Professionally Speaking

Ethical dilemma case study 2

Negotiating Different Styles When Two Teachers Share a Class

"But Mrs. Tebbetts lets us do this!"

Argh! How tired I was of hearing these words! My teaching partner and I hold very different expectations of the children we share, and it shows. Hanging on to my patience, I wait until the students are seated again before continuing my instructions to the class.

There are 27 students in my Grade 5 class, and I am certain that most of them will end up making their living as lawyers. I have never seen a group so adept at arguing any position.

"Please write in pencil so you can correct your mistakes," I instruct.

"But I prefer to write in pen. I have a whole set of pens that my parents bought me," Julia bellows from the back of the room. "All of your chair's legs need to be on the floor," I remind Sal.

"He's not going to fall," Josie informs me.

"Hitting is not allowed in this classroom," I say to Frances.

"I'm allowed to defend myself. I know my rights!" Frances barks back.

No instruction passes unchallenged.

They come to me each afternoon, following a morning of freedom and frolic in which assignments are few and A pluses are plentiful. Finding the energy and attention to learn a second language requires effort that many students feel they don't need to expend. Why should they work hard and struggle to learn in the afternoon when in the morning they have nothing but fun, and marks are handed out like candy?

A good question! Why should learning be work? There ought to be fun involved! That is my attitude too. I have always put serious and thoughtful effort into planning lessons and activities that balance the need for fun with the expectation for learning. However, the Grade 5 program is a heavy one, and it is difficult under the best of circumstances to cram everything into a half day. The program is divided into halves: language arts, science, physical education and music in English and language arts, social studies, math and art in French for all the junior-level French Immersion students in the school. Recognizing the rigorous nature of the program, the administration has decreed that the French half of the day will be in the morning when the students are fresh, well rested and ready to learn.

It sounded like a good plan. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out that way for my class because my English partner, Mrs. Tebbetts, is a half-time teacher who only works mornings. Too bad for me.

Mrs. Tebbetts is a very pleasant woman who is passionate about instilling self-esteem in her students. No one is ever wrong in her class. No one is ever corrected. Students do what they like and with minimal effort achieve better than perfect marks. I often wonder how it is possible to come away with 1,200 bonus marks on a 100-mark assignment. Amazing!

Although the mysteries of her teaching method elude me, some might argue that Mrs. Tebbetts has established a sustainable learning environment for some students in their first language. However, I feel that this approach is untenable for learning a second language. My experience had taught me that students must put significant effort into acquiring a second language along with ongoing support from their teacher. They need to concentrate on developing a basic vocabulary, manipulating the structure of language and extending their ability to communicate in the new language. So, although the students may be eager to persist in the same laissez-faire vein as established in the morning, this teacher is not.

Very quickly I become "the heavy" and the refrain of "Mrs. Tebbetts lets us!" booms in my ears. What I had believed to be universal classroom understandings – like listening to the person who is speaking and completing your best work on time – turn the class into a battleground.

I, who have never experienced any trouble building rapport with my students, am now identified as "the mean one." I, who have never had difficulty with communication between home and school, suddenly have parents demanding to know why their children are experiencing only trouble in my class. I begin to dread crossing the threshold into my own classroom.

At home, at night, I worry the problem like a dog with a bone. What to do? I am caught in a dilemma. In part, I tend to agree with my students. Why should learning be work? Shouldn't all learning be motivated by curiosity and a desire to know? But where is that curiosity, and how do I stimulate them when they are unwilling to ask questions or even listen to the ones I am asking? How do we arrive at the point of searching when the children even refuse to discuss what we need to search for?

What to do? Solve the problem. Make expectations clear. What does listening look like? Sound like? Feel like? Make contracts with the kids; use co-operative learning techniques; hold class meetings; try humor; bribe them! I continue to look for the way out of this teaching conundrum. I try a myriad of solutions, all with limited success.

Meanwhile, I figure my teaching partner and I have some talking to do. Maybe if both of us could move a little, just a little, toward the class management style of the other, we could ease some of the tensions in the class. With the best of intentions, I begin to outline the situation, as I see it, to Mrs. Tebbetts.

"I'm so sorry you're having a rough time, dear. Maybe they're just tired in the afternoon. They're angels for me in the morning," she declares, leaving the entire burden on my shoulders and smoothly gliding away.

Each attempt I make to discuss the effects of our disparate teaching styles on the kids invariably elicits the same response. She is pleasant, but she is iron.

Inevitably, the problems grow to involve the administration. The vice-principal is a young, dynamic woman who exhibits great rapport with both students and staff. She is very knowledgeable and adept at answering the questions of parents who want to know why their children are receiving only average grades in French when they are so obviously geniuses in English. They telephone, listing their litany of complaints: It isn't fair; it doesn't make sense; is the program too hard?

To diagnose and remedy the situation, the vice-principal allots quite a bit of time to talking with me in order to gather background information. She spends several mornings and afternoons observing the class. When she has completed her observations, she discusses at length with the class the expectations for learning – with both Mrs. Tebbetts and myself present.

Finally, I feel valued and somewhat vindicated by the administration's approach to both the class and the problem. The vice-principal has confirmed that I am not the only source of the problem. This appeases me, and I am optimistic enough to try again for positive change. With a feeling of relief, I say so.

Mrs. Tebbetts sighs, smiles and says, "They're never a problem for me, dear."

Reflecting on Ethical Practice

1. Identify and discuss the ethical challenges that exist in this case.
2. Explore the dilemmas that emerge for the teachers who share the classroom.
3. Discuss the experiences of the students.
4. Analyze the teaching philosophies of the teachers.
5. Explore the ethical responsibilities and obligations of the teachers and school principal toward all students in this classroom.

Case Commentaries

It's too simplistic a scenario and one that prospective teachers should be wary of. What is really going on in this case? In the words of Lee Shulman, "What is this a case of?" We have to begin to analyze the case by digging beneath the surface to look more deeply than our protagonist has. An obvious place to begin is the students' responses to the teacher's instructions. The students' arguments and challenges suggest that this teacher has failed to gain the students' co-operation. The teacher attributes the students' attitude to Mrs. Tebbetts's laxity. But we need to ask what our hero did to establish the norms of behavior in this classroom in the beginning of the year. The teacher reports that she or he tried solutions to the problem that included a variety of classroom management techniques. A deeper analysis would suggest that the teacher didn't start early enough.

Rita Silverman, Professor, School of Education, Pace University, New York

The values of the two teachers seem at odds. The one focuses on standards, effort and compliance, the other on relationships, independent thinking and enjoyment of learning. They strive to maintain their individual professional integrity. Yet underneath, they seem to share a deeply rooted commitment to the well-being of students. Perhaps this is common ground for possible partnership down the road.

Ron Wideman, Associate Dean of Education, Faculty of Education, Nipissing University

The case beautifully demonstrates how complicated classroom life can be when instruction takes place in two languages and involves two teachers – an English-language teacher in the morning and a French-language teacher in the afternoon. These classroom complexities become further intensified when the teaching story the morning English teacher lives and tells spills over to profoundly shape the stories the Grade 5 students live and tell and ultimately their pedagogical and personal relationships with their afternoon French teacher, the author of the case.

Cheryl J. Craig, Associate Professor, College of Education, University of Houston, Texas