Analysis of Co-teaching and Teamwork: Psychological Principles

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of co-teaching and teamwork, exploring their psychological underpinnings and practical implications. It begins by defining co-teaching and highlighting its benefits, such as specialized instruction and increased student support, while also acknowledging potential drawbacks like conflicting teaching styles. The report then delves into the psychology of teamwork, referencing Sigmund Freud's theories on group formation and Bruce Tuckman's stages of team development. It examines factors that contribute to successful teamwork, including commitment, communication, and diversity, and discusses the eight factors of emotional and social intelligence within a team context. The report draws on various research papers to support its arguments, offering a well-rounded perspective on co-teaching and teamwork in educational settings.

Running head: QUESTION AND ANSWER
QUESTION AND ANSWER
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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QUESTION AND ANSWER
Co-teaching
Teachers who are skilled in communication, managing classroom as well as
techniques of appropriate discipline helps in creating positive learning environment. Co-
teaching too is a type of teaching where teachers as well as a classroom assistant works
together within the classroom to teach groups of students where they share planning,
organisation, instructional assessment, physical space as well as delivery (Gallo &
Scantlebury 2016). Co-teaching has often been implemented with general education teachers
that helps in creating an inclusive classroom experience for every child.
There are some of the positive effects of co-teaching. Through this type of teaching
students have an opportunity for specialised instruction whenever it is needed. Students can
also be benefitted from co-teaching as they get additional support, resources as well as
experience diversity within the classroom (Pancsofar & Petroff 2016). Lessons become more
creative as well as strong as there are two teachers who share the planning process with each
other. Teachers are also able to support each other by complementing the strength as well as
weakness of one another. They further build a strong camaraderie among themselves and
encourage the students to do the same (Pancsofar & Petroff 2016). Workload in co-teaching
is also divided. More focus on each student is given where one teaches and the other observes
the needs as well as difficulty of every child. In co-teaching the students can be divided into
two groups one who needs more support and the other who are bright and easy to teach
(Pancsofar & Petroff 2016).
However, there are negative experience of co-teaching as well. For instance if there
are two teachers then they can have two different styles of teaching that can confuse the
students. With two different styles of teaching the classroom will be split into two halves.
Thus, it is essential for both the teachers to follow the same teaching style (Ricci & Fingon

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QUESTION AND ANSWER
2017). Another problem of co-teaching is that there is a lot of planning as well as preparation
that cause a rift between the two if a disagreement arises. Furthermore, children who have
average ability may fall through the cracks as they are given a chance to do more without
help (Ricci & Fingon 2017). Students also do not get enough exposure to receive the teaching
of both instructors.
There are some qualities that needs to be reflected in teachers for effective co-
teaching environment. Firstly, the teachers should be adaptable to changing situations as well
as changing teaching style. Secondly the teachers should have the quality to work in a team
that helps in increasing the ability of students so that learning becomes fun (Pratt et al.,
2017). Teachers should also have good leadership style so that they can cooperate with each
other that will result in effective co-teaching.
Teamwork
Psychology of teamwork according to Sigmund Freud is the fundamental basis for
forming groups or team as well as cohesion where a ream member identifies the leader of the
group through his senses. According to Taylor, performance of an individual within a team
positively correlated with the aspect of attachment (Jones & Miller 2004). Best way to
describe psychology of teamwork is to look back to Bruce Tuckman’s theory of team work
where he has stated four stages of team development popularly known as forming, storming,
norming and performing. According to him people form a group with potential conflicts
(Jones & Miller 2004). Psychology of teamwork therefore helps individuals to realise team
work and movement between stages are unconscious. Both Belbin’s model of team role as
well as Beddoes Jones model of challenger roles recognise the importance of having a
defined role within a team that prevents conflicts (Jones & Miller 2004). The cognitive
dynamics of team are generated from their thinking preferences as stated by Beddoes Jones.

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QUESTION AND ANSWER
There are several factors that helps in making teamwork successful. Firstly, there
should be commitment as well as trust among the team members so that the goals can be
achieved without any difficulty. Secondly, there should be open lines of communication so
that each member are aware of their individual weakness as well as strength that helps in
allocating tasks accordingly (Dinh & Salas 2017). Thirdly, the team should welcome
diversity so that there is better understanding among all individuals and new ideas can be
shared. Furthermore, all the team members should be able to adapt to changing conditions so
that task can be achieved efficiently (Dinh & Salas 2017). At the same time team members
should also be creative so that they can try new things without any fear of failure. They must
be able to confidently communicate new ideas.
There are eight factors of emotional as well as social intelligence of a team. First
factor is self-esteem that believes in giving self-worth and self-confidence to the individual.
Second factor is self-motivation where the individual feels determined to do the work within
the team (Černevičiūtė & Strazdas 2018). The third factor is self-management where an
individual learns to control his actions as well as his response to different emotions. Fourth, is
social management, where team members learn to manage satisfying relationships and apply
social skills for positive interaction (Černevičiūtė & Strazdas 2018). Fifth factor is social
motivation that helps the individuals to act responsibly within the team. Sixth factor talks
about empathy that helps in appreciating other’s hard work. Social awareness is another
factor that helps in understanding the emotions of team members. Lastly, there self-awareness
factor that helps in identifying personal feelings as well as emotions (Černevičiūtė & Strazdas
2018).

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QUESTION AND ANSWER
References
Černevičiūtė, J., & Strazdas, R. (2018). Teamwork management in Creative industries:
factors influencing productivity.
Dinh, J. V., & Salas, E. (2017). Factors that influence teamwork. The Wiley Blackwell
handbook of the psychology of team working and collaborative processes, 13-41.
Gallo-Fox, J., & Scantlebury, K. (2016). Coteaching as professional development for
cooperating teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 60, 191-202.
Jones, F., & Miller, J. (2004). The Psychology of Teams from
http://www.trainingjournal.com.
Pancsofar, N., & Petroff, J. G. (2016). Teachers’ experiences with co-teaching as a model for
inclusive education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 20(10), 1043-1053.
Pratt, S. M., Imbody, S. M., Wolf, L. D., & Patterson, A. L. (2017). Co-planning in co-
teaching: A practical solution. Intervention in School and Clinic, 52(4), 243-249.
Ricci, L. A., & Fingon, J. C. (2017). Faculty Modeling Co-Teaching and Collaboration
Practices in General Education and Special Education Courses in Teacher Preparation
Programmes. Athens Journal of Education, 4(4), 351-362.