https://doi.org/10.59132/vviz/2019/3/75-91
Abstract
In this paper, we present a minor research and development project with a group of teachers in primary school who, in agreement with the school management, have been trained and educated in the challenging task of facilitating ‘The difficult conversation.’ In the project, a reflecting team has been used as a method to consolidate empowerment as an opportunity for the teacher to lead various processes being part of many teachers’ tasks. The main objective of the project was to research if this way of educating can lead to development of empowerment for the whole school. We also wanted to see if we could use a reflecting team in the mentoring process of learning. In their professional relationship with children and their parents, teachers must be more than regular educators. They need to be leaders of professional teams, cooperating with other professionals in dialogues with parents. Sometimes an individual teacher has to take part in difficult conversations and show both leadership and responsibility. Many teachers perceive this as an emotional challenge that concerns themselves as well as their counterparts. It is important to focus on their own teacher competence to facilitate such situations. A possible route to success is developing empowerment in teacher’s professional work. By using a reflecting team in various situations, teachers will experience empowerment as strengthening support in their daily work. The reflecting team method was originally used in therapy, but has over time been redesigned and adapted to an educational method for mentoring, teambuilding, planning and problem solving.
Povzetek
Kako se pripraviti na težaven pogovor
V tem prispevku predstavljamo manjši raziskovalni in razvojni projekt skupine učiteljev v osnovni šoli, ki so se v soglasju s vodstvom šole usposabljali in izobraževali za izvajanje zahtevne naloge »težavnega pogovora«. Uporabljena je bila projektna metoda, pri kateri je raziskovalna ekipa podprla krepitev učiteljeve vloge kot priložnost za samostojno vodenje različnih procesov, ki predstavljajo del njegovih številnih nalog. Glavni cilj projekta je bil raziskati, ali lahko tak način izobraževanja privede do razvoja celotne šole. Želeli smo tudi preveriti, ali lahko raziskovalno ekipo uporabimo v mentorskem procesu učenja. V svojem poklicnem odnosu z otroki in njihovimi starši morajo biti učitelji mnogo več kot le vzgojitelji. Voditi morajo strokovne skupine in pri dialogu s starši sodelovati z drugimi strokovnjaki. Včasih mora učitelj sodelovati v težavnem pogovoru in pri tem pokazati tako vodstvene sposobnosti, kot tudi odgovornost. Številni učitelji to dojemajo kot čustveni izziv, ki zadeva njih same in njihove kolege. Osredotočenost na lastne učiteljske sposobnosti lahko olajša situacijo. Možna pot do uspeha vodi preko razvijanja sposobnosti učiteljevega poklicnega dela. Z uporabo raziskovalne ekipe v različnih situacijah učitelji izkusijo več moči kot podporo pri svojem vsakdanjem delu. Metoda raziskovalne skupine je bila prvotno uporabljena v terapiji, a kasneje preoblikovana in prilagojena izobraževalni metodi za mentorstvo, teambuilding, načrtovanje in reševanje problemov.