We are continuing to develop the effectiveness of our coteaching at Hobsonville Point Secondary School. Over the past 2 weeks we have continued reading into effective coteaching practices from overseas and comparing these to our practices here at HPSS. Much of this overseas literature is based in Primary and/or for including special educational needs into mainstream classrooms.

With this gap in literature, we have identified that some of our practices are already exceeding that shared online. There is, however, plenty left for us to learn and improve. Since our last session on coteaching models we have focused on the role a teacher can play in supporting their coteacher.

Last week, our reading was this table from a research article by Wendy Murawski:

Table from article at http://tcx.sagepub.com/content/36/5/52.extract

This table was helpful for us, but many staff felt that we already did these activities and in some cases could provide examples of partner roles that exceeded those in the table.

This week our reading was once again an article by Wendy Murawski: The Ins and Outs of Co-Teaching. There were 2 phrases that really struck a chord with us:

“simply having two teachers in the same classroom is not enough. It is not co-teaching. Co-teaching requires co-planning, co-instruction, and co-assessment.”

and

“How is what these two teachers are doing substantively different and more effective for kids than what one teacher would be doing alone?”

This latter quote is the core for us to focus on. How is co-teaching actually benefitting the students more than what they would learn taking their classes with 1 teacher?

In our 20 minute Kitchen Table this morning we started with the 2 quotes above and then worked in groups to write up practices that teachers could do to support each other. Making our own list like in the table above.

This is what we produced in the 20 minutes:

Initial Coteaching HPSS Style ideas

This list and the photos from our last session have been put up in the staffroom for us to look over and think about. Staff have been given a few days to think about the top 5 coteaching activities that add value for student learning and sign beside them. This will help us to create a best practice list – essentially what we see as Co-Teaching HPSS Style.

Coteaching HPSS Style Wall Display