July 2025 | #researcher
In this interview, we meet Ben, winner of the E³UDRES² Award of Excellence 2025 for Innovative Teaching Methods. Inspired by sports psychology, team rituals, and mentorship, Ben transforms mentor classes into high-performing teams. His dynamic approach builds pride, ownership, and collaboration from day one—turning students into active, engaged learners ready to take on real-world challenges.
How does your team-based teaching approach foster innovation and deeper student engagement in academic learning?
My innovative teaching method transforms a traditional mentor class, initially just a group of individuals, into a high-performing team – comparable to a Premier League soccer team. It blends insights from sports psychology, sustainable relationships, the cognitive apprenticeship theory, Tuckman’s team development model and inspiration from professional sports teams, scouting, Harry Potter and the Navy SEALs. The method revolves around two goals: (1) becoming a true team, and (2) becoming the best version of ourselves.
On the very first day, I greet my class like a football coach welcoming a new squad. The classroom is set up like a press conference room, with chairs labeled “reserved for a big player.” Together with two senior students (my “staff”), I introduce them to the idea: they have been specially selected to join the class of the best teacher – and, of course, the best teacher only works with the best students. This instantly gives them a sense of pride, belonging, and motivation. The idea was inspired by Rita Pierson’s TED Talk “Every kid needs a champion.”
I also explain that being “the best” carries responsibility: being on time, participating actively, paying attention, and setting an example for other classes. Beyond great performance, teamwork is equally essential. In the next lesson, students sign a symbolic contract, committing to results and collaboration. This is staged like a star player signing with a new club: with the class logo on the wall, football shirts on the table (blue for performance, red for cooperation) and a photographer capturing the handshake and signature. Sharing these photos in the group chat strengthens team spirit and pride from day one.
Throughout the year, shared rituals keep the momentum alive: a pre-game huddle at the start of each term and awards at the end for the top performer and best teammate – similar to EA Sports FIFA scorecards. At the end of the school year, each student receives a personal souvenir: a jersey with the class logo, (nick)name and number.
By combining structure, symbolism, rituals, being clear on expectations and providing emotional safety, students evolve from passive participants to proactive team members. They take ownership, show initiative, collaborate more deeply, and ultimately achieve better results – reflected in higher attendance, engagement, and academic performance. I am planning on gathering more data to show the effectiveness of my method.
What did you think of the E³UDRES² Awards of Excellence as an action, and how could future E³UDRES² initiatives better support innovative teaching?
I truly appreciated the award because it shines a light on teaching methods that have real impact inside the classroom but often remain invisible outside it. It felt like someone saying, “We see your innovation – and it matters.”
Looking ahead, I see great potential to go beyond recognition: for example, by building a living network or video platform where awardees and educators across Europe can share concrete practices, short videos and real classroom stories.
Visual storytelling – like my videos of contract signings and team rituals – brings these innovations to life far more powerfully than text alone. It can inspire colleagues across disciplines and countries, speed up the spread of innovative teaching, and create a genuine international community of practice.
In addition, I plan to create a practical handbook and teaching materials that interested lecturers from E³UDRES² institutions can use directly in their own classes. This would make it easier for others to experiment with the “Premier League Team” method themselves, adapt it to their context, and see its impact on student engagement and collaboration.
Let’s stop just building curricula and start building communities.
Interview by St. Pölten UAS
