Teamwork Step 5

Teamwork: Working cooperatively with others towards achieving a shared goal.

Step 5: I work well with others by understanding and respecting diversity of others' cultures, beliefs and backgrounds.

Outcomes

To achieve Step 5, learners will show that they can work with others with diverse backgrounds, and with different cultures and beliefs.

In previous steps, the focus has been on how to work well with others, thinking about positive working, taking responsibility and supporting others. This step focuses on understanding and respecting diversity and inclusivity.

Learners need to be able to:

Understand what is meant by diversity, equality and inclusivity

Introduction

To be effective in a team, it is essential to recognise that everyone is different and so your team members will all be different to one another and to you. This difference is called diversity.
Diversity is a strength for a team, because: people will bring different perspectives and experiences, the world is diverse so it is good to have that reflected in your team.
Diversity might come from lots of different things, including: gender; race; religion; socio-economic background; age; experience; disability; and other things too. Appreciating diversity means appreciating the value of these differences.

Skill Starter

Warm Welcome

Give learners a scenario where a new player joins their team from another country. Explain that though they have played the sport before this is their first time with this group.

Learners should come up with and discuss three ways they can ensure they are welcomed and included. They should think about why this is important.

5 mins

Group activity

Discussion

Teach & Apply

Equality is the vital idea that everyone is of equal value in the world, and deserves the same opportunities.
For your diverse team to achieve its potential, it needs to be inclusive team. That means that everyone needs to be included, feel included and have equal opportunities to contribute.
This starts by ensuring that no one is discriminated against. Discrimination is the unfair treatment of different people based on something about them such as age, race or disability. This is wrong, and illegal in UK law.

There are some things you can think about to make sure that everyone is included:
- What can you learn from the range of experiences or perspectives that other team members might have?
- How can you make sure that activities or tasks are considered so that everyone can take part fully?
- Do you ensure that everyone has equal opportunities to take part?

Optional Activity

Flying Goalposts

Mark out a large rectangular area. Ask learners to put themselves into diverse and inclusive teams of 6. Encourage learners to work with others who they may not know as well.

Two players from one team hold the moving target (e.g. a hoop or light mat) outside the playing area and are free to move around the perimeter of the space. The team in possession of the ball score by throwing through/on/at the flying goalposts. The defending team must try to intercept to regain possession. If the ball leaves the area, a throw-in is given to the opposite team. Players holding the flying goalpost cannot interfere with the ball.

Pause halfway for team huddles. Are all players being included?

Extra challenges to practise working well with others:

Alter the size and/or shape of the playing area
Alter the size, shape and/or weight of the ball
Alter size/shape of the goalpost targets
Add more flying goalposts
Have two flying goalposts, one for each team

15 mins

Group activity

Active

Reflection & Assessment

Embed these strategies across your teaching and coaching to help learners apply what they’ve learnt.

This step helps to bring an additional angle that diversity makes the team more robust, while inclusivity is critical for working effectively as a team and to making the most of everyone’s strengths.

Use these ideas for ways of assessing this skill step to help you check learners’ understanding and confidence.

Ensure that learners understand and are comfortable with the key vocabulary and concepts. Ask learners to reflect on why the different concepts are important and what they look like practically.
Ask these reflective questions:
- What does diversity mean?
- What does it mean to be inclusive?
- How do you create an environment where everyone is respected and able to make a full contribution?