Learning to Work Together and Getting Dirty

The second day of our Teacher Leadership Cadre Summer Retreat was at Papahana Kuaola in Kaneohe.  We were blessed to have a TLC member who works there in the summers and led us through sacred work in sacred land.

The goal of this day was to move from understanding each other on a personal level to understanding each others' working styles and personalities.  We began by finishing the 2 minute speeches from the first day of the retreat and each of the three final speeches were deeply personal and revealed moments of profound impact on each of the speakers.  Through sharing with the team, these people showed that they trust in the group and believe in the process.  This trust and belief set the tone for a powerful day.

After the speeches, we each shared our full names, place of birth, where we currently live, and a person we would like to bring to work with us today-this person could be living or passed, but someone who's spirit we would like in the work.  Such a simple series of questions, but again, the answers allowed us to learn a bit more about each other.

Then, the work began and we moved to a lo'i, which is a patch of muddy land where taro root grows. In this space we needed to stomp down all of the weeds, so the land would be clear to plant new taro. The work was hard and dirty, but we worked together and got the job done and the visual difference was staggering.  The patch was full of weeds when we began and clear when we finished.  The metaphor was clear, working together, all doing our share allows for a job done efficiently and with pride.

We shared lunch together and then got into the more traditional work.  We took a working styles assessment and discussed how each of our styles fit together.  This particular assessment provides a useful grid of things to keep in mind as different styles come together.  In addition to just discussing our working styles, we created a document in our Drive to record our working styles and one thing our team members should remember when working with us.  For example, the thing I want the team to remember is that if I ask a lot of questions, it's not because I am being critical, but just because I want to troubleshoot problems before they arise, so PD can run smoothly.  Another teammate noted that he likes to generate ideas, but has trouble with follow through.  And another shared that she is non-confrontational, sometimes to a fault.  We have all of this information in a shared document to reference throughout the year.



The final element of the day was establishing roles, norms, and a decision making protocol (TLC Roles & Norms/Decision Making).  Much of this was inspired by Adaptive Schools and the work of Brockton High School.  There was a lot of discussion regarding these topics, but at the end, everyone felt ownership of the roles and processes and excited to move forward.

The retreat is over and we are about to get into the hard work of the school year, but after these two days I am confident that the foundation has been laid, as Thoreau would say, to build castles in the sky.