Recommendations for team-teachers

In order to conduct a successful team-teaching, team-teachers play an very important role in this partnership. Here are some recommendations for them:

• Selecting a team-teaching partner

The important factors affecting team-teaching are personality and teaching style, thus, if possible, a team teacher should choose the right team-partner.

• Much of the effort to built a successful team-teaching must take place outside the classroom. Therefore, team-teachers must always strive to make time for their team. They will need time to plan , prepare and evaluate. As part of planning process, Goetz (2000) sug- gests that teachers discuss what materials will be taught, who will teach them, how will they be taught, if and how small groups of learners will be created, how will learners will be evaluated and how they will evaluate the team-teaching program as a whole. Thus, a clear communication on the roles of both members in team-teaching is essential to the success of the relationship and the realization of their teaching objectives. Communication is perhaps more difficult for teams made up of teachers from different cultural back- grounds which value radically different communication styles. However, it is essential for team-teachers to do their utmost to keep this in mind and endeavour to respect and under- stand one another.

• In the classroom, teaming teachers may also want to try using some of the instructional techniques proven to be successful by practiced teaming teachers. Benoit and Haugh (2001), two ESL teachers with team teaching experience in Japan, suggest that team- teachers should always maintain eye contact while teaching, develop hand signals to com- municate during lessons, circulate around the classroom as much as possible and use echoing (repeating or translating the utterances of the other teachers).

• Classroom management

Each teacher has a different threshold of tolerance for students’ misbehaviour. In the be- ginning of team-teaching program, team-teachers both need to establish a set of guidelines

TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com

(LUAN.VAN.THAC.SI).Team.teaching.as.a.tool.for.professional.development.insiders''.views(LUAN.VAN.THAC.SI).Team.teaching.as.a.tool.for.professional.development.insiders''.views(LUAN.VAN.THAC.SI).Team.teaching.as.a.tool.for.professional.development.insiders''.views(LUAN.VAN.THAC.SI).Team.teaching.as.a.tool.for.professional.development.insiders''.views(LUAN.VAN.THAC.SI).Team.teaching.as.a.tool.for.professional.development.insiders''.views(LUAN.VAN.THAC.SI).Team.teaching.as.a.tool.for.professional.development.insiders''.views(LUAN.VAN.THAC.SI).Team.teaching.as.a.tool.for.professional.development.insiders''.views(LUAN.VAN.THAC.SI).Team.teaching.as.a.tool.for.professional.development.insiders''.views

and agree on what type of behaviour is not acceptable in your class, and consequences for students who disrupt the class. Without these agreement on what is permissible and what is unacceptable, team-teachers will invariably find themselves in disagreement and have po- tentially inconsistent reactions by teachers to student misbehaviour in the class. To prevent this before it occurs, two teachers should sit down together and make a list of class rules.

Next, team-teachers need to determine what consequences you can implement should these rules be broken.Lastly, team-teachers will have to develop a “warning” procedure that teachers will give to students (for example, three “warning” lead to one “consequence”).

• Lesson and student evaluation

Here are a few other key points about evaluation that team-teachers should keep in mind:

► working together to make tests and assignments based on what team-teachers have been teaching to ensure consistentcy and fairness to students.

► evaluating students based on mutually agreed up system

► keeping up your communication with frequent checks of how you are progressing, always keeping in mind the objectives you set out together.

► working together to change things that are not working as you go along.

• Displaying your trust

Trust the other’s ability in the class and display your trust in action. If you are the Viet- namese teacher, try to avoid giving requests directly, such as “Please read the paragraph!”

or “Please ask the students questions!”, because these can sound like direct orders, which might make the young English volunteer teacher feel like he or she is being treated as a CD player. Instead ,you can use implicit methods such as a gaze or body languages to in- vite the other to take the next action or you can just wait to offer your teaching partner a chance to take active actions. An experienced English volunteer teacher will have the ability to judge when to commence an activity, and where to take action. If you really need to prompt the other teacher, try using phrases such as, “James, would you like to say that in English for us?” or “Peter, can we get you to show us how to make that sound?”. This will help the English volunteer teacher feel like a valued member of the team. Framing your directions as requests or invitations will also provide the students with important pragmatic awareness.

If a young teacher works as an English volunteer teacher (like James, 21), he should display his trust of the Vietnamese teacher through actively participating in the class. He should not act as a robot waiting for orders , but he should observe the class to see where

TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com

and what kind of action needs to be taken. Remember that good cooperation is co- established through how team-teachers perform in the class.

• Making a small talk

Between lessons, usually there is a ten-minute break. Of course you could choose to be by yourself during this time, but you can also use these ten minutes as a good opportunity to establish a closer rapport with your teaching partner, especially when you and your partner coming from ethnic differences . Here are some topics you could use:

►Talk about what is happening in the classes

Class related topics contain at least two advantages. First, reflecting on the class can help you come up with ways to modify the lesson plan, as well as promote cooperation for the coming class. Secondly, talking about something you have in common can establish a sense of membership, which therefore creates better teamwork.

►Talk about culture or language related topics

As a native speaker of either English or Vietnamese, you might find that there are some interesting aspects of your teaching partner’s way of life that he or she can teach you about. For English Volunteer teachers, this can be an important way of getting to know about the world around you. For Vietnamese teachers, talking about the EVT’s home coun- try can broaden your knowledge of English teaching cultures.

►Talking about hobbies or interests

Hobbies such as listening to music or watching movies can be used as resources in the classroom conversations. The more information you know about eachother, the more resources you can apply to teaching.

Well-chosen topics will help establish a closer rapport with each other, and therefore it will foster a better atmosphere of cooperation. The more familiar you are with each other, the better and more effective the lesson will be.

• Writing your reflections after team-teaching classes

After the class, take two minutes to write down your reflections about the lesson. It could be observations, thoughts or feelings; anything about the class. If you think the team- teaching didn’t go well,try to think about where you felt it needed work, or about when the other person seemed uncomfortable and why. Send e-mails to your teaching partner to discuss the class. Espress your ideas honestly but politely. Respecting each other’s job and speaking from a team stance will contribute to the development of the team-teaching as

TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com

well as your own personal development as a language teacher. The last thing you need to do is to keep your mind open to any suggestions.

In short, most of team-teachers admitted that it was difficult to work with someone who had such a different philosophy. However, if all recommendations are considered carefully it is possible to turn this into a positive challenge and growth opportunity.

To sum up, in this chapter the researcher has just presented some major findings and given a discussion for these findings. Besides, the researcher has also given some recommenda- tions for both administartors and team-teachers.

PART C: CONCLUSION

The last part includes some conclusions and limitations as well as some suggestions for further studies.

Limitation and suggestion for further study