Blog Post #1
Co-teaching is a way to deliver instruction to diverse learners drawing
on the strengths of each teaching partner in the planning, delivery and
reflection of learning, in order to help ALL students learn. In most cases, one teacher is the general
education teacher and the other is the special education teacher. The general educator serves as the content
and curriculum expert, and the special educator is the learning-process expert,
making sure the content is accessible to students with and without disabilities
(Heitin, 2011). The features of this
model range from a separate “class within a class” to full collaboration and
complete integration for all students.
I experienced the co-teaching model myself during a conference sponsored
by Very Special Arts (VSA), an international
organization on arts and disability. Two
presenters/teachers were teaching a group of us the history of Japanese Taiko
Drumming, which included opportunities to play the drums after
learning a beginning drum sequence.
While one teacher spoke to the group, the other was scaffolding the
instruction by drawing a graphic organizer and supporting the lecture/demonstration
with additional non-verbal assistance.
The two would switch roles frequently, and the group experienced the
learning in ways appropriate to their learning styles. I will never forget that experience, as it
culminated in a group performance utilizing the skills we learned in the
lesson.
I refer to co-teaching often, encouraging teachers and administrators to
utilize this model whenever possible.
With the importance of Common Core State Standards and 21st
Century literacy skills, co-teaching is an effective way to support these
revised standards and skills, making the learning accessible to all learners.
As a curriculum supervisor or leader, the first challenge to
implementing this model is cost. It is
expensive to hire the staff needed to make co-teaching a reality. For the sake of this blog post, let’s assume
that funding is not an issue. What are
the challenges? Every instructional
model requires a certain amount of trial and error, and it is especially true
for co-teaching. I would certainly utilize
the Co-teaching Rating Scale (Gately & Gately, 2001) to help teachers focus
on areas that need improvement. The two
teachers need to build trust among each other and establish some operating
standards and understandings/assumptions.
Open communication is a must, with room to revamp and revise as
needed. As a leader, I would work to
build the trust and develop collaboration skills among the co-teaching
teams. I would address all of the
challenges and struggles by implementing a strong professional development
program and develop a viable professional learning community among the teams of
teachers. This model requires a lot of
maintenance and revising. Sometimes two
individuals just don’t “click” as partners, and it would be my responsibility
to address the situation and either repair it or revise the pairing
completely.
That is the nature of this work – we need to revise “on-the-fly” all the
time in education, and this is no exception.
Co-teaching has many benefits, and when it works, it really works, helping all students
learn, regardless of their learning needs.
References:
Gately, S. E. & Gately, Jr., F. J. (2001, Mar/Apr). Understanding
co-teaching components. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40-47. Retrieved
from https://inclusiveed.wikispaces.com/file/view/Understanding CoTeaching
Components.pdf
Heitin, L. (2011, October 12). A Maryland initiative seeks to scale up
co-teaching as a way to support students of all needs. Edweek, 5(01),
26. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org
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