Our observations and teachers' discussions and journals indicate that giving up control of the classroom processes was a significant challenge for most of the teachers. The CTW model instructs teachers to adopt teaching techniques that place more responsibility for learning on students. The teachers' role is to provide coaching or scaffolding to assist students as needed to enable them to make progress, but then to "fade"--to let the students proceed on their own. The teacher's primary role is as a guide or coach, not a source of the answers. This shift in behavior requires teachers to trust that students can do the work, thus permitting them to proceed on their own, and to sometimes fail.
Teachers initially expressed their conflict as resulting from doubts about the students' abilities or their level of preparation. The teachers were unsure about when to appropriately intervene and when to stay out of the way. The group had many discussions about when to "fade" and when to intervene, as the following excerpts from their journals illustrate:
I'm convinced that the lecture-discussion doesn't cut it. Allowing students "freedom to explore" also has problems in that some kids need structure--it's finding the balance that will be the challenge. (Teacher 8) One group was working well and the other "shy" group remained apart from each other. I returned later and the students [in the shy group] were silent. I felt frustrated, but I tried to let them be. On the other hand, the other three were already designing a magazine ad. They were working independently but stopping and sharing their work with each other. (Teacher 6)
As time went on, teachers explicitly discussed this issue as a matter of giving up power and control. Many continued to struggle throughout their teaching. Teachers were also often pleasantly surprised when students could do the work on their own. This suggests that having high expectations for students may be an important ingredient for teachers to feel comfortable relinquishing control:
As we approached the meeting deadline to decide who the presenter [for the final presentation of the class project to the other classes] will be, I was anxious. As we sat down to discuss, I began to feel that the group was wanting to continue. . . . They were annoyed to be interrupted by a planning meeting. They had great confidence in the person they announced to me that they had already chosen. The decision was made long ago. I was the last to know! (Teacher 4)