Objective:
In the ninth chapter
of The Skillful Teacher, Brookfield states that “diversity in the classroom is
not only a trendy buzzword but a perplexing reality” that teachers have to
consider in their practice. While a solo teacher’s effort meeting various
learning needs is limited by her personality, ability, experience and even
racial group membership, as Brookfield wrote, the possibilities for connecting
to diverse student groups expand exponentially in a team teaching setting.
Every
teacher has their strengths and weakness. In order to have a well-functioning
team, it is important to recognize different talents of its members and make
effort to mix these equitably. It is helpful to balance two different styles.
Brookfield corrects that it is not team teaching if simply assigning discrete
segments of the course to a solo teacher’s responsibility. Real team teaching
takes time and energy especially when all decisions have to be discussed as a team.
But it is often appreciated by students for giving them additional opportunities
working with multiple faculty members of a wider range of skill sets. (Brookfield, 2006)
Reflective:
The quote reminds
me a team-taught course that I had as a student. One of my graduate courses was
team-taught by two professors with different teaching styles. One of the
professors focused on theoretical aspect of the instrument. His research
background is mainly on theoretical simulation so that his teaching style is
more of mathematical and logical. Our class found it particular helpful when he
began from the most fundamental electrical circuit to signal conversion with
detailed mathematical derivations. The other professor brought in his expertise
in biological applications of analytical instruments. We learned practically from
him in the wide range of applications and how to solve real-world problems. It
was a consciously planned team-taught course that allowed two professors to
exhibit their skill sets into appropriate aspects of the course. When one
professor lectured, the other professor joined our discussions and asked
questions. This team teaching example I experienced and the quote both indicate
an important characteristic of team teaching: teachers bring in different
talents to the classroom that we utilize in different stages/content areas of
the course; we also bring in handicaps that we hope to be compensated by
another teacher’s talent.
Interpretive:
Team teaching
involves two or more teachers working together to help students learn. Teachers
discuss and determine the learning outcomes together, revise syllabus, prepare
lesson plans, teach and evaluate learning results. They may exchange ideas or
even argue with each other. There are a number of co-teaching strategies:
one-teach-one-observe, one-teach-one-assist-, station teaching, parallel
teaching, supplemental and differentiated teaching (Effective Co-Teaching Practices, 2012).
Team
teaching emphasizes on balancing initiatives, shared responsibilities,
complemented specializations and democratic participation in the classroom.
Teachers model mutual respect of different voices. Because each of the teachers
brings something different to the table, it is often an effective strategy to
meet various learning needs from diverse student groups. It is also believed
that teachers are more likely to risk changes when they are not teaching alone (The Effectiveness of the Co-Teaching Model, 2012). It provides
opportunities to have teachers evaluate each other’s teaching and give helpful
suggestions for improvement.
Team
teaching demands a lot more time and energy. Members must arrange meetings for
planning and evaluation. Collaborative teaching allows students and teachers to
benefit from the democratic information exchange under mutual respect. However
if not coordinated properly, team teaching could even create a hostile
environment in which teachers undervalue each other’s contributions. (Some
Approaches to Co-Teaching, 2015) The greater
agreement that can be achieved beforehand, the more likely team teaching can be
successful.
Decisional:
Over
the years as many other teachers I have taken solo teaching for granted. Team
teaching exhibits its advantages in today’s ever diverse classroom as well as
disadvantages of high demand of time and conscious collaboration. In the future
I would like to start from a couple of team-taught classes per semester. The
first step of team teaching is to decide how much team teaching we can do and
how much more workload we can take. Team teaching takes additional effort to
meet, to negotiate learning objectives and to give feedback to each other. It
is important to realistically assess current workload before making a
commitment to team teaching. Another initial step is to establish a
relationship with the collaborator, get to know each other, what we have in
common, what values and beliefs we both hold. It allows us to understand and
respect each other’s decision with less effort. Any tensions in the classroom
will be sensed by students making them uncomfortable. A positive relationship
minimizes misinterpretations in communication and motivate us to resolve
problems together.
Next
I will need to conduct a self-assessment identifying my own teaching style. As
my colleague and I plan lessons together, we both need to decide how to utilize
our specific strengths to complement each other and enhance learning.
Additionally we should reach an agreement in terms of our expectations to
students which must be consistent in a course. The last preparation step to
formulate a realistic plan of actions as a team. This includes meeting
schedules, syllabus, open communications, course policies and learning
objectives. To conclude, team teaching is an effective teaching strategy that
can be implemented into our teaching practices. However the implementation of
team teaching needs careful pre-planning and respectful collaboration.
Bibliography
Brookfield, S. (2006). The Skillful Teacher: On
Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Brown, B. (2015). Teaching
style vs learning style, myth and realities. Retrieved from
http://www.cete.org/acve
Corno, L. (2008). On
teaching adaptively. Educational Psychologist, 43(3).
Fisher, D. F. (2008). Content-Area
Conversations: Chapter 1. Why Talk Is Important in Classrooms. Retrieved
from ASCD:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108035/chapters/Why-Talk-Is-Important-in-Classrooms.aspx
Fisher, D., Rothenberg,
C., & Frey, N. (2008). Content-are Conversations: How to Plan
Discussion-based lessons for Diverse Language Learners. ASCD.
Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple
intelligence: the theory in practice. Basic Books.
Keys, P. (2006). Are
teachers walking the walk or just talking the talk in science education? Teachers
and Teaching: theory and practice, 11(5).
Oblinger, D. (2005). Educating
the net generation. Retrieved from Educause:
http://www.educause.edu/educatingthenetgen
Pogue, L., & Ahyun, K.
(2006). The Effect of Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy and Credibility on Student
Motivation and Affective Learning. Communication Education, 55(3).
Some Approaches to
Co-Teaching. (2015). Retrieved from
ASDK: http://www.asdk12.org/depts/hr/student_teaching/PDF/The_Power_of_2.pdf
Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing
up digital: the rise of the net generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
The Effectiveness of
the Co-Teaching Model. (2012).
Retrieved from Han Over Research: http://www.hanoverresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Effectiveness-of-Co-Teaching-Membership.pdf
University, T. (2012). Effective
Co-Teaching Practices. Retrieved from Maryland Learning Links:
http://marylandlearninglinks.org/data/ck/sites/121/files/Sharpe%20Co-Teaching%20Manual%20MSDE%20Grant.pdf
Week, E. (2013, Janurary).
Student Engagement Drops by Grade. Retrieved from Gallup Poll Report:
http://www.gallup.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment