Collaborative teaching models show promise for new educators according to article co-authored by Chris Torres
The Marsal School’s Chris Torres and Arizona State’s Mary Laski wrote an article for ASCD's Educational Leadership Magazine about team-based staffing models, where small groups of educators share responsibilities and collaborate.
These models can provide built-in support systems, mentorship and opportunities for professional growth, which are essential for retaining new teachers, they write. “We believe (and research supports) that isolated one-teacher, one-classroom staffing models are problematic for new teachers. A different arrangement—team-based staffing models—can help leaders meaningfully integrate supports for new teachers.”
Torres and Laski share evidence-based strategies key to effectively supporting and retaining new teachers, especially when implemented in a team-teaching model: New Teacher Induction, Professional Learning Community, and Specialized Roles and Career Ladders.
The authors write that teamed teachers who were studied reported feeling more supported and less isolated and lonely in their roles. Even experienced teachers currently working on teams recalled the stress of their first year on the job and wished they’d had this increased support earlier in their careers.
