Question Details
My co-teacher contributes more to the lesson than me and doesn’t always give me a chance to jump in. I feel inferior in some ways and it is knocking my confidence.
Answer
Is your co-teacher more-experienced than you? If they are, then you can use this as a great learning opportunity – watch how they manage the class, ask questions and give attention to the students. If you want to contribute more, maybe share an idea with your co-teacher and ask them to give you time to lead that. As you gain confidence, you could do this more often and over time things could become more balanced. As a new teacher you are not expected to be an expert, so please don’t be disheartened. Maybe the teacher feels that they don’t want to drop you in at the deep end or overload you with planning. If they are approachable, maybe discuss how you feel – they probably have no idea that you are feeling this way, and may gladly give you some lesson time for you to contribute if you want to.
Is your co-teacher more experienced than you? If you are both at the same level, it might be helpful to discuss how to share the load. Could they lead on one topic and you on the next? Where are your skills strongest. If you are better at maths, could you lead on that, and have them lead on something you are less confident with. That way each of you gets to see how another teacher teaches and manages the class. Co-teaching is a great opportunity to learn, and even better when both teachers can help each other develop their skills.
The early years of teaching can be really hard and stressful. Almost all teachers, even experienced ones, feel insecure about their abilities, so don’t be disheartened; it’s likely your co-teacher is trying to help you by keeping your workload as manageable as they can. Could it help to discuss how your co-teaching might look in the classroom? Does it entail both teachers sharing information to the whole class? Will each teacher work with different students after whole-class input? Or will each teacher work with separate groups? There are lots of different models, so getting clarity with the co-teacher could lead to you being able to do the things you want to do. Your co-teacher might not know that this is worrying you, so it might be good to discuss with them.