Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS team teaching as a tool for professional development insiders views

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN KIM TÚ TEAM-TEACHING AS A TOOL FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: INSIDERS’ VIEWS (Dạy cặp phương tiện phát triển nghề nghiệp: quan điểm người tham gia) M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Đào Thu Trang, M.A HANOI-2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES _ TRẦN KIM TÚ TEAM-TEACHING AS A TOOL FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: INSIDERS’ VIEWS (Dạy cặp phương tiện phát triển nghề nghiệp: quan điểm người tham gia) M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 HANOI-2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Significance of the study Methods of the study Scope of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter I: Review of Related Literature 1.1 Overview of Teachers’ Professional Developmet 1.1.1 Concepts of Teachers’ Professional Development 1.1.2 Areas of Language Teachers’ Professional Development 1.2 Overview of Team-Teaching 1.2.1 Definitions of Team-Teaching 1.2.2 Forms of Team-Teaching 1.2.3 Factors affecting Team-Teaching 1.3 Why Team-Teaching as a valuable means for Professional Development? 10 Chapter II: Methodology 13 2.1 The setting of the study 13 2.2 The research questions 14 2.3 The Participants 14 2.4 Data collection instruments 16 2.4.1 In-depth interviews 16 2.4.2 Class room-observation 16 2.5 Data collection procedures 17 2.6 Data analysis 18 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter III: Findings, Discussion and Recommendations 19 3.1 Major Findings 19 3.1.1 EFL teachers’ professional development fostered through Team-Teaching 19 3.1.1.1 EFL teachers’ professional development fostered through TeamTeaching between English teachers and Vietnamese teachers 19 3.1.1.2 EFL teachers’ professional development fostered through TeamTeaching between Vietnamese teachers and Vietnamese teachers 24 3.1.2 Barriers to Team-Teaching 27 3.1.2.1 Barriers to Team-Teaching between English volunteer teachers and Vietnamese teachers 27 3.1.2.2 Barriers to Team-Teaching between Vietnamese and Vietnamese Teachers 3.2 Discussion 29 29 3.3 Recommendations 31 3.3.1 Recommendations for the administrators 31 3.3.2 Recommendations for team-teachers 33 PART C: CONCLUSION 37 Conclusions 37 Limitation and suggestion for further study 37 REFERENCES 38 APPENDICES I Appendix I Appendix V Appendix XVII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A : INTRODUCTION Rationale With the development of regional integration and global participation, the quality of education is becoming an urgent need to the Ministry of Education and Training as well as the government Since the Vietnamese government sees the quality of teachers as the major factor in improving education, it is setting targets for the general reform of cirriculum and teaching methods in all educational establishments There have been many annual education workshops, conferences, researches conducted in many universities in order to help teachers sustain high quality performance in their teaching career and encourage them to pursue life-long learning which is vital to their professional development To ensure this ongoing professional growth, teachers-as professionals-should constantly develop themselves Teachers’ own growth is necessary in order to cope with the ever-expanding knowledge base in subject matter and pedagogy, rapidly changing social contexts of schooling, and increasingly diversifying students’ needs EFL (English Foreign Language) teachers are not exempt from this professional responsibility In other words, teachers have to be viewed as learners- “the teacher as life-long learner”- and they need to learn together Teachers today are experimenting with many approaches for professional development such as: self-evaluation, portforlio collections, classroom observation and performance assessment, peer assessment, keeping a teaching journal, peer coaching, mentoring, action research Among these, team-teaching seems to be very effective in enhancing teachers’ professional growth, though for many teachers, team-teaching remains unexplored territory Although team-teaching is not new in some locations and used widely in many schools around the world, it is an experimental approach at my college because of some reasons below Firstly, in early 2001, many teachers at my college were sent to a 12-week-skillbased language teaching methodology course sponsored by the Vietnam-Australia Training (VAT) Project in Hanoi in which team-teaching was introduced as a new form to improve the quality of EFL teaching and learning Secondly, in recent years, our college has received some British volunteer teachers from some organizations in order to help EFL teaching and learning Then our Department has tried this form of teaching in order to take the advantage of our situation-that is, working with some British VSO (Volunteer Service Oversea) volunteers with the hope of contributing to teacher and student development LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Hence, team-teaching between a British volunteer teacher and a Vietnamese teacher or between two Vietnamese teachers has become a common way of conducting EFL classes As a teacher, the researcher has been teaching English for nearly 10 years During that time, I have observed many team-teaching lessons and I have also team taught with some colleagues The issue raised is that: to what extent team-teaching can help to foster teacher’s professional growth Thus, I decided to conduct the study on: “Team-teaching as a tool for professional development: insiders’ views” to investigate and explore the point of views, feelings and attitudes of team-teachers towards to team-teaching as a means for teacher’s growth Aims of the study The study was conducted to explore the team-teachers’viewpoints and attitudes towards team-teaching in order to find out the benefits of team-teaching in terms of their professional development as well as the barriers to team-teaching From the findings of the study, some recommendations were proposed for the administrators and team-teachers so as to use team-teaching as an effective means of professional development Significance of the study The study is expected to offer an in-depth understanding about the team-teachers’ point of views and attitudes towards team-teaching as a tool for professional development in terms of : (i) Theoretically, it justifies team-teaching as a tool of professional development in an EFL context (ii) Practically and pedagogically, the findings of the study contribute to the understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of team-teaching as a means of professional development (iii) The recommendations for administrators and team-teachers can improve the benefits and reduce the drawbacks of team-teaching in order to help team-teachers conduct a successful team-teaching 4.Method of the study This is a qualitative exploratory study because it was designed to deeply explore the teamteachers’ point of views regarding the effect of team-teaching on their professional development LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 10 In order to collect data for the study, two techniques were used: in-depth interview and class observation The interviews used in this study were semi-structured interviews with most of the questions being open-ended Besides, the researcher also used class observation to triangulate the data Scope of the study In educational history, there are many different activities to foster EFL teachers’ professional growth However, due to the limited time and length of a minor thesis, this smallscale study only explores participants’ point of views towards one of these activities: team-teaching This study focuses on the in-depth interviews from pairs of team-teachers (9 participants) and observed their lessons to explore their opinions about team-teaching as a tool to develop their teaching skills Besides, the study also investigates the data from these interviews to find out the challenges of team-teaching that these teachers have to face and give some recommendations for both administrators and teachers Design of the study The study is structured as follows: Part A- Introduction, Part B- Development and Part C- Conclusion Part A- Introduction presents the rationale, the aim, the significance, the scope, the methods and the design of the study Part B- Development consists of three chapters: Chapter I: Review of Related Literature - aims at the basic theoretical background concerning professional development and team-teaching Chapter II: Methodology - focuses on the setting of the study, the research questions, the participants, the data collection instruments, the data-collection procedures, and the dataanalysis Chapter III: Findings, discussion and recommendations - reports majors findings conducted from the result of previous chapter and discussion, and offers recommendations for better team-teaching Part C- Conclusion summarises all the issues in the study, particularly the major findings and recommendations The limitations of the study and some suggestions for further study are also included in this part LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 11 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE The opening chapter presents an overview of the nature of professional development and provides a conceptual framework for team-teaching and some related studies about teamteaching as a tool for professional development 1.1 Overview of Professional Development 1.1.1 Concepts of Teachers’ Professional Development The term “Teacher Development” or “Professional Development” for teachers is a broad term including a variety of aspects connected not only to a teacher’s professional development but also to his/her personal development (Igawa, 2002) In other words, “Professional development, in broad sense, refer to the development of a person in his or her personal role” (Eleonara, 2003, p.11) Surely, professional development enhances competence of all members in a learning community to pursue their life-long learning Underhill (1997) states that professional development involves teachers in a constant process of learning about their practice and discovering and using their own potential For Richards (1998), this process requires teachers to creat their own personal teaching methodology that takes into account their experience, beliefs and understanding about good teaching He adds that reflection, self-inquiry, self-monitoring, and self-evaluation are necessary elements in fostering professional development, since they help teachers to be better informed and to evaluate their professional growth, as well as to plan for improvement Likewise, Richards and Farrell (2005) assert that teacher development involves teachers in understanding themselves and their teaching; in analysing their teaching practices, beliefs, value and principles, in keeping up-to-date with theories and trends; and in sharing their experiences with colleagues So it can be said that in order to develop professionally, teachers should feel a continuous desire to learn more about themselves as professionals, and about their profession Hence, teachers’ professional development becomes a milestone in teacher’s continuum of life-long learning and career progression To sum up, although definitions and concepts of teachers’ professional development may be some what different as scholars might approach it from different perspectives, they all share a common view that professional development is used to refer to the process through LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 12 which teachers attain higher professional competence and expand their understanding of self, role, context and career It is any experience that teachers engaged in to widen their knowledge, appreciation, skills, and understanding of their work inline with goals, values, of the school and their interests and needs of teachers (Duke and Stiggins, 1990; Beerens, D.R., 2000; Norton, M.S, 2008) Professional development is, therefore, seen as “an ongoing process and an integral characteristic of a fully professional teacher” (Mc Donough, 1997, p.318) 1.1.2 Areas of Language Teachers’ Professional Development Educational reform, a rapidly changing student clientele, technological development, and new views on assessment are just a few of the pressures that today’s foreign language teachers are encountering Foreign language teachers must maintain proficiency in the target language and stay up to date on current issues related to the target culture Regardless of the skills and knowledge that foreign language teachers possess when they commence teaching, maintenance and improvement must be an ongoing process In most states, teachers must continue to accumulate academic credits, while teaching, in order to keep their teaching license current This can be done through evening cources, summer seminars, lectures, or workshops offered by professional associations or universities, so that teachers can improve language proficiency and cultural knowledge, teaching methods Met (1989) states that foreign language teachers need: “competencies in the general areas of education, interpersonal skills and professional education” (p.177) In addition to demonstrating Met’s ideas, Peyton, in his study, presented in 1997, points out some skills and knowledge that foreign language teachers need According to him, good foreign language teachers need the following: • A high level of language proficiency in all of the modalities of the target languagespeaking, listening, reading, and writing • The ability to use the language in real-life contexts, for both social and professional purposes • The ability to comprehend contemporary media in the foreign language, both oral and written, and interact successfully with native speakers in the United States and abroad (Phillips, 1991) • A strong background in the liberal arts and the content areas • Understanding of the social, political, historical, and economic realities of the regions where the language they teach is spoken LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 13 • Pedagogical knowledge and skills, including knowledge about human growth and development, learning theory and second language acquisition theory, and a repertoire of strategies for developing proficiency and cultural understanding in all students (Guntermann, 1992) • Knowledge of the various technologies and how to integrate them into their instruction Richards (1998) asserts that professional development is directed towards both the institution’s goals and the teacher’s own personal goal Achieving personal growth and improving departmental performance can go hand in hand Most schools strive for a mix of both From the point of view of some teachers’ personal development, he lists six domains of professional development as follows: • Subject matter knowledge: Increasing knowledge of the disciplinary basis of TESOL, that is, English grammar, discourse analysis, phonology, testing, second language acquisition research, methodology, curriculum development, and the other areas that define the professional knowledge base of language teaching • Pedagogical expertise: Mastery of new areas of teaching, adding to one’s repertoire of teaching specializations, improving ability to teach different skill areas to learners of different ages and backgrounds • Self-awareness: Knowledge of oneself as a teacher, of one’s principle and values, strengths and awareness • Understanding of learners: Deepening understanding of learners, learning styles, learners’ problems and difficulties, ways of making content more accessible to learners • Understanding of curriculum and materials: Deepening one’s understanding of curriculum and curriculum alternatives, use and development of instructional materials • Career advancement: acquisitions of the knowledge and expertise neccessary for personal advancement and promotion, including supervisory and mentoring skills Obviously, the field of language teaching is subject to rapid changes, both as the profession responds to new educational paradigms and trends and as institutions face new challenges as a result of changes in curriculum, national tests, and student needs As a result, teachers need regular opportunities to update their professional knowledge and skills, that is, their opportunities for professional development Teachers need to be able to take part in activities such as: • engaging in self-reflection and evaluation • developing specialized knowledge and skills about many aspects of teaching • expanding their knowledge base about research, theory, and issues in teaching LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 48 8.Team-teaching with a veteran teacher is not an easy work, isn’t it? Have you got any psychological problem, or other problems? Could you express in details? And how can you overcome these challenges? You are asked to team teach with a very young teacher like Nguyên , have you got any problems in this partnership? Could you explain in details How can you overcome these difficulties? 10 It can be seen that team-teaching is not an easy work and it can lead to conflict between two teachers How did you handle disagreements during the time of collaboration? 11 Time is a big problem in team-teaching, isn’t it? How can you adjust your timetable? For example, how and when did you meet to discuss the lesson and consider changes to content or procedures throughout thhe semester? 12 Do you like your team-teaching? Why and why not? 13 Do you think team-teaching is really suitable with your teaching context? Why and Why not? 14 What are you recommendations for a more effective team-teaching in your teaching context? PHỤ LỤC I: CÁC CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN CHÍNH PHẦN A: CÂU HỎI THƠNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Cơ/thầy có thời gian giảng dạy rồi? Chứng sư phạm cơ/thầy gì? Ai đối tác dạy cộng tác cô/thầy? Cơ/thầy dạy đối tác ? Cơ/thầy dạy mơn gì? Cho sinh viên năm thứ mấy: năm thứ nhất, năm thứ hai hay năm cuối? PHẦN B: CÁC CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN CHÍNH LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 49 Tôi biết thầy dạy cộng tác với giáo viên Việt Nam năm, hình thức giảng dạy giúp thầy việc phát triển nghề nghiệp? Xin thầy miêu tả chi tiết! Cô dạy cộng tác với giáo viên tình nguyện người Anh, việc dạy cộng tác với giáo viên người xứ giúp cho việc phát triển nghề nghiệp? Mong giải thích chi tiết Cơ dạy cộng tác với đồng nghiệp Việt Nam, việc cộng tác giúp cho việc phát triển nghề nghiệp? Mong giải thích cụ thể Cô dạy với giáo viên kì cựu, ban đầu cảm thấy việc cộng tác giúp ích cho việc phát triển nghề nghiệp? Cô dạy với giáo viên trẻ vừa trường, cô cô hợp tác ? Sự cộng tác giúp cho việc phát triển nghề nghiệp? Xin vui lịng giải thích cụ thể Cô/thầy dạy với giáo viên đến từ văn hóa hồn tồn khác với cơ/thầy, nên cô/thầy phải đối mặt với nhiều khó khăn Vậy có khó khăn xảy suốt q trình cộng tác cơ/thầy giải khó khăn ? Cô dạy với giáo viên Việt Nam khác, người có văn hóa kinh nghiệm giảng dạy giống Vậy có khó khăn việc cộng tác khơng? Các giải khó khăn ? Dạy với giáo viên kỳ cựu nhiệm vụ khơng dễ dàng phải khơng ạ? Vậy có cản trở mặt tâm lý hay vấn đề khác không? Xin vui lịng giải thích chi tiết Và giải vấn đề nào? Cô dạy với giáo viên trẻ Ngun, có khó khăn khơng? Và giải khó khăn nào? 10 Có thể thấy việc dạy cộng tác nhiệm vụ không dễ dàng cộng tác dẫn đến mâu thuẫn hai giáo viên Làm để cơ/thầy giải bất đồng suốt q trình cộng tác? 11 Thời gian vấn đề lớn việc dạy công tác phải không ạ? Làm để cô/thầy điều chỉnh thời gian biểu mình? Ví dụ, làm cô/thầy gặp thảo luận học xem xét lại thay đổi dạy suốt học kỳ? 12 Cơ/thầy có thích dạy cộng tác khơng? Vì có không? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 50 13 Cơ/thầy có nghĩ dạy cộng tác thực phù hợp với điều kiện giảng dạy cô/thầy? Tại có khơng? 14 Cơ/thầy có đề xuất cho việc dạy cộng tác hiệu điều kiện giảng dạy cô/thầy? APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT A Teachers’ professional development can be enhanced through teamteaching 1.Professional development can enhance by sharing experience and widening knowledge Working in this way, we were able to make our lessons more effective because we usually had “double vision” For example, as a Vietnamese teacher, I tended to know Vietnamese students’ needs and problems better than the volunteer, but the volunteer provided valuable and interesting information about British life that LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 51 I lacked.” (Châu, Vietnamese teacher) In English Literature, I had more understanding of the content of what we had to teach Chris was really an expert in this field, he had a lot of teaching materials and sources of information and he shared with me When I found difficult in undestanding some concepts, I could consult him We exchanged, discussed and by that way, I learnt more and more (Liên, Vietnamese teacher) As a non-native English speaking teacher I felt more confident when I worked with a native speaker in course of British Studies This was because he could act as a more reliable resource for knowledge about culture and linguistics aspects of this subject (Châu, Vietnamese teacher) Another area where Vietnamese teachers have the upper hand is in their knowledge of institutional culture and goals They are familiar with the administrative framework They know what to expect from and how to deal with management, colleagues, and students They understand the system of examinations which may be different from my country’s This awareness of norms not only enables them to analyse students’ needs better but also helps me to avoid the kind of institutional culture shock (Chris, EVT) I and my Vietnamese teacher met after each class to evaluate the lesson After teaching a section, we talked on the way home about what had seemed to work well and what had not We commented on the parts that students had seemed to understand well and parts in which they hadnot done satisfactory Then we talked about neccessary changes for the following lessons At the end of the course, we both assessed the students and exchanged ideas about the outcomes of the course (James, EVT) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 52 .I sometimes had challenge in explaining difficult concepts for students to understand My Vietnamese team-mates could have different ways of explaining things which made it easier for students to understand, or even could translate them into Vietnamese This is particilarly useful in British Studies and English Literature, in which some of the material was quite complex (Chris, EVT) .I’m a young teacher so I don’t have much experience in teaching and teamteaching At first, I thought this was a hard work and I felt very anxious How- ever, after a rather long time of working together I think team-teaching helps me feel more confident about my professional competence (Nguyên, Vietnamese teacher) Through team-teaching with a veteran teacher, I have opportunities to learn, grow and move along life’s professional and psychological pathways (Nguyên, Vietnamese teacher) I think I tried to foster my professional development by helping another inexperienced teacher Nguyên is a quite young English teacher and she had no experience in team-teaching, even in teaching However, she is an enthusiastic, active and very humorous teacher and during the time of co-planing, co-teaching and co-evaluating we share our experience and we all grow as professionals (Mai Anh, Vietnamese teacher) When team-teaching in writing, I think I can benefit from the ideas from my 10 partner We both have long time in teaching writing However, I sometimes feel surprised by her interesting ideas and methods in teaching writing (Thanh, Vietnamese teacher) .We share teaching materials and books, so I can enrich my materials about 11 writing skill (Vân, Vietnamese teacher) 2.Professional development can be enhanced by improving teaching skills and methods Team-teaching helps me integrate various teaching methods and make good use of them to motivate the students in classes (Châu, Vietnamese teacher) The shared responsibility and action helped me as a Westerner understand more about Vietnamese students’ needs, culture and previous learning experiences, LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 53 and thus to know why some ideas worked and other did not For example, they were used to students who could work very independently and often not prepared the lessons for that fact that Vietnamese students tend to need a lot more teachers’ guidance Working with a Vietnamese teacher made me aware of this, so she could make suitable preparations and plan more guided activities (Chris, EVT) Other thing that was beneficial about it was that it was able to work with different teacher in the same classroom The class was easily controlled and there was time for us to meet with individual students, especially when I’m a “stranger” here (James, EVT) Team-teaching helped them feel more confident about professional competence and acquire more teaching knowledge and skills team-teaching is an effective way to learn new teaching skills and can often contribute to professional development Other thing that was beneficial about it was that it was able to work with dif- ferent teacher in the same classroom The class was easily controlled and there was time for us to meet with individual students’ needs (Mai Anh, Vietnamese teacher) Professional development can be fostered by developing communicative skills It was fun there’s more relaxing atmosphere in class At the same time, they’re much livelier classes We were able to reinforce eachother’s teaching and fill in gaps for the other If one of us forgot something or had trouble explaining something, the other was on hand to help It made learning more enjoyable, easier in that sort of environment (James, EVT) by team-teaching I could learn the way to make students relaxed and make a good atmosphere in class We could talk to students with humor and with smile (Chris, EVT) when team-teaching with Vietnamese teacher, I understand my students better, thus I can establish a good relationship with them (James, EVT) At a personal level, team-teaching made me feel less isolated Before teamteaching, I had worked very much on my own and had had little contact with other teachers Working closely with a Vietnamese teacher helped me involved LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 54 in the department and become better acquainted with other teachers (Chris, EVT) Being in a situation when I am sometimes not significantly older than my students I’m teaching means I often have had difficulty in finding a comfortable method of discipline I find I build a good rapport and relationship with my students but find it hard to draw the line of authority (especially in Vietnam where discipline is approached differently to how I experienced in school) I would like to find ways to discipline without compromoting my relationships with the students I am slowly learning by observing the methodology of my partner (James, EVT) The main advantage I see in team-teaching is that, for me especially, with two teachers working together in the class, I have someone to bounce ideas off of, and vice-versa And I find it has made me very creative in that class (Thanh, Vietnamese teacher) Professional development can be fostered by sharing responsibilities and helping each other Team-teaching is a good idea I like that we can pull each their strengths I have gained knowledge from my partners ( Liên, Vietnamese teacher) It is an effective strategy for teaching large groups of students It is a method for teachers to collaborate in generating ideas Two heads are always better than one! (James, EVT) I strongly believe that : when responsibility is shared, stress is reduced One is not alone and isolated shouldering the sole responsibility for the successful learn- ing of all the students (Châu, Vietnamese teacher) I feel it is good, because I got a great partner Whenever the class did not understand what the first teacher was talking about, the second would clarify for students (James, EVT) Evaluation is easier with two pairs of eyes It’s not to evaluate or instruct, both can occur in our classroom simultaneously ( Thanh, Vietnamese teacher) Two teachers means there are two people who can give individual attention to the students They don’t have to wait for you to be free because there are two of LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 55 you, and they can ask either person (Vân, Vietnamese teacher) Professional development can be enhanced by improving target language .make personal efforts everyday .be an eternal language learner .try to be like a native speaker .become a good language learner model for students By exchanging ideas, discussing together and co-planning, I could practise the language everyday with a native-speaking teacher (English teacher) ” (Hiển, Vietnamese teacher) In the field of language use, few of Vietnamese teachers can compete with native-English speaking teachers even if their language competence is very high or near-native The knowledge of English is often from books rather than direct contact with authentic sources” (Liên, Vietnamese teacher) B Barriers to team-teaching Different personalities, teaching styles, experience and knowledge Team-teaching in Vietnam is vastly different to my previous experience of solo-teaching in other countries Many of the things that I was taught on my teaching course are simply not applicable due to the different teaching and learning environment This poses me a challenge: I have to let to go off some of my own teaching ideas, in favour of the experience of Vietnamese teacher of English ( James, EVT) .During the time of collaboration, we sometimes had some culture shocks although I studied much about Vietnamese culture before teaching here (James, EVT) Making lesson plans together was difficult because some of the Vietnamese teachers were not used to teaching communicatively We initially decided to plan together for hour per week However, due to the differing pedagogies of the teachers, these meetings soon lasted hours (Chris, EVT) Partnership sometimes simply can not work because of the two personalities I really believe that just as people can be incompatible in relationships, that they LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 56 can be incompatible in partnership (Thanh, Vietnamese Teacher) A lack of time When we did not spend enough time together, classroom cooperation between us did not flow-either our ideas were not well thought out or the workload was uneven, which made one of us feel less useful (Liên, Vietnamese teacher) .We always had to come back together and discuss “what happened”, “what went wrong” and “what could be improved in the next class (Chris, EVT) .Especially when I was new But I have been here for a while now So I guess, sometimes they go to school and they say: “Oh, he has got experience” And they are seeing me now like: “Oh, he can teach” So, they just don’t want worry about it They are busy so they are like “OK, you can it easily!” That’s what has happened to me a little bit (Chris, EVT) For me the biggest disadvantage is just the time involved when you’re team- teaching It seems to take me about twice as long for the team-taught class (Thanh, Vietnamese teacher) A lack of clarification of role For me the main negative thing is a lack of clarifying about who has what responsibility There is so much in the classroom, leading the lesson in general If this couldn’t be done before each team-teaching class, the teaching procedure will not flow and we don’t feel very comfortable (Châu, Vietnamese teacher) A SAMPLE OF INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT The following is an interview transcript with two team-teachers: Chris and Liên; they are team-teaching English Literature I: Interviewer T-T: Team-teaching PD: Professional development Chris : an English volunteer teacher LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 57 Liên : a Vietnamese teacher I: I want to thank you for taking time to meet with me today My name is Tú and I’d like to talk to you about your team-teaching experience, and I want to know to what extent you feel team-teaching had effect on your professional development; which barriers to teamteaching, if any, you are encountered and some recommendations to better team-teachings The interview should take around one hour I will be taping the session because I don’t want to miss any of your comments Although I will be taking some notes during this section, I can’t possibly write fast enough to get it all down Because we are on tape, please be sure to speak up so that I don’t miss your comments And remember, you don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to and you may end the interview at any time Are there any questions about what I have just explained? Chris and Liên: Ok, no, no I: Chris, Could you tell me about your teaching experience? Chris: Well, I have been teaching for nearly 25 years Before teaching in Vietnam, I taught in some Asian countries like : China, Korea, Japan I: How long have you been in Vietnam? Chris: for years I: What about your T-T experience? How long have you been team-teaching? Chris: For year At first I taught English Literature and British Studies independently, then with the suggestion from the Dean of Foreign Languages Department, Mr Binh, I’m team-teaching with two Vietnamese colleagues My first team-mate is Liên, we are teaching English Literature and the second team-mate is Châu, we are team-teaching British Studies I: Ok, I see What about you, Liên? Could you tell me about your teaching and T-T experience? Liên: Oh, I have been teaching for years and I have been team-teaching with Chris for year I: Which university did you graduate from? Liên: Vinh university I: When did you start to teach English Literature? Liên: Well, this is the first time I taught this subject I: And Chris, when did you start to teach English Literature? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 58 Chris: I have been teaching this subject for a long time I: Well, T-T between two teachers from different cultures must be interesting and not easy Two of you have collaborated for a rather long time Could you tell me to what extent T-T can help you enhance your professional development? Chris: Ah, as you see I’m from England and my team-mate is from Vietnam (Smile) I think a lesson is conducted by teachers from different cultures must be very interesting And I have benefited from this activity for my PD There are many ways I can improve my PD such as: I can share experience and widen knowledge, share responsibility oh, establish rapport with my students and my Vietnamese colleagues I: Could you express in more details? Chris: For example, I sometimes had challenge in explaining difficult concepts for students to understand My Vietnamese team-mates could have different ways of explaining things which made it easier for students to understand, or even could translate them into Vietnamese This is particilarly useful in British Studies and English Literature, in which some of the material was quite complex (Smile) However, this might have made students rely on Vietnamese explanations and not try hard enough to understand the concepts in English I: I see Liên: As for me, T-T can help me much in my PD For example, In English Literature, I had more understanding of the content of what we had to teach Chris is really an expert in this field, he has a lot of teaching materials and sources of information and he shared with me When I found difficult in undestanding some concepts, I could consult him We exchanged, discussed and by that way, I learnt more and more I: Could you explain more about the way you can foster your PD by establishing rapport with students and other Vietnamese colleagues? Chris: Another area where Vietnamese teachers have the upper hand is in their knowledge of institutional culture and goals They are familiar with the administrative framework They know what to expect from and how to deal with management, colleagues, and students They understand the system of examinations which may be different from my country’s This awareness of norms not only enables them to analyse students’ needs better but also helps me to avoid the kind of institutional culture shock And, one more thing, when team-teaching with Vietnamese teachers, I understand my students better, thus I can establish a good ralationship with them LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 59 Liên: And team-teaching helps me enhance my PD by improving my teaching skills and methods I: Can you explain more? Liên: Yes, T-T helps me integrate various teaching methods and make good use of them to motivate the students in classes um, during the time of co-planning, co-teaching and coevaluating I can learn from my team-mate’s teaching skills and methods I think by teamteaching we can pull each other’s strenghts Chris: Right, it means we have “double vision”: two heads are better than one! Liên: And one more important thing to me! As a non-native English speaker teachers, when working with a native English speaker teacher I can improve my target language.this means I also can foster my PD You see, in the field of language use, few of Vietnamese teachers can compete with native-English speaking teachers even if their language competence is very high or near-native The knowledge oof English is from books rather than direct contact with authentic sources So, by exchanging ideas, discussing together , I could practise English everyday with a native-English speaker I: Is there anything more you would like to add? Chris: Well, I think the shared responsibility and action helped me as a Westerner understand more about Vietnamese students’ needs, culture and previous learning experiences, and thus to know why some ideas worked and other did not For example, they were used to students who could work very independently and often not prepared the lessons for that fact that Vietnamese students tend to need a lot more teachers’ guidance Working with a Vietnamese teacher made me aware of this, so she could make suitable preparations and plan more guided activities I: I see Chris: Through team-teaching I could learn the way to make students relaxed and make a good atmosphere in class We could talk to students with humor and with smile (Smile) Lien: Right, I feel there’s more relaxing atmosphere in EFL classes and, at the same time they’re much livelier classes We were able to reinforce each other’s teaching and fill in gaps for the other I: Um, team-teaching seems to be an effective way to contribute to PD And what are some barriers, if any, that you encountered? Liên: Yes, of course We can gain much from team-teaching for our PD However, the actual team-teaching practice has some challenges I think any partnership can face some fac- LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 60 tors such as: different personalities, working styles, perspectives, expectations, experience etc As you know, team-teaching in EFL setting between two teachers from different ethnic backgrounds seems to be even more extreme due to cultural differences Besides, time is also a big problem in team-teaching I: Could you explain in more details? Chris: At first, making lesson plans together was difficult because some of the Vietnamese teachers were not used to teaching communicatively We initially decided to plan together for hour per week However, due to the differing pedagogies of the teachers, these meetings soon lasted hours Liên: Partnership sometimes simply can not work because of the two personalities I really believe that just as people can be incompatible in relationships, that they can be incompatible in partnership That’s why we have to adjust the way we often plan, and present our instructions We have to discuss much to make a final decision: which is the best for our students Chris: And for me another nagative thing is a lack of clarifying about the role of each teacher during a team-teaching lesson I: Ok, What about time? You mean time is a big problem Liên: Right, team-teaching seems to take me about twice as long for the team-taught classes When we didn’t spend enough time together, classroom cooperation between us didn’t flow-either our ideas were not well thought out or the workload was uneven, which made one of us feel less useful Chris: Besides, we always had to come back together and discuss “what happened”, “what went wrong” and “what could be improved in the next class” Obviously, if we don’t have sufficient time to prepare, we can be easily become stressed and the quality of instruction may decline Liên: Yes, team-teaching requires more time for lesson planning, more time for evaluating the lesson again I: What recommendations you have for more effective team-teaching? Liên: Yes, I think the school administrators should set a favourable conditions for teamteachers by giving appropriate planning time, by reducing the workload for team-teachers, by allowing team-teachers to team teach not more than two different primary year-levels because team teaching take more time than the traditional one-teacher-per-classroom setting LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 61 Chris: For me before a school-year or semester school administrators should provide information and encourage pre-active preparation for team-teachers, especially for English volunteers who are not familiar to system of education and discipline in a Vietnamese school Besides, the administrators should create social activities for team-teachers to improve their understanding of each other and help them establish a rapport with their teammates Liên: I think teachers should have the right to choose right partner Chris: A clear communication on the roles of both members in team-teaching is necessary to the success of the relationship Communication is perhaps more difficult for teams made up of teachers from different cultural backgrounds which value radically different communication styles I: Do you realy like team-teaching? Chris: Yes, I find it becomes more and more intereting and useful to me Liên: Oh, team-teaching is a good idea I strongly believe that: when responsibility is shared, stress is reduced One is not alone and isolated shouldering the sole responsibility for the successful learning of all the students I: Do you think team-teaching is suitable in your teaching context? Why? Chris: Yes, yes if all the aforementioned challenges are taken into consideration Liên: It is said that it was difficult to work with someone who had such s different philosophy However, if all recommendations are considered carefully it is possible to turn this into a positive challenge and growth opportunity I: Ok, Thank for your all ideas I will be analyzing the information you and others gave me and submitting a draft report in one month I’ll be happy to send you a copy to review at that time, if you’re interested Thank you for your time! LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 62 APPENDIX 3: CLASS OBSERVATION CHECKLIST Name of the observed team-teachers: Class: Lesson: Observer’s name: Date of observation: Criteria Categories Marking Class environment Comments Class size The role of each teacher The collaboration between two teachers in classroom management Teaching interaction Displaying the trust in the between two teachers classroom between two teachers Maintaining eye contact Developing hand signals Using echoing 1.Teaching skills Teacher’s methods Teacher’s presentation Teacher’s management Variety and effectiveness of teaching activities Student interest is high Students are actively involved in the lesson Students’ motivation Students pay much attention to the lesson Overall comments: LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... ? ?Team-teaching as a tool for professional development: insiders’ views? ?? to investigate and explore the point of views, feelings and attitudes of team-teachers towards to team-teaching as a means... In team-teaching lessons, they think it is easier to control class, especially large-size classes, as a Vietnamese teacher said: “ Other thing that was beneficial about it was that it was able... teacher) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 33 About the team-teaching between two veteran teachers, these team-teachers also benefit from team-teaching: “ When team-teaching