Browsing by Author "Vistbacka, Niina"

The purpose of this study was to find the methods of co-teaching between a craft teacher and a class teacher and the benefits and challenges for joint planning and evaluation. Co-teaching is increasing all the time, and with each use, the school wants the teacher to be ready for co-teaching with another teacher. According to the curriculum (Pops 2014), school operations should be multidisciplinary and, in accordance with the students' interests, teaching should be communal. The co-teaching of a classroom teacher and a craft teacher has not been researched terribly yet, I see that a pilot study like this is important so that the possibility of different kinds of joint work can be seen as part of everyday school life. Previous studies related to co-teaching have shown that co-teaching diversifies planning and eases the teacher's workload in challenging conditions. Studies have also shown that the strengths of both teachers add to the teaching, which would not be there when teaching alone. Teachers can share responsibility for teaching according to their own strengths. Two teachers are participating in my research, one was a craft teacher, and the other was a class teacher, a craft teacher, who work as co-teachers in the elementary school in Uusimaa in the school year 2021-2022. The interview was conducted remotely in early 2022. The interviewees were interviewed together, and they answered together. The small amount of data is justified by the pilot nature of the study. The research showed that co-teaching is perceived as a way of working as a teacher that makes one's own work easier. In particular, the workload related to planning work and evaluation was eased by working together. More insight into issues supported in their tasks both in planning and in evaluating challenging student situations. The cooperation between the classroom teacher and the craft teacher is seen as a fact and as a way of working that eases the teacher's workload. The support of a colleague and solving the issue together increases the teacher's ability to cope and brings the strengths of both teachers to the teaching.