Teaching with a Peer: A Follow-Up Study of the 1st Year of Teaching

Pre-service teachers’ evidence-based reasoning during pedagogical problem-solving: better together?

“…Also, they often "scaffold" each other for such articulation by asking their reasoning partner for clarification and further elaboration on the expressed ideas. Similarly, in the context of co-teaching, researchers conclude that collaborative discussion of problem cases and teaching practices may facilitate the exchange of individual knowledge and the development of more positive attitudes towards a more reflective and evidence-based practice (Baeten and Simons 2014;Birrell and Bullough 2005;Nokes et al 2008).…”

“…The potentials of collaboration for pre-service teachers have particularly been put forward by proponents of co-teaching (e.g., Rytivaara and Kershner 2012). This research argues that the engagement in collaborative discourse and the exchange of different perspectives and scientific knowledge may contribute to teachers' professional growth on becoming more reflective and evidence-based practitioners (Baeten and Simons 2014;Birrell and Bullough 2005;Korthagen and Kessels 1999). In one study, King (2006) surveyed 161 preservice teachers with respect to their views regarding the potentials and problems of "paired placement," i.e., of sending pre-service teachers during initial teacher education to schools in pairs rather than individually.…”

Improving Relationships between Mentor Teachers and Student Teachers: Engaging in a Pedagogy of Explicitness

“…The power of the field-based mentor teacher/student teacher relationship in educating future teachers cannot be underestimated. Because the pressure on this relationship is so great, some argue for collaborative placements involving multiple mentors and interns (see Birrell & Bullough, 2005;Bullough et al, 2003) to reduce the pressure on any single pairing of personalities and styles. Indeed, this emerging field experience structure does seem to show promise in building collaborative norms and creating a teacher-learning centered environment.…”

Collaborative Coteaching (CCT): Practitioner Learning through Shared Praxis

“…CCT can subsequently cultivate quality teaching as the supportive environment can allow practitioners to take risks to implement a variety of innovative strategies to meet diverse student learning needs (Thousand, Villa & Nevin, 2007). Birrell and Bullough (2005)'s study with preservice teachers similarly found that CCT facilitated high levels of synergy and creative energy. They document how the preservice teachers experienced less stress and took greater risks by having a peer safety net.…”

“…Greater emotional support is another benefit of CCT. Birrell and Bullough (2005) relate how the principals in their study noticed how CCT lessened the amount of time early career teachers spent in solitary 'survival' mode, as teaching becomes a shared and accessible process, rather than something that remains "private and introspective," lonely, individual or competitive (Chanmugam & Gerlach, 2013, p. 114). The coteachers in the study expressed similar views about the valuable support provided by a colleague who was teaching alongside them.…”