Recently, Dr. Cathy Littlefield published an article in the
International Journal of Doctoral Studies along with two colleagues titled, “Organic
Collaborative Teams: The Role of Collaboration and Peer to Peer Support for
Part-Time Doctoral Completion.”
Though the article was born out of their collaborative
efforts while the three were completing their doctoral studies, the findings in
the article have a much wider application for students at all levels of student
populations (undergraduate and graduate), and can also be applied to
collaborative teams in the workplace.
The research and experiences were a couple of years in the
making. It started with Dr. Littlefield along with two other Doctoral
candidates at Widener University, Laura M. Taddei and Meghan E. Radosh, were
assigned a team project during one of their courses. After successfully
completing the
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| Drs. Cathy Littlefield, Laura Taddei, and Megan Radosh |
After successfully defending their dissertations, they
realized there was something that made their collaboration so effective. They
began researching and learned there was no terminology to capture the sum of
factors that led to their successful collaboration, so they created the term
“Organic Collaborative Teams.”
An Organic Collaborative Team, as they defined, is a
"naturally formed dynamic peer to peer support group, built on individual
strengths and differences, while focused on a common goal."
Their data revealed four themes that allowed them to
formally define organic collaboration. Prior to the article, there was no
published definition of such. Together, they conducted a qualitative narrative
inquiry, and the data revealed the following themes:
Theme 1 - Common
Goal: While peers may be joined initially by a short term common goal,
continuation of the peer team may be continued with the identification of a
long-range common goal. In the case of
Drs. Littlefield, Taddei, and Radosh, after completing the class project that
initially brought them together, voluntarily remained connected as they
progressed through the doctoral program with a new common goal of degree
completion.
Theme 2 - Group
Dynamics: An organic collaborative team must be respectful, creative,
encouraging, and supportive. While each
member of the team is still an individual, there must be a mutual respect. Each member must contribute fully and equally
-- the absence of this balance could derail the team.
Theme 3 - Peer to
Peer Support: Peer to peer support is about providing support to your
team. This can be as simple as helping
to clarify something, support and celebrate accomplishments, or even just
listen when there is a need to vent. As
this relates to a learning environment, peer to peer support resembles a
community of practice -- in which students are peers within a class, the goal
is academic development, and students support each other academically.
Theme 4 - Intentional
Relational Learning: Relational learning implies a reciprocal give and take
of ideas. This free-sharing environment
leads to an environment that is mutually respectful, non-competitive, and
supportive. In the case of Drs.
Littlefield, Taddei, and Radosh, they started as a team with one common goal,
but as they developed into a stronger team, they purposely gathered for
individual research while supporting each other on a grander scale. In intentional relational learning,
relationships are formed, which makes this more than a task-specific team.
The paper concludes by suggesting departments, faculty, and
higher education in general has the ability to foster and encourage teams. What may start as an initial team assignment
or project, has the potential to grow into a stronger, organic collaborative
team. In order for this team to be true
to the concept of an organic collaborative team, there must be a common purpose
(or goal), amicable group dynamics, peer to peer support (that is encouraging
and not competitive), and the creation of relationships via intentional
relational learning.
