Capturing Diverse Views to Intervene Effectively

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Capturing Diverse Views to Intervene Effectively

• Jean Annan, Jo Bowler, Mandia Mentis, Roger
  Phillipson

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Overview of session

• Diversity in teams
• Team processes the community of practice as an
  example
• Diversity and outcomes
• Types of diversity
• Understanding perspectives on particular
• problems a matrix of perspectives

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Educational Psychology Teams

• Inherent diversity in teams
• yet
• participants must work together

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• Diversity
• was found to be one of many elements of
• effective teams
• Full participation
• Goals understood
• Role clarity
• Prior preparation
• Listening
• Systems of communication
• Trust
• Risk taking
• Shared initiative etc

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Diversity in team processesCommunities of
Practice

• Voluntary membership
• Brought together by a common purpose
• Bound by shared knowledge
• Commonality is essential
• Diversity is fundamental

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Annan (2005)
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Does diversity increase effectiveness?
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The effect of diversity in teams is inconsistent.
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Definitions of diversity

• Factors (race, gender, age etc) or proportions
  of minority.
• Any attribute that another person may use to
  detect individual differences .

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Influence of three types of diversity

• Informational
• Social category
• Value
• Jehn, Northcraft Neale (1999)

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Challenges in educational psychology

• Diversity of perspective on the origins of
  problems and nature of solutions
• Can we understand and manage differences?

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Problems are interpreted from different
perspectives
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The perspective on the problem influences the
nature of solutions
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People operate in different quadrants
Learner Active
Environment Passive
Environment Active
Learner Passive
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So what does this mean for educational
psychologists?

• To facilitate team processes effectively
• Recognise that perspectives are diverse, fluid
  and reflect the participants relationships with
  the problem.
• Respect participants views in all quadrants.
• Appreciate shifts in position.
• Understand EPs own position with regard to
  perspective in specific contexts.

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Summary

• Psychologists work in diverse teams
• Diversity of perspective on the origins of
  problems can present challenges
• Diversity is essential for the construction of
  new solutions
• Diverse and fluid views can be understood in
  relation to a particular context and respected
• With this insight, educational psychologists are
  better positioned to facilitate effective
  intervention.