2 Working with others

Durin_t vour training, as in most teaching situations, you will be liaising and co­operating with other teachers: perhaps fellow trainees, TP supervisors, teachers to whom you are apprenticed, other teachers working in the institution.

Working with a supervisor and/or a teacher to whom you are attached

In most institutions this person's role is:

• to help with lesson preparation;

• to observe critically;

• to give helpful feedback.

Make the most of your tutor's experience and expertise. However, it is vital that you are not over-dependent on your tutor. Certainly ask for clarification of any point you are supposed to be teaching - you can't say to a group of students that you don't know what you are supposed to be doing - even ask for your lesson plan to be checked, provided there's enough time for changes to be made. But your attitude is all-important: it shouldn't be I don't know how to do it but 1wasn't sure how to do it but I thought this might work. What do you think? Expect to get less help as the course proceeds. You should always be moving positively towards independence and eventually you should get close to the real-life situation when you may be working with little or no help. Don't blame the tutor if things go wrong; you're the one with responsibility for the class while you are teaching it. Respond positively to suggestions and criticism; by all means give your reasons for doing something, but try not to be defensive.

Co-operating with other teachers working in the institution

In addition to your supervisor or 'attached' teacher other teachers can be a great help. For example, some may be prepared to give guidance as to what materials to use or tell you what you need to know about particular students. They can also give you a good picture of what teaching is actually like. However, they are likely to be busy and preoccupied with their classes and shouldn't be pestered unnecessarily. Remember: if they are teaching the same students as you are, they can make a big difference to how those students think of you. If you are observing, participating in or teaching another teacher's class it is imperative that you do everything you can to co-operate with the group's main teacher, that you know what your role is and that you don't tread on anyone's toes by turning up late, interrupting at an inappropriate time, contradicting the teacher in front of the students, etc!

Try to behave professionally with colleagues (teachers and fellow trainees) from the start:

• Clean the board when you finish.

• If you rearrange the furniture return the room to the state you found it in.

• Return borrowed materials.

• Start and finish lessons on time.

• Make sure you know how to use the machinery. Try not to break it and if the worst does happen, report it!

It is also worth remembering that institutions have expectations as to your behaviour and personal appearance. Be guided by the teachers as to what is considered appropriate. While a certain informality may be acceptable, and indeed necessary to help the students relax, a lack of cleanliness and tidiness isn't. If you are working with students who come from different cultures from your own remember also that there are marked cultural differences as regards what is considered to be appropriate dress. Aim to gain the respect of your students, not to embarrass them.

Working with other trainees

In many TP situations you'll be expected to work together in the preparation of classes and in the sharing of views after the classes. TP isn't a competitive situation where one person's good lesson diminishes the value of someone else's.

Often in TP you're working as part of a team in which each member supports the others and you're tackling common problems.

• You may work together on some of the tasks in this book.

• As well as giving support, other trainees can be an extremely useful resource. You can give one another ideas and information about language, resources and about students.

• You can offer constructive help in preparation, and check each other's plans. TP is a good opportunity for you to talk about the students and classes with other people.

• You may be able to help in other ways: before a lesson - by being responsible for arranging the furniture and organizing equipment; during a lesson - by being a time-keeper, indicating when someone teaching has only five minutes left, etc; after a lesson -by chairing a feedback session.

• You may co-operate in providing feedback on one another's teaching.

This can take a number of different forms, depending on the TP situation:

- observing a fellow trainee's lesson with a group of 'volunteer' students and giving feedback;

- teaching a class with another trainee (team teaching) and evaluating the lesson together, afterwards;

- taking part in a discussion group about lessons observed and taught with classes to which you are attached - reporting back to colleagues on what you observed or what you taught;

- observing a video of another trainee's lesson and giving feedback.

As with other colleagues, it is important to be sensitive and professional in your relationship with fellow trainees. (See the points made under Co-operating with other teachers working in the institution, above.) If you're teaching the same students as other trainees it is important to work together so that the lessons interrelate. At the very least make sure you keep fellow trainees informed about what you've done and what you're planning to do with the class.