Bonding | HU begeleidt

Case study

Marie-Louise supervises a second-year learning team. It is a diverse group that does not really want to become one team even after several meetings. Marie-Louise feels she has to involve everyone again and again. The team members do not really show interest in each other. According to Marie-Louise, this is because their interests are quite a bit apart. What can she do to turn these separate groups into more of a team?

What do we mean by social bonding?

There is social bonding when we talk about contact between students. The contact between students and teachers is called academic bonding. In addition, you can also distinguish formal andinformal bonding. Formal bonding forms during programme activities. While informal bonding can be stimulated with organising activities outside the programme (Kappe, 2021).

Extra information

Everyone needs social contact. Social needs, and the extent to which we can satisfy them, have a great impact on our (mental) well-being. After food, drink, a place to sleep comes the social need: the need to establish relationships and be seen, as Maslow established back in 1943. Loose groups of students also fulfil this need. Yet we want a learning team to be more than a loose group.

Together you get further

An important part of the learning team is that students learn from each other, developing knowledge and competences in diversity. When students interact with students who are different from themselves, it brings new ideas and challenges. This leads to better cognitive skills, including critical thinking and problem-solving skills, according to research (the Century Foundation, 2019).

When the learning team is divided, students are less open to learning from each other. The learning team coach is then the connecting factor between the groups. He/she then has to work harder to get them to learn together.

What can you do as a learning team coach to strengthen mutual bonding?

Every relationship starts with getting to know each other. When you know who you are dealing with, what you have to gain from the other, you dare to give more of yourself in a group. You feel safe, a safe learning environment is created. How can you contribute to this?

Exercises for mutual acquaintance
Use introductory exercises as a learning team coach. Or ask students to prepare a getting-to-know-you exercise themselves. This way, you immediately work on developing students’ self-direction. Do indicate the purpose and intention of the work forms. The goal is to get acquainted, but the intention is to learn from each other, become a nice team and create a safe learning climate. This includes realising that you are not that different from each other.

*Over the line (exercise)
In this exercise, you ask students to ‘step over a line’ if they can answer yes to a question. Each question starts with: ‘Cross the line if…’.

– Start with less personal questions so that the group gets used to the principle.
– Later you can ask more personal questions, interspersed with more light-hearted questions, such as:

Walk across the line if you have pets.
Go over the line if you live in rooms.
Walk over the line if your parents are divorced.
Go over the line if you were raised religiously.

Another exercise asks students to find similarities and talk about the differences. For example, have members of the learning team write down at least 10 similarities.

You can play with themes, or students can come up with their own questions.
Depending on the purpose, you ask further about similarities, differences and/or personal outpourings.

Exercises for mutual cooperation

Team spirit and cooperation are strengthened through cooperation exercises and/or team-building methods.

*Do an activity together.
Consider building a tower together out of skewers and candy canes. Or drawing a ship together with each team member in it as crew.

It is important to discuss these exercises afterwards: ask questions about the collaboration:

Who took the lead?
Who is the skipper?
Who is on the aft deck by himself?
Who is the deck mop?
Do we see that reflected in the learning team? And how then?

You can choose to let the students ask the questions, or have a student be the discussion leader.

Shared mental models (agreements)

It is important to get to know and understand each other personally and professionally. In addition, shared mental models, or noses in the same direction, are a prerequisite for a well-cooperating team.

DOs

Make team agreements:

How do we interact here?
What do we think is important?
What makes a meeting valuable?

Regulate practical matters:

How do we communicate?
Do we make an agenda?
Do we have a changing chairperson?
What do you do if you can’t come?
What do you do if you can’t come?

You can turn this into a document, a manifesto or a contract. The advantage is that this can also be used at an evaluation time.

Share your observation

What the learning team supervisor can always use is to discuss their own observation, for example:

I have noticed that we are not really one team yet.
I see different groups forming. How do you guys see that? What do you guys think about that?
What could be the benefits if we are really one team? What do we need for that?

Dare to indicate that you don’t know yourself. This way, you, the coach, become a more equal team member and turn this into a common ‘problem’. Students thus get the chance to take responsibility.

Follow-up case study

Marie-Louise decides to discuss expectations first. She creates a team site for the learning team. This is where the agreements are noted. Marie-Louise suggests working with a rotating chairperson. Together they agree on a number of tasks for the chairperson, such as preparing and implementing a working form to get to know each other better. Meanwhile, the members of the learning team agree that they do not need to be friends with everyone, but they do need to be able to work together and learn.