Teaching is inherently collaborative.
Future teachers are expected to work effectively with colleagues, families, administrators, and community partners.
Teamwork is a professional competency expected in today's schools.
Educator preparation programs frequently assign group work but often assume teamwork skills develop naturally through those experiences.
Students' experiences with teamwork vary widely, leaving some well prepared while others struggle with communication, trust, accountability, and participation.
Educator preparation can intentionally teach teamwork rather than assume it develops through experience.
Faculty already create collaborative learning experiences.
Small instructional decisions can intentionally develop professional skills alongside academic content.
Intentional instruction in teamwork provides one pathway for fostering connection, competence, contribution, and ultimately belonging.
Supporting faculty in making intentional instructional decisions has the potential to influence students across multiple courses rather than within a single classroom.
Belonging by Design is an instructional framework that supports faculty in intentionally developing teamwork as a pathway to belonging.
The framework helps instructors:
Assess student strengths and needs.
Identify instructional focus areas.
Select evidence—informed resources.
Teach professional skills explicitly.
Reflect on the impact of instructional decisions.
Rather than prescribing a curriculum, Belonging by Design supports faculty in using their professional judgment to respond to the unique needs of their students.
Belonging by Design was developed within Arizona State University and the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation (MLFC).
Relevant institutional priorities:
ASU Charter: Success is measured by whom we include and how they succeed.
MLFC prepares educators for collaborative and innovative learning environments.
Next Education Workforce emphasizes team-based models of teaching.
Principled Innovation promotes relationships, ethical decision-making, and human-centered learning.
Center for Whole Child supports learning environments that foster belonging and well-being.
Future teachers are entering a profession that increasingly values collaboration.
Schools expect educators to:
collaborate with colleagues
participate in professional learning communities
co-plan and co-teach
engage with families and community partners
contribute to school improvement efforts
While these expectations are well established in professional practice, educator preparation often emphasizes collaborative assignments without explicitly teaching the teamwork skills needed for effective collaboration.
MLFC already values teamwork and collaborative teaching through initiatives such as the Next Education Workforce.
Belonging by Design extends this work by asking:
How can faculty intentionally teach the teamwork skills that support belonging and professional collaboration?
Rather than creating another curriculum, the framework supports faculty in making intentional instructional decisions based on student needs.
What I Notice
Teamwork is already valued institutionally.
Faculty frequently use group work.
Explicit teamwork instruction is inconsistent.
Students report uneven teamwork experiences.
Belonging appears to emerge when teamwork is intentionally supported.
Design Opportunity
Rather than asking faculty to "do more," support them in intentionally teaching the professional skills already valued by the college.
How does MLFC currently define teamwork?
Which existing initiatives already support this work?
Where are the opportunities to connect rather than duplicate?
Belonging by Design does not introduce a new institutional priority. It provides a practical framework for helping faculty intentionally cultivate an existing one.