We firmly believe that anyone in a working team needs and deserves team building. It turns out, research supports that those working in our schools and colleges really do need that element of team focus. As faculty in educational and academic settings can be especially prone to isolation, administrators need to pay critical attention to including team building activities in their professional development plans.
As many of the teachers and professors spend their days with students in the classroom, it is particularly difficult, especially for those newer to the team, to connect and build relationships with their fellow staff. And when their are opportunities for learning and development, the attention is on student performance metrics, not staff morale.
Interestingly enough, there seems to be a correlation between the level of team perspective and the student's learning. So while certainly adding new skills to the teachers' repertoire is critical, it would appear that time needs to be made for the team skills of the staff members as well.
Here are some links to a variety of articles (even a doctoral dissertation!) you may want to check out:
http://www.teachhub.com/quick-guide-teacher-team-building
http://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3205&context=etd
http://www.uscranton.com/resources/teaching-tips/team-building-activities-for-teachers/#.WAJzgbS0rUk
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin408_a.shtml