What is co-teaching?
Co-teaching describes the collaboration of two teachers to meet the needs of
the students in a single class using one, or a combination, of strategies from
the 6 listed below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Parallel teaching
Alternative teaching
Teaming
Station teaching
One teach - one assist
One teach - one observe
Originally developed in the field of Special Needs Education in the United
States in recent years co-teaching techniques have been increasingly utilized
in the field of teaching EAL/ESL.
In co-teaching the skills of the general classroom practitioner and the
language specialist complement each other maximizing the impact of having
two professionals in the classroom.
The most appropriate method of co-teaching will change according to the
activities/lesson objectives, dynamics of the class and the
confidence/experience of the teachers involved in relation to co-teaching. It is
inevitable that teachers feel more comfortable with some methods than
others and they need to experiment and evaluate each in terms of the impact
it has on learning and language acquisition and consolidation in particular.
1)Parallel teaching – Two teachers teach the same material to two different
groups using different strategies or methods of differentiation.
Classroom teacher and support teacher collaboratively organise the content
of the lesson.
Classroom teacher and support teacher identify strategies and technology
needed for group and individual students.
Classroom teacher and support teacher divide the students into two equal
groups.
1
Classroom teacher and support teacher independently deliver the lesson plan
to one of the groups. The delivery can be in the same classroom or a different
classroom.
Classroom teacher and support teacher each monitor their own group of
students and evaluate their learning.
Classroom teacher and support teacher collaboratively discuss student
learning and evaluate the teaching and learning.
Strategies

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

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guided or choral reading
think-pair-share
learning style groups
exploring content
small group discussion
scaffolding
direct instruction - cycles of teaching and
learning cycle
sharing-reader’s theater, author’s chair,
presentations
assessment review
2) Alternative teaching The classroom teacher conducts formal teaching. The support teacher
implements supplemental activities for small groups, or individuals before or
after the formal lesson
Classroom teacher and support teacher pre-assess the students to plan for
alternative lessons.
Classroom teacher and support teacher assess the students during formal
lessons to identify students who would benefit from the alternative lessons.
Classroom teacher and support teacher make decisions about the content
and organisation of the alternative lessons.
Classroom teacher and support teacher determine the appropriate structures
for alternative lessons that would promote more student learning.
2
Using this model the support teacher can:
1. Activate background knowledge
2. Teach particular skills, knowledge or understanding in smaller steps.
These will be related to your assessments.
3. Extend students
3) Teaming
The class teacher and support teacher teach one class of children as a whole
class. Both teachers implement the teaching. Both teachers share the
instruction to students in a coordinated fashion.
While one teacher is instructing, the other teacher may be assisting and then
they swap.
The class teacher and support teacher have:
•
Equal knowledge of the content
•
A shared philosophy
•
A commitment to all students in the class
3) Station Teaching
Children in a class are grouped into three (or more) groups and rotate around
fixed “stations” in the classroom giving the teachers at each station the
opportunity to adapt the activity to the needs of the children in each group.
The class teacher and support teacher can independently plan their station
after deciding on the objective of their station.
Example:
Teacher directed task: Station 1: Objective - I will reinforce the structure of a
biography.
Teacher directed task: Station 2: Objective - I will reinforce the use of past
tense.
Independent task: Station 3: Objective - I will reinforce the use of subheadings in a biography.
5) One teach – one assist (teach and drift)
Although there are times that this method is useful it should be used sparingly
and judiciously. It should not be the default co-teaching strategy.
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6) One Teach – One Observe This approach should be used minimally and
only for the purpose of ascertaining the specifics of how a student learns or
interacts in lessons. The observation should be:
•
Planned
•
On a timed-schedule
•
Recorded
•
Used in future planning and teaching
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