Educators in secondary education public schools have adopted new methods in the delivery of instruction as a response to the increase in the number of students per classroom, the increase in ethnic diversity among students, and the inclusion of special education students in general education classrooms. These methods include collaborative teaching practices that incorporate a joint effort among educators to ensure that students gain a more productive and effective learning experience while in school. Not only would collaborative practices be ideal for student-centered teaching, but it would also be beneficial to educators as a collaborative experience may give teachers insight into alternative lesson planning approaches, offer opportunities for teachers to try new co-teaching techniques, and allow teachers in different content areas to share knowledge. However, collaborative practices may also become problematic if educators have incompatible personalities, are unable to develop clear communication, or lack administrative support. Through interviews with a special education English teacher, a Spanish language arts teacher, and the principal at the Bronx High School for Medical Science, an analysis of this school’s implementation of collaborative teaching was conducted to identify central aspects that promote successful collaborative experiences for educators.
A. Portrayal of the School An effective learning environment can only be produced if educators work towards
Educators working closely together will allows students to receive the best possible instruction in the classroom. “Strong collaboration for the delivery of education services involves all the various education professionals serving a school building or district” (pg. 3). One of the major issues with the identification of poor performing students is if it has anything to do with the delivery of the instruction, or the instruction itself. Collaboration is an excellent way to make sure that the students receiving the best possible instruction to increase the academic knowledge. Teachers that are struggling have the opportunity to work with reading and special education professionals to work on implementing appropriate lessons in the classroom. “The classroom teachers, reading specialists, and special education professionals collaborate in planning and implementing the intervention” (pg. 3). This intervention and collaboration should not be seen as a negative, but as a positive because they are all working together to help the teacher use the correct instruction that is going to benefit each and every
Today’s classrooms are becoming more and more diverse with students that have disabilities and those that come from different cultures. It is important for educators to ensure that their teaching strategies are appropriate for all of the children in their classroom. When it comes to the classroom there can be many cultural challenges that educators will have to address to ensure that all students are growing and developing appropriately. Educators need to make sure that they are capable of addressing each of their
To be an effective educator, I believe one must have a foundation of moral and ethical principles. An educator should support the learning environment, while being flexible and teachable. He or she must also lay a foundation of beliefs on how individuals learn, seeking to enable individuals to reach their optimal potential. My personal educational philosophy begins with believing all children are unique individuals, with different emotions and different styles of learning. An educator has the incredible challenge of attempting to meet those needs. As an educator, I believe all children deserve the opportunity and resources that would better enable them to reach their maximum potential.
Teacher Collaboration measures the degree to which teachers engage in constructive dialogue that furthers the educational vision of the school.
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.
Collaborative efforts have created more cross-curricular focus throughout the school. When teachers know what each other are teaching, they can support each other in their own curriculum.
The purpose of this research is to understand the perceptions and experiences of professionals on collaboration in the educational environment. Data collection will occur within the Virginia Beach City Public School (VBCPS) system. Specifically targeted will be three elementary schools that I work in being Ocean Lakes Elementary School, Princess Anne Elementary School and Red Mill Elementary School. The people that volunteer to take part will include VBCPS staff involved with the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for special needs students in any one of the above identified schools, and has been part of an initial eligibility, new IEP, current IEP, or consulted on as part of the IEP process.
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
Collaboration between teachers is a key component to professional development that will lead to higher student achievement. There is a need for schools to set up time for teachers to be able to collaborate together. This allows for teachers to help each other, matchup content, teach each other new and best practices, troubleshoot student issues just to name a few of the areas that collaboration time can help foster within a school. The key is to build time for teachers to be able to collaborate during the school day or week. This collaboration time needs to be between grade levels, departments, and cross curricular when needed. For many schools this is an afterthought to the school schedule or a fleeting thought after the master schedule is completed. A principal needs to keep an open mind to any strategy that will enable the teachers to be able to collaborate for the good of the students and the school.
In the past few years the education department has moved towards a more inclusive learning environment. Integration of inclusive classrooms has seen students whom had previously been educated in special education units moved to mainstream schooling. The diverse needs of students within the classroom has impacted on teachers practices thus, a need for teachers and schools to employ effective strategies for an inclusive education. One solution has been ascertained with the execution of collaborative consultation. This paper will focus on collaborative consultation within the school context and investigate consultation models to determine the most effective practice. The underlying question within this paper is can the implementation of collaborative
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
Bessette (2008) considers co-teaching to be “one of the most popular service delivery models for increasing instructional equity for students with disabilities in heterogeneous classrooms” (p. 1376). Dieker explains that students’ needs are better understood in the inclusive setting because the teacher-student ratio is reduced and teachers have more time to pay attention to individual needs. One of the benefits of co-teaching is the unique perspectives and strengths of general educators and special educators teaching approaches and instructional strategies (Friend, Reising, & Cook, 1993). In the collaborative setting, co-teachers work together to develop personal classroom arrangements which best suits their instructional needs. Magiera and Zigmond (2005) point out that the student-teacher ratio is lower, which leads to more positive behavior management as well as two professionals supporting one another. Additionally, this method of inclusion often allows teachers to learn from each other in an environment that is most often highly beneficial for all students (p.79).
The teachers in successful schools work as a team to achieve this goal. A test of consultation, collaboration, and teaming concludes these approaches have been supported by professionals from various areas for at least the past 25 years. Legal basis for the approaches existing in federal laws such as P.L. 94-142 and amendments to it, as well as in state and local education agencies services delivery of others. The model in the book suggest interactive teaming as a response to the nation 's increasingly problems in special needs programs because it includes the teacher empowerment, community responsiveness and professional collaboration, all of which characterize successful schools for students who have special needs or are at risk. As we learned in the book, the interactive team is a group that functions at the highest level of professionalism because it involves both consultation and collaboration of each member of the team. The interactive teaming model includes components previously used to provide services to student with mild disabilities and in programs that provide educational, foundations and specific dimensions of interactive teaming.
There are several ways that student-centered learning can be described, and they all lead back to the same basic idea, the student. First, student-centered learning can be defined as a discipline that involves the interaction of a team of students that experience creative learning to be used in the real world (Thornburg, 1995). Thornburg (1995) also mention that students are essential to the classroom, just like a team member is essential to a game. He says that teachers are part of the definition of student-centered learning, but they are not the main attraction. The students are the focus, and the teacher is the one who can assist among small groups of students. Eaton