11. Teaming and Collaboration in Inclusive Settings

Teamwork and collaboration are essential practices in inclusive programs because they help us provide comprehensive support, promote a positive environment, and ensure that each learner and family gets what they need. Collaborative teams are also better able to meet the needs of learners and families by bringing diverse viewpoints and experiences into a program. Most importantly, members of collaborative teams can easily communicate about everything that happens in their program, which might include the occasional hard conversation and potential disagreements about a learner’s behavior, an activity, or a plan. Plus, our work in inclusive program settings can be tough from time to time, and having a team to rely on makes things feel so much better.

But collaboration is an intentional practice that doesn’t happen without planning. At the Haring Center, we believe that relationships are at the heart of everything we do, and that collaboration is grounded in strong and trusting relationships. Of course, building relationships takes intentional time and effort. Teams can do this by doing some getting-to-know-you activities, intentionally checking in on how things are going outside of work, planning team-building activities, or even simply eating lunch together. We include some tools and ideas for this in our resources section.

Teaming starts with relationships, but collaboration is much easier with specific tools. Let’s talk about those now.

We’ll start with staff matrices. Jen, Luis, and Kristen are coaches for an inclusive high school debate team with 18 members. To help organize their time and responsibilities, they create a staff matrix. A staff matrix outlines what needs to be done before, during, and after any program, and who is responsible for completing each task. Using a staff matrix reduces confusion about where staff members need to go and what they need to do.

Here’s an example of their staff matrix. Notice the schedule is listed in a column down the left-hand side, with the teachers across the top row. For each time period of the program, the team has different responsibilities. As the debate club members arrive, Jen greets them, Luis preps the three focus topic stations, and Kristen puts the schedule on the board and makes sure that each member has their folder of materials. As the session goes on, this staff matrix outlines what everyone will do during each activity.

An important part of creating this matrix was talking openly and honestly as a team about what each coach likes and doesn’t like to do. For example, Luis is passionate about the mock trial program, so he leads that focused topic station. All three coaches agreed that they would take turns leading the team debate sessions to show equal expertise among them. They switch groups each month. With this staff matrix in place, it’s clear what each coach is supposed to be doing during the debate club sessions. Having clear roles makes all of us feel better about our work and helps teams work more efficiently.

This tool can be used outside of a school setting too. Here’s an example of how Isabella’s summer fitness camp teachers at the community center used a staff matrix to organize the teachers and volunteers. We see the schedule down the left column and the adults across the top, just like with the previous debate club example. The fitness camp teachers create a plan for how they’ll support campers during each activity and what each adult’s role is across the day.

Finally, here’s a matrix for a gymnastics class with two coaches. While the setting is quite different, using a staff matrix makes it much easier for all the gymnastics coaches to work together and feel organized in a very lively space. With staff matrices, we always have the schedule down the left side and always have the teachers across the top. While the schedule and time may vary, this is a very useful tool for supporting collaboration in any setting.

Another teaming strategy that helps us work efficiently is called zoning. Zoning involves dividing a larger space into smaller areas, or zones, and assigning adults to those specific zones. Let’s look at how a high school organized volunteers during orientation, where new students arrive to pick up their high school materials before school starts.

Peninsula High School hands out student schedules in person the week before school starts. Volunteers are needed to make this event successful and to provide students with any support they might need. The event takes place in the cafeteria, but it’s still quite crowded and busy. School staff have created a zoning chart to divide the cafeteria space into areas assigned to each volunteer. Zone one is for students whose last names start with A through F. Zone two is for students with last names starting with G to L. Zone three is for students with last names starting with M to R. And zone four is for student last names starting with S to Z. Zone five is where students go if they have questions or need help with these zones. Each volunteer has an area that they’re in charge of to help students pick up their schedules.

Zoning is a great way to organize staff to help keep learners organized or safe, or to accomplish a task. But zoning can also be used in many other settings. Here is an example of a middle school youth group’s weekly visit to a local retirement home. Teacher A supervises and supports the students in the rec room, while Teacher B supervises and supports the students in the garden, and Teacher C supervises and supports the students in the library.

To create a zoning chart in your setting, consider the space and where the learners will be. Divide the area into sections for each adult, and talk as a team about who would like to be in a certain section. Some teams change zones every week, others every day. It’s completely up to you and what works best for the team.

In some cases, we have to rework our zones. For example, if more learners end up being in one area than originally expected, the team could rework their zones to create a more evenly distributed zoning chart. Here we see the zones have now changed: Teacher A takes the rec room, while Teacher B and C take the garden area.

The most effective collaboration practices are the ones that help teams work together. While the specific staff matrix and zoning charts will look different depending on the setting, the schedule, and the type of activities learners do, the basic premise is the same: they give us tools to work together. But of course, this all starts with the people on a team having trusting, supportive, and safe relationships with each other.

How might staff matrices and zoning work in your program?