Abstract:

Co-teaching allows pre-service teachers to gain classroom experience in a school setting under the supervision of a mentor teacher. Learning to teach through co-teaching allows to improve and expand pre-service teachers’ pedagogical skills and knowledge and it is a process of transformation. Pre- service students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in education at the university where the study is housed are required to fulfil professional experience requirements at a school, working side by side with a mentor teacher. However, the reciprocal learning co-teaching relationship can be challenging Additionally, a lot of research about professional learning experiences in teacher education has been done but little research exists that investigates pre-service teachers’ co-teaching from the transformative learning theory perspective. Hence, this paper aims to gain a better understanding of pre-service teachers’ experience of co-teaching through the lens of transformative learning.

The theoretical framework for this research was Mezirow's transformative learning process, which guided the development of co-teaching activities. The participants were twenty- four (24) pre-service teachers who were in their third year of study at the university in South Africa of the Faculty of Humanities. Participation of group discussions were voluntary, and permission was granted. It was expected of the participants to exercise critical thought, reflect on events that may have resulted in transformative learning, and discuss how co-teaching has enhanced their learning throughout the teaching practicum.
This article employed interpretive research approach to tap into the students’ experiences of co-teaching. A qualitative research design was chosen after careful consideration of the study's aim and objectives and data was analysed thematically.

The findings from the focus group discussions showed that pre-service teachers acknowledged the importance of co-teaching in transforming their learning during teaching practicum. The study provides pedagogical implications for universities and schools to enforce co-teaching of both preservice students with their peers and mentor teachers. The findings contribute to a better understanding of how teacher education programs can use co-teaching in the context of transformative learning context to better prepare future teachers, as well as pedagogical implications that can be used to guide future research. The recommendation is that self-reflection and modelling of co- teaching approaches and principles are effective ways to promote transformative learning.

Keywords:

Pre-service teachers, teacher education, co-teaching, transformative learning theory.