Collaboration and Inclusive Education

Collaboration and Inclusive Education

Collaboration and Inclusive Education

Holly Heinrich

Educational Psychology

March 21, 2007

Inclusive education is becoming more and more prominent as today’s society grows in multiculturalism (César and Santos, 2006). Communication is key in the learning process (César and Santos, 2006). This is built upon Vygotsky’s idea that a child’s development is dependent on social interactions and working in the zone of proximal development (César and Santos, 2006). For an inclusive setting to function properly, appropriate collaboration must be promoted (César and Santos, 2006). This can be among students (small groups or teams), vertical interactions between student and teacher, or horizontal relationships between either two students or two teachers (César and Santos, 2006).

According to the research on collaboration, there are two main types of team-teaching. The first, which will be the main focus of this paper, is an effort of a special education teacher and a regular education teacher teaching a class together (César and Santos, 2006). The secondary focus of this paper is student teams, which are comprised of a group of students teaching each other the material. As defined by Brenan and Witte (2003), team teaching is “a group of instructors working purposefully, regularly, and cooperatively to help a group of students learn.” Team-teachers will work together to design a syllabus for courses, work on Individualized Education Programs, and teach the students together. Their responsibilities are equal, not shared (Brenan and Witte, 2003).

The purpose of the team-teaching approach is to make teachers aware that the responsibility for educational development must be shared (Creese, 2005). Cohen (1981, as cited in Creese, 2005) comments that “any change which brings teachers into a working relationship where they share decision making and communicate regularly about classroom matters represents a profound change for the structure of teaching.”

At St. Charles North High School, observations were taken of a team-taught geometry class. Mrs. Valerie Landbo, a special education teacher, teaches alongside a regular education teacher, Ms. Dina Johnson. Student-to-student teaching groups coexisted in this class. The two teachers take turns teaching the material to the class. While one taught, the other would walk around the classroom and keep the students quiet.

Teaching alone has its benefits such as being able to make decisions quickly and taking full responsibility for the structure and material of the class (Brenan and Witte, 2003). Planning can be done whenever one has a free moment. However, solo teaching can cause stress and feelings of isolation (Brenan and Witte, 2003).

One benefit of a classroom containing two teachers is the educational experience. The teachers can help each other out when necessary to make sure accurate information is provided. For example, during one class period, Mrs. Landbo admitted she had difficulty with a specific problem, and Ms. Johnson was ready to assist. Using each teacher’s individual strengths to teach can improve student achievement (Brenan and Witte, 2003). Collaboration in the form of team teaching allows greater professional and personal interactions (Creese, 2005). Teachers will challenge each other about students, arrangements, curriculum, and classroom management (Creese, 2005).

Another benefit of team-teaching is that teachers may get to experience new teaching techniques and split up the large workload. However, the single most beneficial part of team teaching is the increase in instructional time (Brenan and Witte, 2003).

For interdisciplinary teams to work, common planning time is essential. Flowers, Mertens, and Mulhall (1999) write, “Teams generally focus on creating coordinated lesson plans, share and discuss student progress, problems and issues, and integrate subjects around a central theme or issue.” At St. Charles North High School, Mrs. Landbo and Ms. Johnson plan together; they decide things such as who will be doing the lecturing, who will check the day’s homework assignment, and who will create the test.

Teaming has also been found to improve the working climate in a positive manner. An environment that focuses on relationships between teachers and students creates a supportive atmosphere for learning (Flowers, Mertens, and Mulhall, 1999). Team-teaching may also increase the amount of parental contact. Teaming teachers are more likely to contact parents about both positive and negative behavior, as well as issues concerning assignments, grades, and referrals than teachers who do not team-teach (Flowers, Mertens, and Mulhall, 1999).

Another benefit for team-teachers is increased job satisfaction. Teachers learn new methods to keep class interesting (Flowers, Mertens, and Mulhall, 1999). This is also highly correlated with student achievement. Students’ achievement scores with teachers who team are higher than those who do not have team-teachers (Flowers, Mertens, and Mulhall, 1999).

On the contary, team-teaching may also cause a teacher to feel like the other teacher is constantly judging them and wonder if they are living up to the other’s expectations (Team, 1996). During the team-taught geometry class at St. Charles North, Ms. Johnson oftentimes looks at Mrs. Landbo for reassurance. Another concern of team-teachers is the available classroom space (Team, 1996). A classroom may be too small to hold thirty students and two teachers; yet, it must work. The key to being happy in a team-taught situation is good communication. Although it is not easy to achieve, each member of the team must feel confident in his or her own abilities and not become defensive (Team, 1996).

Some research emphasizes the importance of collaborative work, specifically that of peer interactions (César and Santos, 2006). This is based off the work of Vygotsky (1978, as cited in César and Santos, 2006) who discusses the need for social interactions in the zone of proximal development. Other studies stress the collaboration in terms of necessary knowledge and the growth of students’ potential (César, 1998; Lea and Nicoll, 2002; Perret-Clermont, Pontecorvo, Resnick, Zittoun, and Burge, 2004, as cited in César and Santos, 2006). In the St. Charles North team-taught geometry class, special education students were teamed up with general education students. These groups of four push each other to reach their potential, each displaying a different strength. The teams in one study were chosen by the teacher who organized them in terms of similar knowledge and potential (César and Santos, 2006). This is also true at St. Charles North.

One thought from César and Santos’ (2006) research is “that creating more inclusive learning settings also allows for having different working rhythms and respecting them, without feeling constrained because you are not among the fastest.” Student teams can help create a more easygoing learning environment because students may feel they can express their problems more easily (César and Santos, 2006).

By collaborative work, students have the ability to pass each other traits that did not exist in them before. For example, while one student may be very intelligent in mathematics, another may be more socially competent. These students can teach other these very important characteristics (César and Santos, 2006). Vygotsky (1962, 1978, as cited in César and Santos, 2006) explained that the promotion of such higher mental functions was a potentiality of social reactions. Regarding inclusive classroom settings with student teams, César and Santos (2006) reported:

[Students] felt confident to look for intuitive solutions and were able to make connections between specific problem and other learning situations they had experienced before in mathematics classes; they were able to look for explanations in their text book when they needed; and then they tried to generalize, or prove, or demonstrate, or formalize what they had learnt. In these ways, the creation of more inclusive learning settings goes hand in hand with developing students’ autonomy, positive academic self-esteem, sense of responsibility…

Collaboration increases a student’s responsibility, work ethic in classes, and improves social interaction with other peers (César and Santos, 2006). Inter-professional relationships between teachers support the child’s success in the education field (Creese, 2005). In the St. Charles North geometry class, Mrs. Landbo and Ms. Johnson worked together to help struggling students. Each would offer their different style of explanation to a student, and one of their methods was bound to help.

Team-teachers must be on the same page when it comes to details such as testing and discipline. They must agree on methods of classroom management and work together to develop evaluation criteria (Brenan and Whitte, 2003). In the St. Charles North geometry class, Mrs. Landbo and Ms. Johnson agreed that they had to write passes for students, and write referrals for those who were late. Both teachers pushed each student to participate and respectfully listen to each day’s lesson. They wrote the tests together and decided to administer them as either team tests or individual tests. They chose the homework problems that would be on the quiz.

Students benefit in many ways from team-teaching (Team, 1996). Students can receive more individualized attention because there is more time to tune in to these needs. Special needs students can be pulled aside and helped. They are always with a teacher, never left alone. Teachers can walk around and monitor learning and answer questions when desired. Teachers can educate with more detailed information, and there is less busywork. Students have a chance to relate better to one teacher’s personality instead of just dealing with them. Evaluations of the students are better because of the two different views. Students can gain a positive role model (Team, 1996).

Team-teaching requires a lot of time, talent, and patience. There are many more benefits of team-teaching than those of solo teaching. More work may be accomplished, less time is wasted, and the workload is split. It is not always easy to communicate with the team, but communication is truly the key to success in an inclusive collaboration setting. Teaming teachers must agree on the important basics of the classroom, but differing personalities are also necessary so that students can relate.

Collaboration is important in our changing society. We must learn to adjust to the multiculturalism entering today’s classrooms and design new methods for educating all students. Collaboration in the form of team-teaching is a successful method for more individualized attention and support.

Works Cited

Brenan, Craig and Witte, Randy. (2003). Team Teaching in the Secondary Instrumental Music Classroom. Music Educators Journal. Retrieved 10 March 2007 from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=url&db=z0h&AN=8957373&site=ehost-live

César, Margarida and Santos, Nuno. (2006). From exclusion to inclusion: Collaborative work contributions to more inclusive learning settings. European Journal of Psychology of Education. Retrieved 10 March 2007 from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=url&db=z0h&AN=23307581&site=ehost-live

Creese, Angela. (2005). Teacher Collaboration and Talk in Multilingual Classrooms. Clevedon: Multinlingual Matters LTD.

Flowers, Nancy, Mertens, Steven B., and Mulhall, Peter F. (1999). The Impact of Teaming: Five Research-Based Outcomes. Middle School Journal. Retrieved 16 March 2007 from http://nmsa.org/portals/0/pdf/publications/On_Target/teaming/teaming_8_impact.pdf

Team Teaching. (1996). Nevada: Stenhouse Publishers.