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Principles · shared practice · learner access

Co-Teaching

Start with learners, subject goals and language demands. Plan together, teach as a shared team and use learner evidence to decide the next step.

Plan togetherTeach togetherReview learning
Two teachers working together

Shared planning · shared teaching · shared evidence

Two teachers, one coherent learning experience

Co-teaching works best when subject and EAL expertise shape the same lesson from the start. Agree the learning goal, anticipate its language demands, share responsibility in the room and review what learners can now do.

Plan one shared goal

Connect subject thinking, language functions, learner evidence and success criteria.

Teach as one team

Choose flexible roles and groupings that keep both teachers visible to every learner.

Review and adapt

Use learner responses to adjust scaffolds, grouping and the next co-planning step.

Set the partnership up to work

  1. Make both teachers visible. Introduce both as teachers of the whole class. Share access to plans, resources and the learning platform, within the school’s access arrangements.
  2. Agree planning time. Establish a short regular meeting. If schedules prevent it, use a shared plan with clear questions, resource owners and deadlines.
  3. Connect content and language. Bring the upcoming assessment and learner evidence. Identify what learners need to understand and how they will communicate that understanding.
  4. Agree routines and roles. Decide who models, questions, supports, collects evidence and leads each transition. Share behaviour expectations and help-seeking routines.
  5. Choose and vary the model. Match the arrangement to the phase and purpose. Decide how groups reconnect and how scaffolds will be withdrawn.
  6. Review together. Compare a small sample of responses and the support needed. Agree one adjustment and check that preparation remains manageable.

Plan access to the shared task

Vocabulary and reading

Identify essential subject terms; pre-teach them in context and revisit them. Break a long text into purposeful sections, add useful diagrams and guide learners towards the whole meaning.

Example: in a forces task, distinguish the everyday and scientific meanings of force, then link the term to an annotated diagram.

Writing and explanation

Use complete models with feature analysis, paragraph rehearsal and sentence openings where needed. Compare stronger and weaker choices, then reduce the frame as learners become independent.

Example: rehearse an investigation conclusion orally before writing a claim supported by measured results.

Materials and assessment

Review language demands while preserving the intended subject thinking. Coordinate versions and distribution so learners receive the intended scaffold. Agree success criteria and moderate sample responses together.

Example: clarify a dense instruction while keeping the same evidence-based judgement and assessment criteria.

A short planning agreement

Record the shared goal, language demand, group purpose, each teacher’s actions, material owner, handover cue and evidence check. Finish by naming when you will review the responses.

Co-teaching quick references

Use these original EAL in Practice diagrams to compare classroom arrangements and agree practical partnership routines.

View the co-teaching models reference
Six co-teaching models showing teacher roles and learner grouping
Six classroom arrangements. Choose and vary the model according to the learning need.
View classroom management reference
Five partnership habits: agree the lesson, share expectations, notice success, use both teachers and connect expertise
Five practical habits to plan, teach and review together.