Teachers’ Stories on Sense of Belonging in Co-Teaching Relationship

Abstract

The aim of this article was to examine primary school teachers' perceptions about their sense of belonging in co-teaching. We were particularly interested in investigating the factors which enhance or hinder teachers' sense of belonging in their co-teaching relationships. The data were collected using the method of empathy-based stories (MEBS) consisting of frame stories with a variation in whether a co-teaching situation was experienced as positive or negative.Qualitative analysis of the stories revealed that teachers' sense of belonging was constructed through three dimensions: 1) teachers' work practices, 2) mutual relationship, and 3) individual characteristics. The findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating that a sense of belonging in co-teaching is a multidimensional phenomenon that is built in a close collegial relationship between teachers. The study adds a new micro-level perspective on how teachers' sense of belonging is constructed between two co-teachers.

Learning about students in co-teaching teams

“…However, co-teaching to become a learning environment is dependent on teachers being willing to share their knowledge about students and embrace new perspectives brought to the classroom by another teacher. It is quite possible that some co-teachers enter a classroom solely to deliver instruction irrespective of whom they are teaching or co-teaching with, unwilling to share their knowledge or even using their knowledge as a tool to overrule the other co-teacher (Gurgur and Uzuner 2011;Pesonen et al 2020;Shin, Lee, and McKenna 2016). Building trust and scheduling sufficiently time for co-planning play major role in turning a co-teaching partnership into a tool of professional learning.…”

Co-teaching that works: special and general educators’ perspectives on collaboration

“…Effective coteaching also reduces labelling and stigmatisation because the educators' collaborative approach and the adaption of the teaching improve the chances of being included in the class environment (Chitiyo & Brinda, 2018;Cramer, 2010). Moreover, the successful working climate increases the sense of belonging (Pesonen, Rytivaara, Palmu, & Wallin, 2020), thus providing a safe environment within which to tackle educational challenges and discuss sensitive issues (Blanton & Perez, 2011). However, the present study contributes to existing knowledge by presenting empirical support for the rather intuitive idea that successful collaboration is based on a somewhat spontaneous form of negotiated cognitive contract concerning basic educational principles and emotional consonance, where a flexible give-and-take behavioural pattern is established.…”

Webinar satisfaction factors in the stories of participants

“…This method was previously used in the fields such as sustainability awareness (Brown et al, 2019), school education (Pesonen et al, 2021) and university instruction (Pyyhtinen & Suoranta, 2020), but never before in webinar-based education. It allows to collect unbiased and diverse answers (Uusiautti et al, 2014), eliminates the risk of giving socially desirable answers to the interview tool (Greckhamer & Koro-Ljungberg, 2005) and allows participants to detach themselves from the answers emotionally, all increasing the chances of sharing statements that might be perceived as too personal in other settings (Wallin et al, 2019).…”