Team teaching - how does it work in practice?

[maggiethecat]

I have been told about team teaching in primary schools (specifically in Scotland but it may occur elsewhere) where in a class of say 35 there may be 2 teachers (not teacher plus ta) teaching the class.

How does this work? Do they split the class, according to ability for eg and teach accordingly?

Curious about the practicalities and if the method is effective.

I can be extremely effective if done well.
There are a number of forms it can take

? Two teachers share the teaching of a lesson for one class
? Two teachers share the teaching of a lesson for a larger than normal group
? Both the above for discrete parts of the lesson such as the launch or connection phase or the plenary or reflection phase
? An additional variation might be in the learning environment e.g. learning out of the classroom ? in the field or in the hall

I'm sure there will be other variations out there

Mrz, have you ever taught this way yourself or actually seen it in practice? I just wonder about the big class size, albeit with 2 teachers, especially if they are very young.

I've taught like this- but only ever as a spontaneous, informal arrangement with other teachers I've had good relationships with.

It can be fabulous. You can get two happy, enthused teachers bouncing off each other to synergistically improve every aspect of learning in the classroom.

As a formal arrangement it could be bl**dy awful. I can't imagine anything worse than being forced to have that close (almost couple like because your class becomes a big two parent family) relationship with a teacher I didn't get on with.