Why should we move from a single cell classroom to a MLE?
This was a question I had myself and have been asked since I started on this journey.
I can only give my own reflections on why...
There are huge benefits in sharing your space with another teacher.
There is nowhere to hid, your practice needs to be your best practice and what better way to learn and reflect than to have other teacher in that space with you.
The children benefit from having other teacher in the classroom.
For them this means:
- more contact time
- another person they can connect with
- having another teacher who has a differing set of strengths.
Most importantly it is fun!
Yes it is scary when you first start, but if you have those professional conversations with your colleagues to begin with about things like behaviour management techniques, teaching philosophies and your own pet quirks -mine is that I dislike pastel coloured paper used in displays.
It is not always going to work. Some personality combinations are going to be better than others.