Co-teaching

FHS 2007-2008

By Adelbert L. Wilber, Ph.D.

What is Co-teaching?
 2 or more people sharing the
responsibility for teaching some or
all of the students assigned to a
class.
 A creative way to better connect
with and support all students.
 What Co-teaching Is Not:
 One person teach one subject, followed by
another who teaches a different subject.
 One person teaching, while one is in the
teacher’s lounge.
 One conducts a lesson, while one sits and
watches.
 One person prevails in deciding content and
methodology to use in the classroom.
 **Side Note**
 Pertains to What Co-teaching is not:
 There may be times when it is necessary to do
some, any, or all of the items previously
mentioned. They should just not be done on a
daily basis.
 Co-teachers may experience some or all of
these items as they start to build trust, develop
and work on communication, and learn to work
together creatively as a team.
 History of Co-teaching
 1960’s - example of progressive education.
 1970’s - advanced by legislated school
reforms, due to increased needs to modify
instruction.
 2001 - NCLB and IDEA change legal
requirements for students with
disabilities, as well as promoting more
highly qualified teachers.
 Elements of Co-teaching
 One common, publicly agreed upon goal.
 Share a belief system.
 Demonstrate parity.
 Use a distributed functions theory.
 Use a cooperative process.
Four Approaches to Co-teaching
 Supportive teaching

 Parallel teaching

 Complementary teaching

 Team teaching
 Supportive Teaching
 One teacher teaches; the other rotates
through the students to provide support.
 Also called, “one teach, one float”.
 This approach is common and often favored
by new co-teachers.
 Parallel Teaching
 Two or more people work with different
groups of students.
 Co-teachers may rotate between groups or
even leave a particular groups of students to
self-study.
 Co-teaching can be in same classroom, or
pull-out.
 A popular approach for new co-teachers.
 Complimentary Teaching
 One teacher teaches, while the other
complements him/ her by writing notes on
board, or the overhead, or by modeling
some aspect of the lesson.
 As co-teachers improve, this approach, as
well as team teaching will become the
preferred forms of co-teaching.
 Team Teaching
 When two or more people do what the traditional
teacher has always done - plan, teach, assess, and
assume responsibility for all of the students in the
class.
 Both teachers teach the lesson simultaneously.
 Co-teaching and team teaching are NOT
synonymous.
 Team teaching is the highest form of co-teaching
that one can assimilate.
 Which approach is best?
 Depends on the dynamics of the classroom.
 No one approach should be espoused over
another as “the approach” to use.
 Each situation is different and requires
forethought and planning on the part of all
co-teachers.
 Complementary and Team teaching require
the most planning, preparation, and trust.
 Forming, Storming, Norming
 Three stages describing the process co-
teaching partners go through in assimilating
the higher levels of achievement and
efficiency.
 There is no one answer as to how long it
may take to get through each stage, let
alone all of them.
 Key??? (Communicate, then communicate
differently, then communicate again!)
 Summary
 Co-teaching serves to satisfy both NCLB
and IDEA requirements.
 There are four approaches to co-teaching.
 There is no one “best” approach for all
situations.
 There are three stages to becoming an
efficient co-teacher.
Questions?