Communication is the key to a great Co-Teaching Partnership. It is like throwing a ball. The purpose is to learn how well others catch information and throw it back. We develop and build relationships by practicing chit chat, e.g., what is your name, where do you live, what are your hobbies, etc. But there are levels of communication beyond chit chat.
As relationships develop and deeper communication is desired, discussing an issue becomes more like tossing a slippery egg. Be careful not to:
Try to recognize when you have the slippery egg and toss it with great care and understanding, being assertive enough to communicate your issues. Always watch body language and tell the truth in a caring manner.
The following activity presents different role play scenarios for cooperating teachers and teacher candidates.
The cooperating pair, a CT and TC, should work together and take turns discussing the following scenarios. Both CT and TC will have two opportunities to role play different scenarios.
Read the following scenario (don't let your TC peek) and discuss it right now with your TC…
Your teacher candidate is continuously tardy to school.
Address this issue and solve the problem.
Read the following scenario (don't let your CT peek) and discuss it right now with your CT…
Your cooperating teacher is not allowing you to try new ideas or ways of doing things.
Address this issue and solve the problem.
Read the following scenario (don't let your TC peek) and discuss it right now with your TC…
Your teacher candidate is reluctant to try all the co-teaching strategies.
Address this issue and solve the problem.
Read the following scenario (don't let your CT peek) and discuss it right now with your CT…
Your cooperating teacher does not use co-planning time to work with you.
Address this issue and solve the problem.
It is often assumed that people know how to collaborate. However, collaboration skills are rarely identified, let alone taught. When collaborative efforts become strained or are successful, it is important to evaluate our own role in the process. There is a difference between cooperation and collaboration. Collaboration is a philosophy of interactions with the focus on the process of working together; cooperation stresses the product of such work (Myers, 1991).
Below is a self-assessment worksheet. It will help you reflect on and evaluate your own collaboration skills. The beauty of this self-assessment tool is that we can identify the areas in which we can improve in an effort to become better collaborators. (You do not have to share your scores with your partner.)
Please take some time to complete Collaboration Self-Assessment worksheet (opens new window) (MS Excel). Make sure you save the file to your desktop before entering your responses.
When finished, consider the following:
We challenge you to ask yourself: What is at the heart of these issues? Could citing these variables possibly be a smoke screen to hide the fact that you are not using skills needed for successful collaboration?
Often, Cooperating Teachers and Teacher Candidates are from different generations and/or cultures, and these differences often result from significant historical events, cultural trends, and individual experiences. Ultimately, this results in varying world views and attitudes toward the workplace. Communicating with one another is key.
Take a moment and discuss the following questions with your co-teacher:
Tips on how to work together across cultures and generations (Krumrey-Fulks; Ting-Toomey, 2012; Fisher-Yoshida, 2005; Mezirow, 2000):
*This section was updated in March 2021 based on user feedback. These new materials are not from St. Cloud University’s original co-teaching training/workshop."
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© 2012, St. Cloud State University. Used with permission by the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities’ Office of Teacher Education (OTE) for the CEHD Partner Network