What is Team Teaching?

• In team teaching a group of teachers, working together, plan, conduct,

and evaluate the learning activities for the same group of students. In
practice, team teaching has many different formats but in general it is a
means of organising staff into groups to enhance teaching. Teams
generally comprise staff members who may represent different areas of
subject expertise but who share the same group of students and a
common planning period to prepare for the teaching. To facilitate this
process a common teaching space is desirable. However, to be effective
team teaching requires much more than just a common meeting time
and space.
• Team teaching is traditionally thought of as when more than one teacher
is involved in instruction within a classroom. There are a few different
models of team teaching, and more than one model may be carried out
within one class period. There are many positive effects associated with
team teaching, but there are also many things that need to be
considered before jumping into a team teaching approach.

Significance

Higher expectations are placed on students and teachers of the 21st century
than ever before. Different studies have been conducted that address
different teaching methods for helping students meet these expectations.
Team teaching is just one of the methods that has been explored.
Additionally, as more attention is being brought to including special education
students into the regular classroom, debates ensue about how that can be
done effectively. Often, team teaching is the answer.

Considerations

 If team teaching is something you are thinking about implementing, ask

yourself these questions before proposing the idea to colleagues:
Are the teachers involved open to trying new methods of instruction?
Are the teachers involved open-minded, optimistic people?
Are the teachers involved resourceful, flexible, and able and willing to
communicate effectively?
Are the team members honest, trustworthy, respectful people who won't be
offended by constructive criticism?

Disadvantages

• Team teaching is not always successful. Some teachers are rigid

personality types or may be wedded to a single method. Some simply
dislike the other teachers on the team. Some do not want to risk
humiliation and discouragement at possible failures. Some fear they will
be expected to do more work for the same salary. Others are unwilling
to share the spotlight or their pet ideas or to lose total control.

Sandy M. Cruz BTTE IV-C Mathematics

 • Team teaching makes more demands on time and energy. Members
must arrange mutually agreeable times for planning and evaluation.
Discussions can be draining and group decisions take longer. Rethinking
the courses to accommodate the team-teaching method is often
inconvenient.
• Opposition may also come from students, parents, and administrators
who may resist change of any sort. Some students flourish in a highly
structured environment that favors repetition. Some are confused by
conflicting opinions. Too much variety may hinder habit formation.
• Salaries may have to reflect the additional responsibilities undertaken by
team members. Team leaders may need some form of bonus. Such costs
could be met by enlarging some class sizes. Nonprofessional staff
members could take over some responsibilities.

Some perspectives on team teaching

One can distinguish between team teaching – usually 2 teachers together in

the classroom actively involved in instruction; and team planning – plan
together but teach parallel classes separately; or you share the same class,
but take it in turns to teach the class.

Bauwens and Hourcade (1995) use the term co-operative teaching and define
it as:

“a restructuring of teaching procedures in which two or more educators

possessing distinct sets of skills work in a coactive and coordinated fashion to
jointly teach groups of students” (Bauwens and Hourcade, 1995, p46).

For teachers, the advantages and disadvantages of team teaching have often
been discussed. Northern Nevada Writing Project Teacher-Researcher Group
(1996) list the following pros: sharing between co-teachers; positive impact
on students; fresh insights into the curriculum; help each other deal with
parents or other stakeholders; mutual support; sharing workload; friendship.
The same group lists the following cons: need to accommodate to another
adult in the classroom; invasion of classroom space; challenges of good
communication; irreconcilable compatibility; philosophical differences; lack of
planning time.

From a student viewpoint the advantages seem to outweigh the

disadvantages. Advantages for students (adapted from Buckley, 2000):

• The teachers model critical thinking for students by debating, offering

alternative perspectives and sometimes disagreeing
• More opportunity for individuals or small group support because two
teachers are present in the classroom
• Different personalities, teaching styles and voices make the classroom
more lively

Sandy M. Cruz BTTE IV-C Mathematics

 • Students can choose to interact more with whichever co-teacher, they
feel more comfortable with

Very few disadvantages for students, but if the co-teachers express very
different viewpoints, students may find it confusing.

Overall, despite its potential advantages team teaching is challenging

because it requires a lot of qualities from co-participants:

• mutual trust and respect;

• time for planning, preparation;
• sharing roles and responsibilities;
• open-mindedness and flexibility;
• awareness of respective strengths and weaknesses;
• patience and commitment;
• support from principals and administrators.

Sandy M. Cruz BTTE IV-C Mathematics