Congruence between self and peer perceptions of teaming behaviors during group decision-making in early intervention

Service delivery options for young children with disabilities have changed from isolated services to a collaborative system, requiring professionals from diverse backgrounds to jointly meet the needs of these children. Preservice and inservice training content may not be meeting the interpersonal needs of early intervention professionals as they face communication challenges created by the collaborative service delivery requirement. This study examined the congruence of self and peer perceptions of early intervention professionals' teaming behaviors and provided insight into how perceptions regarding contributions to the decision-making process may affect individual and group satisfaction with regard to early intervention team functioning. Fifty-four professionals from 11 early intervention teams across Illinois participated in this study. The majority of participants were females between the ages of 30 and 45 who had a Bachelor's or a Master's degree. Although all disciplines were represented in the sample, the discipline depicted most often was education. Professionals participated in the study by rating self and peer teaming behaviors on Likert scales (The Team Orientation and Behavior Inventory) and by completing a satisfaction scale with reference to the decision-making process conducted in the form of a case study discussion (Small Group Consensus Scale). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics through measures of central tendency and observations and inferential statistics through a one-way analysis of variance and t-tests. The results indicate that high congruence teams showed a statistically significant relationship with satisfaction of group relations among team members when compared with low congruence teams. The findings also lend support to the theory that task and maintenance roles should be assumed by a leader or other team members to function effectively. Finally, the results suggest that team training should be reconceptualized to include more emphasis on interpersonal skills. Based on the results of this study, the major recommendation for future research in team functioning is that teams be investigated individually using qualitative research approaches so as to explore the team-specific interactions and patterns of influence which may exist on teams faced with status differentiation, professional diversity, and multi-philosophical views held by team members.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Cook, Rebecca Jane

Contributors dc:contributor

• McCollum, Jeanette A.

• Education, Administration
• Education, Guidance and Counseling
• Education, Special
• Education, Teacher Training

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1996 Cook, Rebecca Jane

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

9780591087536
AAI9702489
(UMI)AAI9702489

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/21281