• Introduction
• Articulating Goals
• Faculty as Learners
• Sharing Authority: The Models
• A Richer Classroom
• Authority and Trust
• Growth and Community
• Printable Text of Article

Elizabeth Gunn The second point I wanted to make, and we've all said this in different ways, is about the joy, the epiphanies that you have when collaborating in the classroom. When you're in the classroom, moving along in the stream of learning, when you're in charge, you don't have the luxury, the time, to step out and watch the students. In team teaching, you can step out while your colleague is teaching, and watch the students, and listen to them and think about what is happening in the classroom. Sometimes you might see a student is totally frustrated, and you would have missed that had you been the only person in charge. That is why the teaching opportunities, the learning opportunities, are so good, because you have time to step back while everyone else is really absorbed in what's happening.

Kim Eby I think it does improve teaching, because then you come back and share those observations. "This was really effective" and "This didn't really work." Sometimes you have a sense of this when you are alone in the classroom, but when there are two of you, it's possible to analyze the specifics of various classroom techniques and exchange feedback.

Teresa Michals It challenges you to do better as a teacher.

Ashley Williams It's really interesting that you talked about collaboration in an intellectual way and then as a process. Having taught alone, and now collaborating, I hope that I am more adept intellectually, that I can frame clearer questions and create a better understanding of the cultures and processes of other disciplines. I don't mean to suggest that I have extensive knowledge of someone else's discipline, but that I'm gaining more understanding. That makes me a better scholar, and a better academic, and results in better teaching, I think, in my work in literature and in writing.

Teresa Michals I think that what we've been saying is that if something isn't working in the classroom, we have other options to think about, instead of just saying "bad students" or "bad teacher" and carrying on with what we've been doing, even if it's not working.

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