Every now and then, I read something that reminds me of how rare but important it is for people in life to have a true "team" experience, which is different than a "group" experience."
One of the things Larry Michaelsen and I eventually realized while at Oklahoma, when trying to introduce the ideas of TBL to faculty there, was that many people didn't know what we were talking about because they had never had a true team experience.
An article about "People Making a Difference" described the efforts of Nico Marcolongo, a former Marine who organizes flag football events called "Buddy Bowls". These involve war veterans who are still trying to heal from the trauma of war. The Buddy Bowls raise money that is then donated to some worthy local community organization.
A major part of his strategy is "to re-create the kind of team experience the participants had in the military" which then "has a healing effect." Marcolongo's experience is that the team experience created in flag football is close enough to what they experienced in the military, such that it goes a long way to help healing the mental cloud he experienced after coming home, and others experience as debilitating depression, anxiety attacks, etc, i.e., various forms of severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
My interpretation of this is that a high quality team experience is healthy: mentally, socially, and spiritually. It helps us feel and become part of something bigger than ourselves.
Regards, Dee Fink
P.S. This article was published in the Christian Science Monitor: A Weekly Review of Global News & Ideas, Dec. 13, 2009, p. 7.
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L. Dee Fink
234 Foreman Ave.
Norman, OK 73069
Phone/FAX: 405-364-6464
Email:
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www.finkconsulting.info
**National Project Director: Teaching & Curriculum Improvement (TCI) Project
**Senior Associate, Dee Fink & Associates Consulting Services
**Author of: Creating Significant Learning Experiences
**Former President of the POD Network in Higher Education (2004-2005)