Investigating teacher candidates’ perceptions of collaboration during a co-teaching experience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.61.5914Keywords:
teacher candidates, pre-service teachers, collaboration, co-teaching, clinical practice, social studiesAbstract
While teacher candidates learn the theoretical value of instructional collaboration in teacher preparation programs, they often lack professional preparation experiences to develop collaborative skills as educators in the classroom. To address this need, some teacher education programs have integrated co-teaching as part of their required clinical practice experiences. This case study research design examines two teacher candidates’ perceptions of collaboration as they engaged in co-planning and co-teaching in a secondary level, social studies classroom. Qualitative data sources including semi-structured interviews, co-planning sessions, field notes, formal classroom observations, and candidate-created lesson plans were collected. Case study data were coded for both patterns of coherence and contradictions throughout the analysis. Four major themes emerging from the data included co-planning, co-teaching, support systems, and division of labor. Qualitative analysis of the data revealed these pre-service teachers shared similar positive perceptions regarding co-planning constructs, skills, and activities. Yet both participants struggled with individual issues of competition within the classroom, as well as personal and professional confidence as instructors, creating mixed perceptions of collaboration in co-teaching.References
References
Ball, D. L. & Cohen, D. K. (1999). Developing practice, developing practitioners: Toward a practice-based theory of professional education. In G. Sykes and L. Darling-Hammond (Eds.), Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice (pp. 3-32). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Bennett, D., & Fisch, A. (2013). Infusing co-teaching into the general education field experience. Interdisciplinary Journal Of Teaching & Learning, 3(1), 18-36.
Kamens, M. (2007). Learning about co-teaching: A collaborative student teaching experience for pre-service teachers. Teacher Education and Special Education, 30(3), 155-166.
Roth, W. M., & Tobin, K. (2002). At the elbow of another: Learning to teach by co-teaching. New York: Peter Lang.
Eick, C. J., Ware, F.N., & Williams, P.G. (2003). Co-teaching in a science methods course: A situated learning model of becoming a teacher. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(1), 74-85.
Roth, W. M., & Tobin, K. (Eds.). (2005). Teaching together, learning together. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.
Fives, H., & Buehl, M. M. (2009). Examining the factor structure of the teachers’ sense of efficacy scale. The Journal of Experimental Education, 78(1), 118-134.
Bullough, R., Young, J., Birrell, J., Clark, D., Egan, M., Erickson, L., Frankovich, M., Brunetti, J. & Welling, M. (2003). Teaching with a peer: A comparison of two models of student teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(1), 57–73.
Wideen, M., Mayer-Smith, J., & Moon, B. (1998). A critical analysis of the research on learning to teach: Making the case for an ecological perspective on inquiry. Review of Educational Research, 68(2), 130-178.
Smith, L.C. (2001). Life history as a key factor in understanding teacher collaboration and classroom practice. Teacher Education Quarterly, 28(3), 111-125.
Gardiner, W. & Robinson, K. (2009). Paired field placements: A means for collaboration. The New Educator, 5(1), 81-94.
Carnell, L., & Tillery, M. (2005). Preparing pre-service teachers for inclusive co-teaching: A new approach for mathematics methods instruction. Teaching Children Mathematics, 11(7), 384-389.
Hoppey, D., Yendol-Silva, D., & Pullen, P. (2004). We became teachers together: Understanding collaborative teaching as innovation in unified teacher education. Action In Teacher Education, 26(1), 12-25.
O’Shea, D., Williams, A. Sattler, R. (1999). Collaboration across special education and general education: pre-service teachers’ views. Journal of Teacher Education 50(2), 147-157.
Parker, A., McHatton, P., Allen, D., & Rosa, L. (2010). Dance lessons: preparing pre-service teachers for co-teaching partnerships. Action In Teacher Education, 32(1), 26-38.
Richards, S., Hunley, S., Weaver, R. & Landers, M. (2003). A proposed model for teaching collaboration skills to general and special education pre-service candidates. Teacher Education and Special Education, 26(3), 246-250.
Arndt, K. & Liles, J. (2010). pre-service teachers’ perceptions of co-teaching: A qualitative study. Action in Teacher Education, 32(1), 15-25.
Roth, W. M., Tobin, K., Carambo, C., & Dalland, C. (2004). Co-teaching: Creating resources for learning and learning to teach chemistry in urban high schools. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41(9), 882–904.
Scantlebury, K., Gallo-Fox, J. & Wassell, B. (2008). Co-teaching as a model for pre-service secondary science teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(4), 967-981.
Siry, C., & Lara, J. (2012). 'I didn't know water could be so messy': Co-teaching in elementary teacher education and the production of identity for a new teacher of science. Cultural Studies Of Science Education, 7(1), 1-30.
Wassell, B., & LaVan, S.K. (2009). Tough transitions? Mediating beginning urban teachers’ practices through co-teaching. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 4(2), 477-484.
Conderman, G. & Johnston-Rodriguez, S. (2009). Beginning teachers’ views of their collaborative roles. Preventing School Failure, 53(4), 235-244.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Constructing 21st-century teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 57, 300-314.
Patton, M. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (pp. 169-186). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Yin, R. (1989). Case study research: design and methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Geertz, C. (1973). Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic Books.
Abel, M. H., & Sewell, J. (1999). Stress and burnout in rural and urban secondary school teachers. The journal of educational research, 92(5), 287-293.
Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). From preparation to practice: Designing a continuum to strengthen and sustain teaching.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Constructing 21st-century teacher education. Journal of teacher education, 57(3), 300-314.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
