Which teaching approach involves instructing two groups of students at the same time, often with two teachers?

• A. Co-taching
• B. Parallel Teaching
• C. Complementary Teaching
• D. Cooperative Learning

Answer: (B)

Parallel teaching involves splitting the class into two groups and having two teachers deliver the same lesson simultaneously to each group. This setup lowers the student-to-teacher ratio in each group, giving students more opportunities to participate and receive targeted support. With two teachers, instruction can be tailored to each group’s needs, allowing different paces or approaches and quicker feedback as teachers circulate. It differs from approaches where the whole class is taught by both teachers at once, which keeps everyone together rather than creating two separate groups. It also differs from setups where one teacher delivers the lesson while the other provides targeted help to individuals or small groups, or where students work in teams on tasks without two teachers delivering the same content at the same time. The defining feature is the simultaneous delivery of the same material to two smaller groups by two teachers.