Co-teaching is a service delivery model in which two educators-one typically a general education teacher and one a special education teacher or other specialist-combine their expertise to jointly teach a heterogeneous group of students, some of whom have disabilities or other special needs, in a single classroom for part or all of the school day (Friend, 2011). Co-teaching can be thought as a marriage, it can be beautiful and inspiring to watch, but can be scary and not always work out. There are several issues that can affect co-teaching such as planning time, roles and responsibilities in the classroom. Yet, co- teaching can work with the right approach and hard work. Co-teaching can be compared to marriage in the sense of in the beginning it is like dating, where you start to get to know each other, when you reach the engagement level, everything is working great, and the final step is marriage where sometimes you run into problems but it’s okay, because you have each other. Effective co-teaching must maximize the benefit of having two individuals with different type of expertise working together (Kloo & Zigmond, 2008; Little & Dieker, 2009). Co-teachers should discuss their instructional set of beliefs, their own strengths and weakness as educators, their expectations for themselves and each other, and then their preparation for assuming co-teaching roles then it can be decided how to best use their talents in the classroom (Friend, 2011). Co-teaching exists due to
General education should promote collaboration to increase an effective quality education for student in an inclusive classroom (Argan, 2014). This can be done a multitude of ways. Paraeducators can be included in planning activities in the classroom (Argan, 2014). By incorporating paraeducators, general education teachers and special education teachers can get a different perspective on how an activity may look or what
Special education teachers make a conscious decision to work on a daily basis with students who display various disabilities. Some of the disabilities include autism, negative social and emotional behaviors, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, mobility disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, as well as students who suffer from being blind and deaf. When these disabilities interfere with the daily educational activities of a child, the child is in need of the valuable opportunities provided in a self-contained classroom.
Co-teaching is important, especially in the school I did my special education field experience at because they are full inclusion. This school district did co-teaching for math and reading. Students receive their assistance with in the classroom while the teacher is instructing class. It takes a lot of planning and collaboration with the classroom teacher, I believe this is not the most beneficial way to teach students that have learning needs. it can become very distracting for the student because what is going on around them. Learning with their peers is important, the instructions their receiving in the classroom are above their level. I wonder how this is providing the best education possible?
The article goes into great detail over the fact that co-teaching, when implemented correctly, has the potential of really enhancing the learning of all students (Conderman & Hedin, 2014, p.359). Before any co-teaching can happen though the article elaborates on the fact that a teacher needs to know who their students are. And when differentiating instruction a teacher needs to be able to address a “students’ unique strengths, interest, skills, and readiness” (Conderman & Hedin, 2014, p. 353). After all helping each child learn, whatever that looks like, is the ultimate goal, and this article shows how teachers can do this with a co-teacher.
I approach collaboration as a team player, and I believe students need more than one person to guide them to their full educational potential. Also, active and prepared participation of weekly PLC meetings with the teachers of my special education students to plan collaborative curriculum have increased results in math and reading substantially. Participating in co-teaching furthers my repertoire of knowledge to assist my students. I have learned a vast amount from sharing and consulting with colleagues regarding students, observing mentoring teachers, and planning activities to ensure growth in students.
Co-teaching and a marriage have to display the same philosophy and values for any relationship to work. It is a give and take situation. There should be a great deal of respect for each other. Both people view each other as equal with the same attitude and expectations.
In the following study researchers compared two instructional approaches; co-teaching inclusion and solo-taught special education for students with learning disabilities in regard to their overall academic achievement. Participants of the study included twelve inclusive/co-teaching classrooms, which were compared to thirteen special education classrooms. In the co-teaching contexts the emphasis was centered on the inclusion of students with learning disabilities into a general education classroom. Co-teachers were free to choose the instructional method they would embark. Special education teachers solely instructed students with learning disabilities in small group classrooms.
Unfortunately, both teachers did not have much time to prepare since this is the first year that a push-in class was incorporated and both teachers found out right before school started. However, they are accommodating with the circumstances by spending one hour each day collaborating ideas, specifically incorporating strategies that Mrs. Bernard has learned at a workshop. She has had a difficult time adjusting because her push-in class has twenty-eight students with various disabilities. Overall, Mrs. Bernard’s goal is to work on creating an equal position for both teachers and to make improvements in order for the co-teaching experience to be as successful as possible. I thought the idea of a push-in class was brilliant because it does not seem appropriate to pull students out of class because it makes it more noticeable to other students. Additionally, it would be difficult to collaborate with another teacher, especially if you had completely different views than the teacher that was placed in your classroom. Overall, the push-in experience gives special education students the opportunity to feel like a regular education student, which I find to be highly important in today’s society.
General educators need to understand the purpose of each term, and this chapter provides a good amount of information. The next topic is crucial for general education teachers because it discussed the different styles and approaches of working with special education teachers in ways that will benefit the students who need extra assistance. The book goes into greater detail on “teaming,” which is expected because it is the most diverse strategies of those listed. Then the book dives into the meat and potatoes of the chapter by discussing the requirements of an IEP. The team and components are listed with the appropriate descriptions for each statement.
One factor that plays a huge role in successful implementation of integrated co-teaching and has better outcomes for students is when the co-teachers are trained and work together. Magiera and Zigmond (2005) preformed a study at four middle schools in New York that focused on the instructional practices for students with and without disabilities; with teachers who were not trained in integrated co-teaching
Mrs. Kurz’s classroom is a mix of traditional and special education students. They are supporting the democratic guideline of having more adults in the school. She has a co-teacher Ms.Milton who specializes in special education. Both teachers were helping students and giving direction alternatively. Co-teaching allows these teachers to help all students who may need it as well as helping both learning and teaching to happen in the classroom. Many classrooms have this method to help all students get the most out of school as well as to help students with special needs, those who are learning English as a second language, or students who need more help. They also offer a tutoring session from 3:30-6 for any students who may be struggling in classes. Three teachers are there to help with English, math, and other general classes. Mr. Hester also talked about how the counselors help students with their futures’ as they are interested in the whole
Co teaching and collaboration support inquiry based learning by providing an opportunity for LIMS and teachers to work as partners. The partnership provides learning opportunities for students to become engaged, and immersed in what they are learning. By each person assisting one another they are able to offset one another's weaknesses and strengths while instructing lessons together. This helps everyone involved to be successful. According to Harada and Coatney (2014) "When we make connections beyond the walls of the library to connect our work with classroom teachers and specialist and content'area standards we have the opportunity to become full members of our schools literacy teams. " (p.64)
Observation experiences in the classroom provide the opportunity to the general education teacher and a special education teacher team approach to serving students in the inclusion setting. In the collaborative classroom, students with disabilities should go unnoticed and seem to flow along with the rest of the classroom. The collaborative teacher knows the modifications that a group of students with disabilities need. She works alongside a general education teacher, even helping regular education students when needed. An instructional team approach provides the outlook that these students aren’t any less capable than the rest of the general population in the
When two or more people work together to achieve a common goal they form a collaborative team. With collaborative teaming student with a disability can be included in a general education environment. Collaborative teaming glue inclusive schools together by serving all students despite their abilities. In collaborative teaming special educational programs are planned and implemented to support individual students (King-Sear et al., 2015). Mrs. Smith and her paraeducator will fill many functions of an inclusive program such as facilitating social interaction among the students. As a team the two teachers will assist each other in the reduction of barriers in practicing inclusive programs, encourage each other, building a strong peer support as well as designing a well-coordinated plan to ease student translation between classes, grade school, college and job and in embedding related services in the school day.
Collaboration in the world of education has become an increasingly popular method of addressing a variety of school issues, such as curriculum design, behavioral plans, professional development and management of resources. One of the areas in which collaboration is becoming more popular is co-teaching in special education, where special education teachers and general education teachers share the planning and instruction responsibilities for inclusion classrooms (Friend & Cook, 2010). As academic standards for the education of students with disabilities are held to the same standards as their typical peers due to the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the co-teaching model has been increasingly