An Advising Team: Greater Than the Sum of its Parts NACADA Region 1 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

An Advising Team: Greater Than the Sum of its Parts

NACADA Region 1 March 9, 2016 Session #3.8

Diane Ronchetti Cooper, Christina Chandler, Merlyn Mayhew, Marie-Maude Petite-Frere, Pamela Saideh Smith

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Introductions

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• The Assistant Director Team
• Diane, Christina, Merlyn, Maude, Pam
• Different programs, common focus
• Lesley University
• Private institution based out of Cambridge, MA. Founded

in 1909.

• Population of approximately 2000 undergraduate and

4500 graduate students.

• Offers on campus, off-site, online, and low residency

programs.

• Four distinct schools; signature areas in Education,

Human Services, and the Arts.

Social Interdependence Theory

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• Grounded in Gestalt Psychology: The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its

Parts

• Meaning making: “If you want people to build a ship, awaken their desire

for the ocean.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Goal structure  Group tensions  Type of interactions  Group

• utcomes
• Five essential elements of cooperative learning

Graphic adapted from The Foundation Coalition: http://www.foundationcoalition.org/

Positive Interdependence

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• Positive interdependence = positive correlation for goal
• btainment
• Structure:
• Outcomes: What are we getting?
• Means: How are we getting there?
• Boundaries: Who is feeding off of whom?
• Results in promotive interaction

Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction

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• Positive interdependence helps the individual generate a

sense of personal investment in their group. This, in turn, creates synergy within the group.

• How group members interact with one another in order to

accomplish the group goal.

• Broadly characterized by effective and engaging

collaboration, and through the sharing of necessary resources (knowledge and tangible materials).

• Interaction is only as successful as the contributions of the

individual members of the team.

Individual Accountability

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• What is individual accountability in a team?
• “Individuals learn to do something together so that they can do it more easily
• n their own.” – Johnson & Johnson
• Individual accountability is equally as important as group accountability for

effective collaboration.

• “A sense of accountability to the team creates an incentive for individuals to

provide help when needed.” – Boundless Management: Accountability in Teams

• Important elements: knowledge, voice, shared purpose, trust and willingness to

collaborate, support/encouragement for professional advancement

• Challenges & benefits
• The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.”

– Margaret Carty

Social/Interpersonal Skills

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• Verbal and non-verbal forms of communication
• Perception – flow of communication – attitude of team –
• verall productivity
• Group roles and dynamics
• Self-awareness
• Balance/ group subtleties
• Conflict management

Group Processing

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• Clarify goals
• Support personal strengths and recognize challenges
• Communicate clearly; respect influences overall performance
• Support ideas and new learning
• Recognize differences with advising styles and techniques
• Improve upon oneself to benefit the common good of the

advising team

In Summary

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• Tips and takeaways for promoting group goal success:
• Clearly understand the overarching goal of your group (i.e.

student success) as well as the tactical goals (i.e. orientation planning, course sequencing, etc.).

• Recognize the varying structure of different groups and be

cognizant of/encourage the strengths of each member.

• Respect differing opinions, assume good intentions, actively

listen with an open mind and provide support.

• Encourage each other/yourself to remain flexible, and

expressing challenges and dissenting opinions in order to make improvements.

• What insights did you draw from the Social Interdependence

Theory and the work that you do at your schools?

Resources

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• Johnson, D.W. (2003). Social interdependence: Interrelationships among theory,

research, and practice. American Psychologist, 58, 934-945.

• Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., & Smith, K. (2007). The state of cooperative learning in

postsecondary and professional settings. Educational Psychology Review, 19, 15-29.

• Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R.T. (2009). An educational psychology success story:

Social interdependence theory and cooperative learning. Educational Researcher, 38, 365-379.

• Stanne, M., Johnson, D.W., & Johnson, R.T. (1999). Social interdependence and

motor performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 133-154.

• The Foundation Coalition: http://www.foundationcoalition.org. “Positive

Interdependence, Individual Accountability, Promotive Interaction: Three Pillars of Cooperative Learning.”

Thank You!

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• Please email us with any thoughts or questions!
• Diane Ronchetti Cooper: dcooper@lesley.edu
• Christina Chandler: cchandle@lesley.edu
• Merlyn Mayhew: mmayhew3@lesley.edu
• Marie-Maude Petite-Frere: mpetitf2@lesley.edu
• Pamela Saideh Smith: psmith@lesley.edu

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