Abstract
Co-teaching is one of several instructional methods used in the clinical model to educate pre-service teachers. The clinical model, implemented by Shawnee State University (SSU) since the 2014-2015 school year, is a P-12 learner/school/community focused practice where P-12 learning is the priority. This differs from the traditional student teaching model, which is a course-based teacher preparation practice focused on the pre-service teacher and college. This chapter will share the experiences of two SSU professors who teamed up to provide a team-teaching model in the higher education classroom that supported the clinical model tenants.
TopBackground
As previously stated, the clinical model is an approach to pre-service teacher education that puts the focus on the P-12 learners, not the courses or even the pre-service teacher. The major difference is that in the clinical model, the pre-service teacher is in the field immediately and learns both in the higher-education classroom and P-12 classrooms. The table below explains the differences in a side-by-side comparison.
Key Terms in this Chapter
One Teach/One Observe: One teacher has primary instructional responsibility while the other gathers specific observational information on students or the (instructing) teacher. The key to this strategy is to focus on the observation – where the teacher doing the observation is observing specific behaviors.
Alternative Teaching: Alternative Teaching is a co-teaching model where one teacher works with a small group of students, as the other teacher instructs the large group. The small group lesson can take place in or outside the classroom and can focus on content that is similar or different from what is being taught to the rest of the class.
Parallel Teaching; Station Teaching: Parallel Teaching is a collaborative teaching method where two teachers (e.g., general education teacher, special education teacher, student teacher, etc.) use their individual strengths and teaching styles to jointly plan a lesson, then divide the class in half and each teach the same lesson to the two groups at the same time.
Clinical Model: A practice-based model of teacher preparation that provides in-depth clinical experiences for teacher candidates that enable them to learn as they become part of school communities and share in the mission of positively impacting P-12 student learning.
One Teach/One Assist Team Teaching: Only one teacher delivers the lesson, while the other teacher sits adjacent to student (s) that require additional support or circulates to manage engagement.
Co-Teaching: One person teaching one subject followed by another who teaches a different subject; One person teaching one subject while another person prepares instructional materials at the Xerox machine or corrects student papers in the teachers’ lounge; or One person teaching while the other sits and watches.