Collaboration Between General and Special Education Teachers: Developing Co-Teaching Skills in Heterogeneous Classes

Abstract

A considerable amount of research evidence suggests that collaboration between general and special education teachers is a pillar of the effective teaching for all students, including those with learning difficulties. Adopting the above position the present study aimed to present and discuss fifteen cases regarding co-teaching in the context of “parallel support”, where a special education teacher supports a learning disabled student in a mainstream classroom. Particularly, after an in-service training for promoting effective instructional skills, fifteen pairs of general and special teachers were asked to record the co-teaching procedures in their classrooms. Data collection was carried out through the participants’ self-evaluation rubrics. The quantitative analysis showed that in almost all cases, the collaboration between the pairs of educators was improved, they applied the in-service training knowledge in order to meet the different needs of all students, using the most effective strategies and procedures. The most interesting finding was that in most cases the initially adopted model of co-teaching was replaced by the parallel co-teaching where each teacher provides instruction to different students to the ‘team teaching’, where both teachers are responsible for planning and they share the instruction of all students. Thus, it seems that it is achievable to build an effective co-teaching model for heterogeneous classrooms. Key words: co-teaching, parallel co-teaching, team-teaching, self-evaluation rubric.

A Co-Teaching Training Program’s Impact on Female Student Teachers: Department of Special Education, King Saud University

“…The present study results corroborate with Chapple’s (2009) findings where teachers who received professional training before implementing co-teaching were more compatible and achieved greater communication and were much more inclusive in co-teaching sessions, thereby emphasizing the importance of training prior to implementing co-teaching lessons. This finding is also confirmed by Tzivinikou (2015), who revealed that the tension and dispute that existed among teachers in general education and special education disappeared after receiving training in co-teaching and teachers’ attitudes toward cooperative education dramatically changed after they received training. The results of this study were also in line with the findings of Abahusain and Al-Hussein (2016), in that the lack of training is one of the biggest obstacles facing general education teachers and learning difficulties.…”

“…The scale has been constructed by the author to achieve the training program outcomes used as a main intervention of the present study. The author built the scale considering the previous literature related to the co-teaching models and the surveys used in the previous studies that examined the efficacy of co-teaching to aid learning objectives (Brown, 2013; Friend, 2016; Friend & Cook, 2010; Gately & Gately, 2001; Tzivinikou, 2015; Wilson, 2006). The scale is composed of 24 statements (Appendix 1), using a multiple-choice question on a three-point Likert scale (agree, neutral, disagree).…”

“…Similarly, Tzivinikou (2015) examined how general education teachers and special education teachers could improve the concept of co-teaching in an inclusive setting in Greece. The study analyzed 15 cases of co-teaching in which the special education teacher supports students with disabilities in an inclusive class from first grade to fourth grade.…”

Instructional Material Development for Modular Learning: Voices from Inexperienced English Language Teachers

“…In the study of Plauborg (2009), it was discovered that through collaborative effort, there was an improvement with teachers' teaching and learning. Additionally, a school's success is indicated through the collaboration done by the teachers (Tzivinikou, 2015).…”

Policies Guiding Pedagogy and Teacher of Business Studies Competency in Kajiado County, Kenya: Instructional Skills’ Policy Discourse

“…Instructional skills possessed by a teacher of Business studies may determine learning and improve learner experience in class. Howbeit, Tzivinikou (2015) argues that instructional skills of teachers of Business studies have considerably preoccupied a number of researchers for many years and confirms that learner achievement and effective learning are impacted by the skills. In this regard, Ganira, Odundo, Gatumu, and Muasya (2019) complement that instructional methods effectiveness leverages process of learning which augment learner achievement in sustaining and reinforcing sustainable development cooperation competencies.…”