The Benefits of Apprentice Teaching with Undergraduates in German Language Classes

Abstract

Although abundant research studies explore team teaching and co‐teaching, research is lacking on apprentice teaching with undergraduates, especially in U.S. world language classes. This article presents a practical apprentice teaching model for teaching beginning German with undergraduate students. The model was successful because the professor and her apprentices engaged in “cogenerative dialogue” (Roth & Tobin, ) and produced a true collaboration. The experience yielded a set of pedagogical strategies and best practices reported here. Because world language teacher candidates need extensive mentoring to acquire the ability to manage classes along with achieving advanced low culture and language proficiency (Pearson, Fonseca‐Greber, & Foell, ), universities must find innovative ways to educate these future teachers. One way to mentor them holistically is to collaborate with them as apprentices. In taking collective responsibility for learning and agency in the classroom, those who teach together are empowered to grow together and learning barriers are reduced (Roth & Tobin, ). Students in co‐taught classes report a heightened motivation to learn the course content (Cordner, Klein, & Baiocchi, ; York‐Barr, Ghere, & Sommerness, ). Apprentice teaching therefore produces benefits for the faculty mentor, the student teachers, and their language learners.