Navigating The Hub — Unleashing the Power of Seven

Those who insist on doing everything themselves, rob others of the opportunity to contribute and rob the team of trust.

Our collaborative teaching journey in the Grade 4 hub at the International School of Addis Ababa continues to evolve! This week, we delved into the world of co-teaching models, drawing inspiration from the work of Honigsfeld & Dove (2019) as presented by WIDA (Focus Bulletin — Collaboration).

The Power of Many: Upscaling Co-Teaching in Our Hub

One aspect of our hub that sets us apart is the sheer number of educators present: a team of seven-to-eight! Traditional co-teaching models often involve two teachers. While these models have proven highly effective, our larger team presents a unique opportunity to “upscale” these strategies.

During a recent Wednesday Research Moment, our fabulous EAL expert, Andrew Wetzel, lead us to explore various co-teaching models and brainstormed how to leverage our team size:

• One Teach, One Support: We can expand this model by having one teacher lead the instruction while two others provide targeted support to small groups of students within the hub space and other educators can be taking anecdotal notes and/or conferring 1:1 with individual students.
• Station Teaching: With seven educators, we can create a wider variety of engaging stations, catering to diverse student readiness stages. By using a continuum of standards, we can unlock the hidden curriculum by placing students according to readiness and moving them on when mastery occurs.
• Parallel Teaching: Imagine dividing the class into smaller groups, each facilitated by a dedicated teacher, allowing for more personalized instruction and differentiated activities. This aligns so beautifully with our SEL learning experiences in which we can role-play and discuss personal experiences.

“These co-teaching models have been proven to benefit all students; however, research has found that this type of collaboration especially benefits ESL students.” McGee, 2024.

Beyond the Models:

The beauty of our hub setting goes beyond simply applying established co-teaching models. Our larger team size allows for:

• Enhanced Expertise: Each member brings unique skills and knowledge to the table. We can create a truly collaborative learning environment, drawing on each other’s strengths to support student success.
• Differentiation on Steroids: With more educators in the mix, we can provide even deeper levels of differentiation, ensuring individual needs are met more effectively.
• Constant Feedback Loop: With more eyes and ears observing student progress, we can create a rich feedback loop, providing students with timely and personalized support. When in small groups, we always assign an ‘Educator as Researcher’ who takes observational notes, especially dedicated to our weekly research question.

The Road Ahead

We’re excited to explore the possibilities of co-teaching within our unique hub structure. As we experiment with different models and approaches, we’ll continue to share our learnings and insights. One way that we have begun to upscale these models is by assigning roles in whole-hub and small group learning experiences.

We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences! Have you encountered large-scale co-teaching models? What are your tips for success? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments below.

NB If you’re curious about how we design our learning spaces to facilitate this kind of model, check out last week’s post — Navigating the Hub: Making Space For Learning.