Will this work in an environment for students with diverse needs?
Collaborative teaching can
be defined as “two or more people sharing responsibility for educating some or
all of the students in a classroom” (Villa, Thousand and Nevin, 2008, p. 5).
They suggest that it “involves the distribution of responsibility among people
for planning, instruction and evaluation for a classroom of students (p. 5).
What it’s not they add, is one person teaching, to be followed by another
teaching a different subject, or one person teaching while the other one’s
preparing material at the photocopier!
Collaborative teaching, at
times called co-teaching or team teaching, has been around for quite a while in
one guise or another. It first gained popularity in the 1950s, then evolved
during the 1960s before becoming widespread in the early 1970s, particularly in
open-plan primary schools, before enjoying something of a resurgence in the
1980s (Friend & Reising, 1993).
Team teaching by comparison is when two or more teachers do what teachers do for
a class, to plan, teach, assess and take responsibility for all the students in
the room, taking an equal share of responsibility, leadership and
accountability (Nevin, Thousand, & Villa, 2007).
Team Teaching Tips and Options
Whether you’ve been
told to team teach or just find yourself in an organic partnership with a
teacher on your team, you might be wondering — what is the best way to approach
team teaching?
Why Team Teaching? Traditionally the
school model involved one teacher planning for, teaching, and assessing one group
of students.Like many things,
it’s only when you question why this is the status quo that you begin to wonder
if it is the best approach.
- Is this the best way to meet the needs of the students and move them forward in their learning?
- Is this the best way for teachers to grow as a professional while enjoying their teaching role? Maybe not.
- Will this work for student's with diverse needs?
I don't have the answers but I will be looking at more research and collaborating with colleagues about team teaching.
The Benefits of Team Teaching as described by Kathleen Morris
There are many
benefits to an effective team teaching approach:- It can lessen the workload and stress for individual teachers
- Teachers can be powerful role models for students in regards to working collaboratively and productively
- With flexible grouping, the needs of the students can be met more precisely
- Teachers can be more creative and learn from one another
- Team teaching allows for powerful ongoing reflection and analysis
- Teaching partnerships can boost the morale of individual teachers, improve their confidence, and provide the catalyst for a positive classroom community
Again I ask the question -Will this work in an environment for students with diverse needs?
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