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Strengthening Effective ENL & Mainstream Teacher Collaboration to Benefit English Language Learners & Their Success in the Classroom
Tyrrell, Lisa
Tyrrell, Lisa
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2025-08
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English as a New Language (ENL) teachers dedicate themselves to providing academic and linguistic support to their English language learners (ELLs) as they navigate their educational journeys in the classroom. Due to recent regulations and trends, this support includes helping ELLs within integrated, mainstream classroom settings, which requires effective collaboration between ENL and mainstream teachers. However, research has indicated that ENL and mainstream teachers face significant barriers to effective collaboration, including ENL teacher role confusion that reinforces unequal educator power dynamics, rigid attitudes toward collaboration, structural issues such as insufficient support and unrealistic expectations, and differences in pedagogical approaches. Research and literature reveal that these barriers can, importantly, be alleviated through ENL and mainstream teachers following and adopting vital practices and routines that allow for them to communicate, reflect, and work together collaboratively to positively impact their ELLs. To address the problems and barriers, a professional development (PD) opportunity that consists of two, 60-minute sessions is proposed. This PD and its sessions aim to inform Hunter Point (pseudonym) Middle School’s ENL and mainstream teachers about the benefits of collaboration and co-teaching among them, and how to effectively implement these models by building trust, clarifying roles, digitally co-planning, and developing shared goals. Recommendations for further research include longer-term studies, consulting and including ELL students in these research studies, and launching regular meetings and professional developments for continued, strengthened collaborative efforts.