Chapter 18: Power Differentials: Pseudo-Collaboration Between ESL and Mainstream Teachers

One of the challenges of teacher collaboration is that it is sometimes interpreted differently by those viewed to be in a position of power as compared with others perceived to have less power. Corrie (1995) documented such a dynamic and argued in her research that, in many instances, what was called collaboration by those in a position of power was actually pseudo-collaboration that served to mask power differentials between the parties involved.

A few scholars have explored the presence of pseudo-collaboration, a hindrance to true collaboration, in team-teaching situations between English as a second language (ESL) and mainstream teachers (Arkoudis, 2003). This chapter seeks to expand on such prior work by documenting the challenges of one high school’s attempt at implementing collaborative team teaching between an ESL teacher and mainstream teachers. In particular, it explores power relations that emerged between mainstream teachers and the ESL teacher, and shows that what mainstream teachers interpreted as collaboration was a pseudo-collaborative relationship from the perspective of the ESL teacher, which prevented her from effectively advocating for her students.