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    Factors that influence the implementation and practice of team-teaching for English and Social Science teachers in secondary innovative learning environments in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Education (Educational Administration and Leadership) at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Robinson, Amanda Joy
    Team-teaching in secondary school innovative learning environments (ILEs) in New Zealand is an emergent area of pedagogical practice and there is currently no research exploring the ways it can be supported by school leaders. Team-teaching has emerged as a result of national and global changes in education policy over the past decades. Both ILEs and team-teaching are viewed as providing a pathway to increasing specific knowledge, competencies and dispositions for students in the face of significant global changes. The purpose of this research was to: a) identify important factors that influence the implementation and practice of team-teaching in secondary school ILEs, and; b) seek methods school leaders might employ to optimise factors that influence teachers in their team-teaching practice. Much research has been done about team-teaching at primary level and in inclusive education settings internationally. However existing research largely focuses on the pedagogical practices teachers might use and has not been focused on the leadership of team-teachers in mainstream secondary schools or ILEs. This research aimed to contribute to the literature by examining the specific contextual factors presented by team-teaching in secondary ILEs in New Zealand, and the ways school leaders might optimise these factors. The sample groups for this research were drawn from English and Social Science teachers and heads of department (HoD) from six secondary school ILEs in New Zealand. The research spanned two phases, drawing on a mixed-methods approach to conduct semi-structured interviews with a small sample, before conducting a survey with a larger group of teachers and HoDs. The findings of this research largely reinforce the literature on team-teaching as similar factors were identified. A new contribution is made by considering how time is interconnected with professional relationships, along with the importance of evaluating the impact of changes in practice on students. Collectively, these interconnected factors influence teacher motivation. Additionally, the formation of individual teacher identity is reconceptualised for those team-teaching in highly visible ILEs, when the mitigating effect of career stage is considered. This research also highlights the increased time, space and support that teachers and HoDs require to develop their relational practice to create effective team-teaching partnerships in secondary school ILEs due to their involvement in multiple teams. It is concluded that school leaders may need to re-evaluate the process of supporting teacher change and pedagogical adaptation for those working as team-teachers in secondary ILEs in New Zealand.
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    Investigating team teaching through an exploration of beliefs about role and effective teaching : a case study of New Zealand and Thai primary teachers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Second Language Teaching at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2002) Ashdown, Lucette Margaret
    This case study investigates the nature of team teaching relationships from the viewpoint of Thai and New Zealand teachers working in bilingual primary level classrooms. Team relationships were explored through investigating expectations and assumptions teachers had about effective teaching, and how these impacted on classroom roles, relationships and teaching practices. There were six subjects who participated in the study; three Thai and three New Zealand teachers. Data was collected over a period of five months. Primary data was gathered using classroom observations, guided and informal interviews. Secondary data, gathered from a biodata questionnaire, stimulated recall using a videotaped classroom observation and informal observations, was used to confirm and expand findings from the primary sources. The study found that team teaching is both a structural arrangement and an emergent process. The way in which teams develop is related to the relationship built by participants. A number of variables were found to influence the direction of team relationships: time, trust and professional respect, communication, personality, and beliefs about teaching and learning. Teams developed either autonomously or collaboratively depending on how participants negotiated these variables.
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    Teaching groups as contexts for learning about teaching in higher education : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Heinrich, Eva
    This research proposes a new concept, called teaching groups, as approach to learning about teaching for academics in higher education. Teaching groups are defined at the outset of the research as groups of academics who have, based on their positions in their institutions, shared responsibilities in teaching. To build a theoretical foundation, the community-based approaches of communities of practice and (faculty) learning communities are investigated and links to teaching groups established. In an important departure from existing community-based approaches, the idea of voluntary participation is abandoned and, in contrast, membership in teaching groups is by default. The motivation for this step is to overcome the low participation rates in activities related to learning about teaching, ultimately aiming at participation of the vast majority of academics. An exploratory mixed-methods research design was employed. The first, qualitative research phase was conducted using focus groups. The aim of this research phase was to explore how academics relate to the concept of teaching groups, what interactions take place in these groups and how engagement with teaching, and learning about teaching, might be facilitated in the groups. Based on the results of the focus group research, hypotheses and goals for investigation in the second, quantitative research phase were developed. A survey was conducted via a questionnaire, aiming at confirmation of key findings of the first research phase. The findings across both research phases show that nearly all participants could identify and describe their teaching groups. Characteristics of teaching groups were determined and a classification into a scale from tight-knit to individualistic teaching groups was derived. The results show that tight-knit teaching groups provide academics with a community environment highly supportive of learning about teaching, whereas members of individualistic teaching groups miss out on valuable opportunities for learning from and with each other. About 40% of the teaching groups discussed in this research were classified as tight-knit,indicating that the remaining majority of teaching groups would benefit from improvements. Setting the findings in context to the situation of teaching in higher education, recommendations were made to strengthen line management with regard to teaching and to officially acknowledge the existence of teaching groups. The research comes to the conclusion that teaching groups form a promising concept for learning about teaching in higher education. Future research will need to investigate the reasons why teaching groups develop certain characteristics and what could be done to help teaching groups to move along the scale from individualistic to tight-knit teaching groups.