Collaborative teaching for teacher educators—What does the research say?

Developing teachers as agents of inclusion and social justice

“…While there is some agreement in the literature about the knowledge, skills and values teachers need to be effective with diverse groups of students, little is known about how these are developed, enacted, sustained and evidenced in the many varied educational environments in which teachers work. Nevertheless, they are often reflected in the national standards that specify which competencies teachers need to achieve qualified teacher status and include: the integration of theoretical and practical knowledge and skills (Donnelly and Watkins 2011;Korthagen 2001); being able to develop a pedagogy that is inclusive of all (Blanton, Pugach and Florian 2011;EADSNE 2011;Florian and Linklater 2010); collaborative skills and attitudes (Frost 2012;Nevin, Thousand and Villa 2009 capacity for reflection and inquiry (Liston and Zeichner 1990;Zeichner 2009); and accounting for moral values and commitment to the education for all (Carr 2003;Kim and Rouse 2011;Pantić and Wubbels 2012). Slee (2010) has argued that one of the most relevant areas of competence for promoting inclusive practice to be developed in teacher education is student teachers' understanding of how broader social forces influence exclusion and disadvantage.…”

Team-taught versus individually taught undergraduate education: a qualitative study of student experiences and preferences

“…The module leader should also ensure that all team members have clear awareness of coursework and examination results and how the respective block content relates to these assessed tasks. Indeed, this is supported by existing research, which has found that maintaining effective communication between team members, as well as ensuring that all team members are fully engaged with the planning and design of a course, is crucial in the effective delivery of course content (Thousand et al 2006;Nevina et al 2009). Another important consideration is that change can be perceived as disruptive for students.…”

“…This would also be useful for students and team members who would have a better understanding of what they can expect from each other and once again point queries in the right direction. The critical importance of careful planning, close collaborative working, which includes the clear definition of responsibilities is also echoed and supported in numerous other team teaching focused studies (Shilbey 2006;Dugan and Letterman 2008;Nevina, Thousand et al 2009;Coker 2014). Shilbey (2006), for example, highlights the importance of planning out team roles, clearly defining team member responsibilities and investing significant time and effort into planning as being key factors in successful delivery of team-taught course content.…”

Increasing engagement and participation in a large, third-level class setting using co-teaching

“…The application of these models may depend on several factors including the nature of content being taught and learned, the educational setting in which the learning is taking place and/or the number, type and experience of the teachers implementing the strategy. However, co-teaching in the university context is a little explored activity and it remains unclear how this typology of co-teaching might apply in higher-education (Nevin, Thousand & Villa, 2009). Furthermore, how teaching staff interact with each other in the university is poorly understood and there are "no models for research that assess the impact on student achievement when professors co-teach" (Nevin et al 2009, p. 573).…”