Field experiences are a regular part of the Environmental Education Practicum course co-taught by Christine Royce (left) and JR Stewart. Photo by Lynn Reinhart.
Preservice science teachers are challenged with mastering both pedagogy and science content. To do so, they need instructors with expertise in both areas. Sometimes that means two educators in one classroom, often teaching and learning simultaneously.
Christine Royce, associate professor of education at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, has found co-teaching an effective way to model teaching during a practicum course. During the summer session, she co-teaches Environmental Education Practicum with Richard Lee “JR” Stewart, Jr., an associate professor of biology at Shippensburg.
“The way we shared the duties, both of us chose to be at each class. We truly wanted to co-teach it,” says Royce, who also serves as NSTA’s director of professional development. “We might take [preservice teachers] on a nature hike about using the field as a teachable moment. We would go back and forth in field experiences,” she explains, with Stewart giving Latin names of various flora and Royce explaining to the class how they would need to ensure their students weren’t dallying on the path and could hear the lesson as an example of field trip logistics and management. “In the classroom, when it was science concepts, JR was the main focus, with support from me. When [the topic] was pedagogy, I was the main focus, and he would reciprocate the support. We spent a lot of time making sure we were co-teaching and they (students) didn’t just perceive it as he covers all the science and I cover all the teaching stuff.”
Julie Luft, a professor at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona, and Steve Semken, an associate professor in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, co-teach Exploration of Science Teaching for first- through third-year science majors considering a teaching career. Luft, who also serves as NSTA’s director of research in education, says their co-teaching style is “very flat. Some days I might lead, other days Steve will. We both see ourselves as resources for the students in the classroom. I might say something and he’ll chime in and embellish it. We really go back and forth.”
“We have different but complementary backgrounds. My professional background is in geology and geoscience education,” says Semken. “What it comes down to is mutual professional respect, shared enthusiasm for science education, and a shared interest in the future of K–12 science education in Arizona, the surrounding area, and the nation. You have to have respect for your collaborator’s expertise.”
Royce found preparation took more time than when she teaches the same class on her own during the fall and spring sessions, but she also realized a benefit. “We would meet after class for a few minutes to reflect. You have a sounding board to go over what worked and what needs to be changed.”
Co-teaching offers other benefits for the instructors as well. A partner can celebrate when a student finally “gets” a troublesome point and deconstruct where a lesson ran long. Semken says he has benefited from the students, who “bring a tremendous amount of great ideas, enthusiasm, and energy” to the class, and the opportunity to network with classroom teachers interested in the future of education. “The growth you have as a faculty member is amazing,” says Luft.
“My personal belief is it’s good to work with a faculty member different [from] you. I learn from him; he learns from me,” Royce says, noting she and Stewart have “synergy” in their classroom. “I think whoever you co-teach with, there has to be a natural respect and collaboration. Not all content lends itself to that interaction. You have to think about the content you’re trying to do,” she observes. In addition, “students are able to see good peer relationships. They also see learning is lifelong and you learn from your peers. I think the third thing, at least for this practicum class, is you’re trying to put into practice the theory.”
By co-teaching, Royce believes they are “modeling the pedagogical content knowledge we’re trying to instill in our students.” She says this directly reflects one of the National Science Education Standards (NSES): “Good teachers of science create environments in which they and their students work together as active learners. They have continually expanding theoretical and practical knowledge about science, learning, and science teaching.” (NSES 1996)
Logistical issues such as budgeting and scheduling can make co-teaching difficult or even impossible. These problems have limited Royce and Stewart to teaching their practicum together only during the summer session.
Luft says the ASU administration backs their program strongly, but she and Semken still have to work to coordinate their schedules to ensure they have enough planning time. The Exploration of Science Teaching class is “very typical” of ASU, says Semken, noting the university has a decade-long history of collaboration between its colleges of education and science.
For Luft, coordinating two faculty schedules is a challenge, but she won’t give up co-teaching the Exploration class. “It’s just too much fun.”
Plan for Success
Making time to plan together is essential for successful co-teaching. Jose Bonner, professor of biology at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, noticed an interesting trend when he was the department’s associate chair. “I routinely found that faculty who received very good evaluations when teaching solo, typically received very poor evaluations when they team-taught the same course. There was only one exception: two of our most superb teachers who spent more time coordinating and working together than they spent with the students.”
Bonner has a theory for why this happens. He contends that students, often unintentionally, “attempt to mimic the teacher’s thinking style” when they try to anticipate what tests will be like. “To be able to answer test questions, one must be able to think one’s way through to the appropriate answer. The answer may be quite different for different faculty.”
He adds, “Very few of us even know what our thinking style is like, and few of us are aware of the implicit assumptions we make about ‘what everyone knows.’ This is something we need to spend time working on. The most effective way is to work with someone from a completely different discipline. A history teacher can tell me where I’m assuming knowledge of something that is unique to biology. Another biology teacher usually cannot, because we share the same assumptions.”