Team-Teaching is not strictly a group technique of the kind that has been discussed so far. It is a novel essay to improve the quality of teaching by interweaving different subjects and possibilities, and making maximum use of the complementary powers of teachers. As the name implies, it consists above all in teamwork. But within those teams, both teachers and students, and even acting together, situations and processes that study and guide the group dynamics are in fact done. For this reason, and because it is a new teaching experience, even in the trial stage in the United States, it is included here for reader information.
It will be noticed, without a doubt, that the possibilities of applying this procedure escape the immediate action of the teacher or the teacher; Team Teaching requires an important change at the level of the school organization. Perhaps some private school director may be in a position to rehearse this new teaching system.
What is Team Teaching?
Team Teaching (teaching as a team) “is an instructional unit within a school.” This unit is a combination of a defined group of students: a small group of teachers who possess complementary talents and specializations, responsible for the academic and guidance program; and in addition to certain auxiliary personnel that help teachers and students goals.
The main objectives of this system are: to improve the quality of teaching and school guidance (Guidance), and the use of time and talent of teachers and teachers to take advantage of the beneficial influence of student participation in teaching a “learning community”; provide the student with the perception of the overall meaning of their studies and the interrelation of them, through the “interdisciplinary crossing”; obtain the conjunction of the greatest number of factors in the learning process.
Organization and operation
The students constitute a clearly identifiable group or team: the student team. These student groups consist of 90 to 180 students and it could be for team work and others. They correspond to similar courses of studies.
Each student team is assigned a team of teachers. A group of four to six teachers, or five to seven teachers in primary school, whose skills and specialties complement each other, form the teacher or teacher team. This team is responsible for the total academic program of the students and their orientation, generally for two years. Teachers participate in the same meeting period every day. Each of them represents a subject or sector of knowledge. The team aims at self-sufficiency to the extent that members acquire special skills in complementary areas.
Each team of teachers has a leader or team leader elected or appointed, who coordinates the tasks of all. In addition, each team has an assistant, a non-qualified person who works with the team in office tasks, administration, etc. Sometimes the assistant is engaged in supplementary teaching tasks, such as re-runs, study visits, corrections, etc.
Each team prepares a list of distinguished citizens who possess certain particular abilities, to collaborate on specific aspects of the program or, in some cases, to conduct study groups. These citizens – artists, scientists, craftsmen, professionals, etc. they constitute an important source of information to improve teaching and give it a realistic meaning. To a certain extent they represent the “expert” that is often used in various group work techniques.
In the case of the elementary school, two new resources are added: the internal teacher, who is a new teacher assigned to the group in which the older educators train him in his initial activity; and an assistant teacher, who acts primarily as a substitute for team members in case of absence.
Advantage
According to the makers of this experiment, the following advantages are obtained among others: variation, according to needs, of the duration, size and sequence of the classes; allows to gather all students easily; the teaching of large groups allows to vary teaching techniques: debates, audiovisual media, conferences by experts, group techniques, etc .; Teachers can meet often. to solve problems of the group, which facilitates the coordination and concentration of efforts; parents of students are more interested in the education of their children, since they can meet with the entire team of teachers at the same time, without having to resort to several individual interviews; voluntary study groups can be made according to interests or levels, coordinated with the resource of “distinguished citizens”; the guidance of the students (Guidance) is more effective; the correlation of the subjects and the interdisciplinary approach are facilitated.
Ramon Marcel Arellano Baez 