundwork for a thriving learning community.
In our next post, we’ll delve deeper into the key components of effective hub teaching, exploring how we’ve structured our learning spaces and routines to support student engagement and growth.
