Key points:
- The practical constraints on teachers’ time present a significant obstacle to the wider adoption of team teaching
- To make team teaching viable, we need innovations that can dissolve these practical constraints and facilitate efficient and sustainable collaboration within existing cost structures
- See related article: Teacher burnout persists, but solutions are emerging
- For more news on teacher burnout, visit eSN’s SEL & Well-Being page
Teacher burnout is a real and growing challenge for US K–12 schools. Last year, school district leaders reported a 4 percent increase in teacher turnover according to a nationally representative survey from RAND. In some states like Louisiana and North Carolina, Chalkbeat found that total departures surged to more than 13 percent. This unsettling trend, coupled with the increasing pressures on those who remain, is a problem we can’t afford to ignore.
For a number of years, I’ve been encouraged by one potential solution to this challenge: team teaching—in particular, the Opportunity Culture work by Public Impact found in hundreds of schools, or ASU’s Next Education Workforce initiative. I struggled as a first-year teacher, and I would have relished the opportunity to work side-by-side with more experienced teachers so I could observe their methods and have a second adult present to navigate difficult classroom situations.…Read More