Two Teachers

Two teachers in the same room? This is something that i have done in the past (teaching CPR) and is mainly to help a new teacher facilitate, help demonstrate, ensure skills are performed correctly, answer questions, etc. Finkel goes into more detail in his book and discusses how beneficial "collegial teaching" can be. He lists 5 criteria that separate collegial teaching from other forms of team teaching.

• Two teachers must be equal
• Two teachers must be different
• Two teachers must act before their students primarily as intellectual colleagues
• Collegial course must be inquire-centered
• Teachers must conceive of their studetns in a new way

Ultimately, there is a shift between covering curriculum to participating in an inquiry. Collegial teaching is centered around the teacher-teacher relationship and not the student.

Can this really work??

If done effectively, students become auditors (listen to the two teachers different perspectives) and then are invited to participate as a "colleague" and not a "student". If the student can get past feeling and acting like a "student" they can participate fully. Finkel mentions that getting past their role of the student can be very challenging.

So, although I have co-taught a class, it was nothing like collegial teaching. I would think, being the pessimist that I am that for me, this would be difficult. Getting students to actively participate and think like a colleague and not a student of the class would be challenging. I can see how this would increase interest if you could get the buy in.

I also think this could be disastrous.

What other downfalls might this have?
Would this work in every class, in every subject?

I often revert back to "training" (short duration and/or one time only sessions, once per year or less where you dont get to see the students but one time) and wonder if this would work at all. If the students are unfamiliar with the topic, is this worth even attempting?