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Academic Teaming: A Framework for Collaboration
- engagement43
- Feb 13
- 2 min read
Friday, 7 March 12:40-13:40
This session aims to introduce participants to Academic Teaming, an approach that structures collaborative learning through interdependent activities and meaningful peer discussion. Teamwork, collaboration, and productive discourse are elements of the classroom environment that students often need to be taught in order to have effective results. We’ve all encountered groupings where a single student does the bulk of the work or where a student goes unnoticed the background.
Academic Teaming differs from grouping in several key ways, the foundation of which is the extended period of time students are a Team, usually for a whole unit or longer. This allows for clearly defined roles that students learn to do effectively over time, protocols that reinforce independent thinking, and designing activities that build accountability.
Keeping this framework in place with the same Team of students for a period of several weeks, shifts these protocols to become norms and creates a genuine collaborative culture. Conversations become organic, each student has a valued role, and teams take their own initiative to become “unstuck” as they take on more critical thinking. Students then feel a sense of belonging, responsibility, and gain new learning through working with their Team.
By the end of the session, you will walk away with:
an understanding of the essentials for successful teaming
ready-to-use protocols around discussion and problem solving
and be provided with template resources!
SPEAKER
Victoria Rojas
Victoria Rojas is a High School Humanities teacher at the International School of Zug and Luzern. This is Victoria’s twelfth year in the classroom, the first six of which she spent in her hometown of Mission, Texas at a Title 1 high school. Born and raised on the Texas-Mexico border has given her a unique perspective leading her to be a passionate advocate for inclusionary teaching practices and cultivating a sense of belonging in her classroom. As an international teacher, she strives to hone her teaching craft, learn from others, and contribute a different perspective to educational discourse.