With innovative and interesting teaching models emerging day by day, team teaching is now being pursued to make the classroom space dynamic and all-encompassing. In a liberal education setup, when students are encouraged to take up courses across disciplines and indulge in Active Learning, team teaching is one such means to the end. So, what is Team Teaching and what does this mode of education entail? Let us dive right in!
Team Teaching, an idea that perfectly complements the nature of a collaborative classroom, ideally means more than one teacher or professor collaborating towards one course for the same group of students. In team teaching, a group of teachers, work and plan class activities and evaluate students on an integrated level. Team teaching brings to students the ideas and potentials of many thought leaders toward courses that require a holistic perspective.
Here are some of the reasons why team teaching will benefit students:
Enhance student learning: In a team-teaching system, the expectations of one professor may be different from another. However, the sheer variations in this system will enable a student to learn subjects from different angles. Students benefit by enjoying better retention of ideas, diversity, better interpersonal skills, etc. Their learning outcomes will be vastly influenced by a convergence of strong teaching voices toward their subject. The combination of team teaching and active learning working in synergy is bound to benefit students for life.
A multidisciplinary focus on the curriculum: With global challenges increasing by the day, course material that is specifically engineered for the future also needs expert handling. A liberal education system will focus on providing courses that tackle the Big Problems of today and tomorrow. As a result, through team teaching, thought leaders who are experts from their fields, take part in shaping the dissemination of that curriculum. Each of these aspects of the course material gains focuses on this system. Due to the multitude of teachers, no part of the curriculum is left without attention.
Build connections across disciplines: The foundation of a liberal education system is based on the interwoven nature of disciplines across courses. Team teaching enables teachers from other disciplines to impart their specific knowledge to students. This method of working across disciplines by shining light on what the students need is what team teaching is all about. Team teaching builds connections across disciplines for both students and teachers across the board.
Paves way for a global classroom: Thanks to the pandemic, Zoom lessons are dime a dozen these days. Using technology, teachers from across the world who are proven educators in their chosen field will now have access to classrooms spanning thousands of kilometers. Professor in USA and Europe can impart their skills to a student in India, thanks to the team-teaching idea. This progressive and radical ecosystem will pave way for a global classroom in the true sense.
Better teacher-student relationship: Team teaching creates a smoother and more collaborative ecosystem for the students in a classroom. By being taught by multiple teachers from different points of view and in different formats, students are exposed to various new ideas. The novelty of team teaching by itself makes a classroom more engaging and interesting. The interpersonal relationship in a team-taught classroom is cordial and exciting and leads to more attention given to students as well.
As we move towards a more radical liberal education system, it becomes that much more crucial for us to embrace and accept new methods of teaching and learning. Teaching is a dynamic and corrective process while learning is evolutionary and pathbreaking. Team teaching is a system that aims to bridge gaps in knowledge transfer and benefit both the teacher and the student.
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