Schools all over the world are increasingly implementing team structures as means, for example, to increase their adaptability to ever-changing demands or as means to stimulate teachers’ collaboration and learning from each other and, consequently, increase education quality (e.g. Haapaniemi, et al., 2020). This is especially true for vocational education and training (VET) institutes: the interdisciplinary nature of vocational education forces teachers from different backgrounds to collaboratively develop and execute education and team structures can facilitate teachers in this (Brouwer, 2011). However, research shows that implementing teamwork is easier said than done for teachers who have traditionally been used to work relatively autonomously (Vangrieken, et al., 2015). Therefore, Dutch VET institutions are exploring which role Team oriented HRM (THRM) can play in stimulating team work. Based on the AMO framework of Performance (Jiang et al., 2012), THRM can be defined as all HRM practices that are targeted at improving team performance via the enhancement of team members’ Abilities (A), Motivation (M), and Opportunities (O) to collaborate in a team with the aim of developing and delivering high quality education (Bouwmans et al., 2019): Ability-enhancing THRM practices aim to enhance teamwork abilities that are needed for a good team performance (i.e. recruitment and selection and team professional development activities); Motivation-enhancing THRM practices aim to enhance team members’ motivation for team goals and tasks (i.e. appreciation and reward of individual team members’ contribution to the team task and of collective team performance); Opportunity-enhancing THRM practices aim to design and schedule the work in such a way that teamwork is facilitated (i.e. facilitation of team work and boundary crossing). The current study examined the relationship between team members’ perceptions of THRM and the team learning that took place in their teams. Team learning was operationalised as a combination of teachers’ boundary crossing (Wong, 2004), referring to team members acquiring new information by asking people outside their team, and information processing (Van Offenbeek, 2001), referring to all processes used to share information and apply shared interpretations to this information. An analysis of longitudinal survey data, gathered in three consecutive years, from 360 teachers, working in 104 teams in 23 VET institutions showed overall positive effects among THRM and Team learning, albeit that different practices of THRM had differential effects on the two forms of team learning. During the presentation, these differential effects will be discussed and theoretical and practical implications will be elaborated on.

Bouwmans, M., Runhaar, P., Wesselink, R., & Mulder, M. (2019). Stimulating teachers’ team performance through team-oriented HR practices: The roles of affective team commitment and information processing. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 30(5), 856-878. Brouwer, P. (2011). Collaboration in teacher teams. Doctoral dissertation. Utrecht: Utrecht University. Haapaniemi, J., Venäläinen, S., Malin, A., & Palojoki, P. (2020). Teacher autonomy and collaboration as part of integrative teaching–Reflections on the curriculum approach in Finland. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 1-17. Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Hu, J., & Baer, J. C. (2012). How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), 1264-1294. van Offenbeek, M. (2001). Processes and outcomes of team learning. European journal of work and organizational psychology, 10(3), 303-317. Vangrieken, K., Dochy, F., Raes, E., & Kyndt, E. (2015). Teacher collaboration: A systematic review. Educational research review, 15, 17-40. Wong, S. S. (2004). Distal and local group learning: Performance trade-offs and tensions. Organization Science, 15(6), 645-656.