What do teachers and leaders have to say about co-teaching in flexible learning spaces?

Schools in New Zealand and parts of Australia are rapidly transitioning from traditional classrooms to coteaching in flexible learning spaces provisioned for 50 to 180 children and two to six teachers in a single space. In New Zealand, this transition is driven by the Ministry of Education who have specific guidelines for designing new schools and re-builds. School leaders and teachers must reconceptualise teaching and learning from private autonomous learning environments to co-teaching in shared learning spaces. This mixed methods study examined the views of 40 practitioners and leaders, experienced in coteaching contexts in New Zealand and Australian schools, to develop a greater understanding of the factors that contribute to effective co-teaching implementation. Not surprisingly, educators highlighted that shared beliefs about student centred pedagogy were pivotal to their co-teaching relationships. Beyond this central element, participants also identified a range of systems, tools, strategies and skills that enabled co-teaching to focus on and support student learning. The study provides insights of value to school leaders who are faced with the challenges of implementing flexible learning spaces, and leading school change in this area.