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If teamteaching is the answerIf teamteaching is the answerwhat is the question?what is the question?

Svanhildur María ÓlafsdóttirSvanhildur María Ólafsdóttir skólastjóri Korpuskólaskólastjóri Korpuskóla

DiscussionsDiscussions

• The study and answers too my questions.

• Field of studies and academic findings.

• What facts make a difference in developing teamteaching?


The studyThe study

• This study is a qualitative research, conducted within three primary schools in Iceland in the fall 2007.

• The focus is on team teaching in schools where two or more teachers work together with a group of students and share the responsibility for teaching and learning.

• Data was collected in observations in meetings and classrooms and interviews with teachers and headmasters.

Svanhildur María Ólafsdóttir Svanhildur María Ólafsdóttir skólastjóri Korpuskólaskólastjóri Korpuskóla

The study questions.The study questions.What ideas has teachers and headmasters about teamteaching?

What concepts do we need to have in planing, positions and management to support teamteaching in schools?

What characterize the cooperation and communcation

among teachers which work in a team?

Is teamteaching a support too the learning

community and schooldevelopment?


What ideas has teacher and principals What ideas has teacher and principals about team teaching? about team teaching?

In team teaching teachers work together with a group of students. They share a common responsibilitie in teaching, learning and conditions of the students.

At the same time the teachers are learning together with collaborations and conversations.


Team teachingTeam teaching

• Teachers and headmasters acknowledge the benefits of working in teams where teachers share responsibility, gain support and plan together.

• The teachers also acknowledge that conversations about teaching and learning providing more ideas, opinions and new solutions.

• The benefit of team teaching lays in the collaboration where the strength of each teacher flourishes.

• Teacher say´s... You have a good group in the team, it so much to do... It is like a treasure, lot of ideas. You have 4 experience teachers who likes to try out new methods and ideas, than you can do what ever you want to do...

• Headmasters think that team teaching support more activity and development in teams.


Field of studies and researchField of studies and researchTeamwork is a cooperation between two or more teachers wich emphasis on

students learning without common resonsibility on the student conditions on

daily basis. For exsample english teachers, math teachers.

Teamteaching involves common repsonsibility between two or more teachers

on learning and conditions of their students, teaching, daily cooporations and

colloboration with a group of students.

Studyteam is learning community two or more teachers which is build on common values, goals and scenario. There are teachers with different knowledge, learning of each other on daily work with a group of student. There flourish important conversation which emphasis on students learning and teaching beside evaluation, consideration and teachers learning in their proffession. (Andersen, 1998., Goetz, 2000., Kroll-Schawrts, 2004).

(Andersen, 1998., Goetz, 2000., Kroll-Schawrts, 2004.,Team teaching,1996).


What concepts do we need to have in planing, What concepts do we need to have in planing, positions and management to support positions and management to support

teamteaching in schools?teamteaching in schools?

• Schoolbuilding and facility• Timeschedule is the key• Time for cooperation, planing and meetings.• Teams need to authority, initiative and flexibility to

create the work from the schoolpolice• Teamleaders• Arrangement in teams, teamsize and how long

they have work together• Glear policy and role of the headmaster


Field of studies and researchField of studies and research

In these studies the results indicate positive attitudes towards team teaching and team

learning. Teachers and headmasters acknowledge the benefits of working in teams but

when they are working together they show conservatism and they talk about its not

enough time, workload and less independence in work

But teachers belive that cooperation gives them opportunity to learn from each other,

Their strengths flourish and they got support form each other and the conversations give

them proffessional indepenence.

In Anna Kristín Sigurðardóttir study (2006) there are links between outcomes of the

schools and common vision of the teachers on schoolwork. Leading management and

work habits has the strongest link at efficient and outcomes of the school.



Harris, Hopkins and Jackson (2003) results shows that effective schooldevelopment is build on

formal and unformal teachers cooperation and communacation. There are indication that if teachers

support each other in teaching and learning there is a better outcomes on students learning.

Duncome and Armour (2004) results shows that teachers want to have the opportunite to learn from

each other on daily basis where they emphasis on activity, consideration and cooperation. They think

that schools need to change their planing, process and priorities to be more efffective.

Flowers longtime study shows that in 70 schools in Michigan, 2002 there are links between team

teaching, development of teaching methods and outcomes on students learning. The study shows that

they need time for cooperation and communacation, and also how long they have worked together

are facts wich has influence and show effectiveness in teamwork and students learning.

Sisse Kroll-Schwarts (2004) and Andersen and Peterson (1998) ideas shows that teams need to be

working together for at least 3-5 years to develope their work and learn to work together.


What characterize theWhat characterize thecooperation and communcation cooperation and communcation

among teachers which work in a team?among teachers which work in a team?

Collaborations about teaching and learning

Communcation between teachers in a team needs

-internally realitions

-qualification, knowledge and experience

-trust and respect

-considering their teaching and learning

-setting coals about working and to develope their teaching

and learning.


Teaching methods and collaboration for teaching and learning.

• Multiple teaching and learning methods• Mutual responsibility and supervision • Mutual emphasis on students learning and similar

attitudes and vision on how to work in classrooms and with students, dicipline and rules.

• Teachers are active and interested in their work and always looking for ways to develope and improve their work arrangement in teaching and learning and in induvidual students affairs.



In this study I found same facts in collaboration among teachers as in other fields of

studies and recearch. Teachers think that teamteaching gives them oppurtunity to learn

from each other, it gives new ideas, resources and learning environment.

Teams who work a lot together are more ready to try new things, take risks, improve their

work and learn from each other. (Hargreaves, 1994; Flowers ofl. 2002; Jolly, 2007).

Most teams show with luxuriant work that they are ready and not afraid to try new things

and develope their work with students. Senge (1990) thinks that induviduals mature

more by working in teams, then alone. In a team they show not just an outstanding work

and outcomes they also learn to be an excellent learning comunity.


Communacation in teams

In most teams there are mutal reponsibility and honest conversation in communacation both in classrooms and meetings.

Most teachers think that they are a team which works and develope their work together and they show each other mutual support, they listen to each others opinions, they have initiative and oppertunity to use their qualification, they share mutual reponsibility and the share trust and respect for each other

One of the teacher says: „We can put our proposals for the team and we all share decisions.Everybody can put their ideas and than in the end of the meeting wetake a mutal decision. Sometimes there are 4 different opinions that we dicuss and take a mutal decision.“


CommunicationHeadmasters and teachers think that considerations and

conversations of teachers about learning and teaching give back

more knowledge, developement and innovation in teachers work.

On daily basis and meetings teachers learn from each other and

how they can work with students.

None of the teams take special time for consideration, conversation

and staff developement. They use all the time to talk about

learning, teaching and conditions of their students not them selves.



Hargreaves (1994), Senge (1990), Andersen og Peterson (1998) Kroll Schwarts, (2004)

and Duncombe og Armour (2004) think it is important that teams build up professional

cooperation and communacation by setting goals for the team in learning and teaching

themselves not only the students.

Hargreaves (1994), Andersen and Peterson (1998) think we need to realize that each

team is build up by individuals and there need to be a balance between social and

induvidual facts concerning commitments, freedom, decision-making, outcomes, claims

and flexibility

They think it is important that the team develope teamthinking wich give positve activity

and encouragement to teammembers when they are planing and developing learning and

teaching both for students and themselves



Conversation is an important fact in teachers staff – developement and outcomes of the

teamwork. In studyteam teachers use every opportunitie in daily conversations to

develope their understanding and others of teaching and learning methods.

We need to understand the difference of professional conversation which lead to learning

and new solutions and common conversation wich can be one sided and block learning

and professional developement inside the team (Anna Kristín Sigurðardóttir, 2006;

Duncombe og Armour, 2004).

Gardno (1998) think that the team learn by conversations to resolve conflicts and learn

from their mistakes.

Argyris (1998) indicate that developing effective learning in teams is difficult task with

many obstacles. This is not a question of right behavior and external reasons it is about

inner communacation.


Is teamteaching a support too the learning Is teamteaching a support too the learning community and schooldevelopment?community and schooldevelopment?

Headmasters think that teamteaching support the learning community and school developement through professional conversations. The study shows.

• Isatolation of teams• Introuductions between teachers• Self evaluation• There are litle links between teams



We need to work with the induviduals, their reality, knowledge,

experience, behavior and surroundings to create a learning community.

Teachers are the key for change in learning and teaching.

Learning of the induviduals are not a guarantee for the learning

communitiy

It is important to work with studyteams inside the schools. Teach them

to learn together and develope a common vision, understanding,

qualification and management. Than we create a learning community in

schools that learn.

(Hargreaves, 1994, 1995, Senge, 2000). Svanhildur María Ólafsdóttir Svanhildur María Ólafsdóttir skólastjóri Korpuskólaskólastjóri Korpuskóla

Findings

• To develope the work of the team, it needs to learn to work with their communication and learning.

• Each school needs to define a plan wich indicates policy, time and space in staff development in teams.

• Such a plan needs to have goals about inner work of the team, planing and evaluation which support and strengthen the teams in work. Also we need to strengthen a professional conversation among teachers about communacation and teamthinking.

• Headmasters and teachers must have a guidance to work and talk together to greate a learning community.


Development of teamteacing Kroll Schwarts, 2004, Andersen og Peterson, 1998, Hargreaves, 2001

TeamworkTeamteachingStudyteams

Team-thinkingTeam-guidance

Cooporation Communication Conversation


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Education

team teaching teachers

team learning

math teachers

experience teachers

team teaching support

unformal teachers cooperation

learning community

workbut teachers belive