Exploring challenges and collaborative efforts of two co-teachers in a high school

Abstract

This article explores the challenges and collaborative efforts of co-teaching teachers in a highschool. It examines what challenges both a native English teacher (NET) and a Korean Englishteacher (KET) confronted and how they tried to solve their problems. Data for this study consistof 9 classroom observations, teachers’ reflective journals, teacher meetings, and face-to-faceinterviews. The study showed that the co-teaching teachers were faced with two majorchallenges: the confusion of roles caused by different role expectations, and the lack ofknowledge on co-teaching skills. In order to overcome their problems, firstly, they held teacherdiscussions regularly to determine harmonious role takings in class. Secondly, they observedother co-teachers’ classes focused on instruction and management skills in the hope that theycould co-teach more systematically. Some important implications of this case study are:co-teachers should hold collaborative discussions on a regular basis, and schools should provideco-teachers with training opportunities for their professional development.