The title »The Challenges of Tandem Teaching in England and Slovenia« has been chosen to research current trends in the English team of Teacher and Teaching Assistant, and in the Slovenian team of Teacher and Kindergarten Teacher in the first grade of primary school. The school systems in these two countries are different, but both share the basic principle of striving for common goals in tandem partners.
At the forefront are learning progress, social and cognitive development and student satisfaction.
It turns out that the tandem pairings are important, and the most effective programs focus carefully on how they match partners. For successful tandem work is important that partners get along and trust each other, but also that they are comfortable voicing a dissenting opinion and proposing suggestions. Fear, social ranking and incompatibility between tandem partners are negative factors that can limit the effectiveness of this approach to teaching.
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