Constructing an educational model for collaborative team teaching

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370731
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Tokai University
• Principal Investigator: COLLINS PETER J 東海大学, 外国語教育センター, 准教授 (10307241)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): FINE Gary Scott 東海大学, 高輪教養センター, 教授 (70515022)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: team teaching / ALT / NEST-NNEST / teacher collegiality / secondary education / situated language / Activity Theory / curriculum planning

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The Investigators worked closely with Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) and assistant language teachers (ALTs) team teaching at one private and two public high schools. Narrative data reveal that traditional attitudes perpetuate two problematic dichotomies. The first is between the goals and practices of solo taught four skills classes and team taught conversation classes, and the second between ALTs’ elevated status within conversation classes and their marginalized status within English education overall. Additional survey results show that pre-service teachers receive little guidance about issues related to “native” and “non-native” English-speaking teachers and remain uncertain about how to meet the goals of team teaching. However, a team teaching framework based on Activity Theory (Engestrom, 1987) supports JTEs and ALTs in shifting perceptions on teaching and learning English, clarifying JTE-ALT relationships, and nurturing student motivation and language acquisition.

Free Research Field

team teaching at secondary schools