Team work from the point of view of the Reggio Emilia pedagogical approach

Team work of education professionals in the kindergarten includes team planning, team pursuing of activities and team evaluation of work, in the scope of which pedagogical and other education professionals in the kindergarten carefully monitor, document and systematically reflect in writing the work process and pursuing the activities. In the kindergarden a team is organized on the basis of positive co-dependence and with aview to adopt and reach common objectives, which an education professional in the kindergarten could not reach on his own. Team work is conditioned by common objectives, adopted within teams in the scope of individual activities, oriented towards emphasizing and encouraging creativity and independent investigating of children in the Reggio Emilia pedagogical approach. Positive co-dependence is the fundamental psychological approach providing for efficient team work contributing to a sense of mutual connectiveness. The prime motivators for team work are linked to the psychological needs, which an individual satisfies within a team, i.e. the need for safety, the need for acceptance, the need for acknowledgement and recognition and the need for self-actualization. The atmosphere in the team largely depends on the sensitivity of the team members for obstacles and conflicts and on the strategies for their solving. The team develops when team problems are no longer percieved as threatening, but provide a source of healthy team interaction