Collaboration between English and generalist teachers. Trajectories for a new educational culture in Primary School, in Portugal

Abstract

Collaboration is understood as a way of working and learning between peers which promotes professional development. The existence of opportunities for English teachers and generalist teachers to learn together and collaborate actively with each other may contribute to the innovation of teaching processes and favour the application of new ideas and knowledge in the classroom (OCDE, 2019, p. 163).
In this context, the exploratory case study presented here is focused on teachers’ collaborative work in Primary schools in a Portuguese municipality. This study is based on a local intervention plan, developed by a municipality, which aimed to train this team of English teachers and to favour and facilitate methods of educational intervention in curricular articulation with the generalist teacher.
The perceptions of sixteen English teachers were analyzed regarding collaborative practices they developed with each other and with generalist teachers, in the course of an academic year. Data collected from generalist teachers was also analysed in order to provide a complementary perspective on this collaborative work.
More specifically, the analysis of the data, collected using several instruments, such as questionnaires, teachers’ reflections on their classes and interviews, indicates the existence of a community of practice and reveals that a collaborative teaching culture was determining in the way in which the teachers understood and worked with the curriculum.