227Comments such as the following from a secondary school are indicative of the
feedback received from schools that declined the paired placements:
The purpose of the mentor is to provide quality feedback on a lesson, to do this with 2 stu-
dents would be very difficult. I think the work load for a staff member with 2 preservice
teachers is expecting too much. I also query the effect on morale of the student sharing with
another student, some students are more forthwright (sic) than others. I question the benefit
to their confidence.
Our number one priority is our students and the quality of the teaching as part of the teach-
ing and learning cycle. On speaking to many of the staff here they are not in favour of
supervising two preservice teachers. I know it is not for the money however two students is
too much.
This was not always the case in the secondary classroom. When supervising
teachers are committed to the model, there was evidence that they saw the advan-
tages of it. One history teacher commented on the benefit of the paired placement
not only for the ability to do small group work in the class but also for his own learn-
ing. He expressed delight in having a more recent graduate of the senior secondary
school subject that he was teaching. He commented via email that he asked the pair
of preservice teachers to plan the revision for the upcoming exam and was impressed
at the novel and interactive approach they took. Another commented in the focus
group:
Students could be involved in the planning, could volunteer to teach sections with me, we
really built the team approach. They felt they could help and chip in and explain. It built
their confidence too. One would even Google a topic to help me explain a concept and find
a clip to demonstrate it during the lesson. They were not passive observers.
One primary school principal expounded its benefit to improving student out-
comes. Her suburban school catered for many students from different countries, and
the advantages of having the equivalent of three teachers in a class were seen as
highly beneficial:
We have about 43 different cultures with a range of oral language experiences and abilities.
We find having two extra adults in all the classes in the junior years is a great benefit to the
students and teachers, and the parents love it too. They see the ratio drop from to 1 adult to
24 children to 1 to 8. The three become one teacher for that class, with three sets of eyes to
plan, three sets of eyes to implement, and three sets of eyes to reflect what was happening
in the classroom and how things might be changed the next time they teach.
In all placements, the role of the supervising teacher is critically important for
the model to be successful. As indicated in the above quotes, when the supervising
teachers assign preservice teachers shared tasks, implement team teaching and have
regular meetings with preservice teachers for planning and reflection, the outcomes
are beneficial to all.
As Model B expanded, there were isolated situations where preservice teachers
were not as compatible as would have been desirable. One of the primary supervis-
ing teachers commented that the paired placement model took more time when the
13 Paired Placements in Intensified School and University Environments: Advantages...