Examining Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives of Collaborative Teaching with English Language Teachers

Abstract

Because of the strong demand for English language teachers (ELTs) at different educational levels in Asian countries, many kindergartens are hiring ELTs to teach English courses as part of regular early childhood curricula. Collaboration between classroom early childhood teachers (ECTs) and ELTs significantly affects children’s English learning. Via observations and interviews, this study examined seven Taiwanese ECTs’ perspectives on and experiences of collaborative teaching with ELTs and analyzed the factors influencing this collaboration. The results showed that most participants collaborated minimally with ELTs and usually followed a “one teach, one assist” approach. Organizational, interpersonal, and personal factors affected collaboration. Specifically, this study’s findings suggest that traditional Chinese values, with their emphasis on harmony, may prevent ECTs from offering advice, co-planning curricula, or sharing their expertise with ELTs. Although most ECTs performed secondary roles and viewed English lessons as a break from their duties, they acknowledged their own contribution to children’s education. Finally, an individual case revealed that raising teachers’ pedagogical awareness led to greater engagement in English instruction. The implications of this study and future research directions are discussed.

摘要

亞洲國家的各教育層級對於英語教師之聘任皆有強烈需求, 在幼兒教育階段, 亦有許多幼兒園聘請英語教師教授英語, 作為幼兒園課程的一部分。由於學齡前幼兒具有獨特的學習方式, 幼兒教師與英語教師間的協同教學關係影響了幼兒的英語學習。因此, 本研究之目的為: 探討幼兒教師對於與英語教師進行協同教學之看法與經驗, 並且分析影響協同教學的因素。本研究之參與者為七位幼兒教師, 透過觀察與訪談收集資料並進行分析。研究結果發現大多數的幼兒教師採取最低程度的協同關係, 遵循「一主教一協助」的協同形式, 其中的組織、人際互動以及個人因素皆會影響協同教學的形式; 此外, 強調和諧關係的傳統價值觀, 潛在地影響幼兒教師避免積極主動提供英語教師建議、共同規劃課程或與英語教師分享他們的幼教專業知識。儘管大多數幼兒教師在英語教學中傾向扮演次要角色, 並將英語課程視為得以喘息的時段, 但他們仍認同自己對幼兒教育的專業與貢獻。最後, 本研究呈現一位具良好英語能力的幼兒教師展現與英語教師積極合作的模式, 此結果顯示提高幼兒教師的教學意識能夠促進其英語協同教學的主動性, 在英語教學中發揮幼兒教育之專業性。依據上述發現, 本研究提供教學實務的建議以及未來研究的方向。