Co-Teaching

What is Co-teaching? 

Co-Teaching occurs when two or more professionals jointly deliver substantive instruction to a diverse, blended group of students in a single physical space. 

-Friend & Cook, 2010

Co-teaching in Remote Learning Environments 


MFriend_TBarron_Co_Teaching_Handout_Version2 (3).pdf.pdf.pdf

Six Models of Co-teaching

One Teach, One Observe

This approach, for example, co-teachers can decide in advance what types of specific observational information to gather during instruction and can agree on a system for gathering the data.  Afterward, the teachers should analyze the information together.   The teachers should take turns teaching and gathering data, rather than assuming that the special educator is the only person who should observe. 


Station Teaching 

In this co-teaching approach, teachers divide content and students.  Each teacher then teaches the content to one group and subsequently repeats the instruction for the other group.  If appropriate, a third "station" could give students an opportunity to work independently.  As co-teachers become comfortable with their partnership, they may add groups or otherwise create variations of this model. 

Parallel Teaching 

In parallel teaching, the teachers are both teaching the same information, but they do so to a divided class group.  Parallel also may be used to vary learning experiences, for example, by providing manipulatives to one group but not the other or by having the groups read about the same topic but at different levels of difficulty. 

Alternative Teaching 

 In alternative teaching, one teacher takes responsibility for the large group while the other works with a smaller group.  These smaller groups could be used for remediation, pre-teaching, to help students who have been absent catch up on key instruction, assessment, and so on. 

Teaming 

 In teaming, both teachers share delivery of the same instruction to a whole student group.  Some teachers refer to this as having “one brain in two bodies.”  Others call it “tag team teaching.”  Most co-teachers consider this approach the most complex but satisfying way to co-teach, but it is the approach that is most dependent on teachers’ styles. 

One Teach, One Assist 

In a final approach to co-teaching, one person would keep primary responsibility for teaching while the other professional circulated through the room providing unobtrusive assistance to students as needed.  This should be the least often employed co-teaching approach.