experiential Module

Team Teaching in Japan

Over two semesters (Fall 2020 and Spring 2021), I explored practices of Team Teaching within Japanese schools. Team teaching is a commonly used skillset in English classrooms throughout Japan, and I am no stranger to the benefits and struggles that come with it. For my EM, I wanted to dive deeper into how I can assist my colleagues and the future of team teaching in language classes by seeing what teachers do in their classrooms, and what they believe each member of the team should be doing.

For most language classes, especially English, Japanese teachers (Japanese Teachers of English [JTEs] and Homeroom Teachers [HRTs]) team-teach alongside native English speakers, usually known as Assistant Language Teachers [ALTs].

In the Fall semester, I dug deep into the literature surrounding team teaching to write a literature review, practice classroom observations, and created survey questions for future use. In the Spring, I submitted an IRB to send out a survey, collected data, analyzed the data, and wrote an action research paper based around my findings. I also write up a conference proposal for my EM.