Contemporary Co-teaching: The perception of ESL teachers in Australia

With an ever-increasing trend towards diverse collaborative teaching models, there is a growing body of research on why and to what extent these teaching approaches positively affect students’ attainments as well as teaching quality in different educational contexts. In Australia , there have been a number of studies on two common collaborative teaching schemes: team teaching and co-teaching. Nevertheless, very few published studies have explored the different perceptions of English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers in Australia , specifically their views of co-teaching in English instruction to students from migrant or refugee backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to report a case study conducted to document various teachers’ perceptions of co-teaching in a TAFE institution in Australia , where ESL courses are provided to Australian migrants and refugees. This study focused more on qualitative data in nature, which were collected through semi-structured interviews. To analyse the contextual data, thematic analysis was conducted. Through the collected data, the study identified different ideas or components which fitted into specific themes. The data also suggested that there are a number of factors affecting co-teaching in this context. The findings of this paper indicated that a careful consideration of the compatibility or the partnership between co-teachers can be of importance for enhancing ESL students’ achievement through well-designed co-teaching models. It is believed that this innovative pedagogical strategy could help these normally poorer English speakers to access the general education curriculum as well as to integrate into the wider social community.

Key Phrase: Co-Teaching, Team Teaching, Collaboration, ESL, Australian Refugees and Migrants, Perception of Co-Teaching.