Individual Reflection: Co-Teaching Model

The co-teaching model that I am most familiar with in my previous high school was the One Teaching, One Drifting approach (Friend & Coach, 2003). The general education teacher normally planned and instructed the lesson, while the special education teacher moved through the class assisting students as needed or addressing behavior problems. This lead support role seemed to develop naturally right at the start of the school year. I saw this happening for several reasons: it was the easiest approach to implement for teachers; general educators and special educators were not given their class assignments until the start of the school year; and general and special educators often were not given the opportunity to plan during the school day. Additionally, this lead support approach did not require teachers to develop a deep, collegial relationship instead allowing them to remain distant.

From the students’ point of view, one teacher was seen as the main teacher. This person was the one that did all of the teaching. This was the course content expert. The special education teacher was seen as an assistant who walked around the classroom and addressed classroom misbehaviors. 

The relationship between these two adults was, at best cordial, but at times shallow or superficial. I’ve observed general educators develop deep resentments towards the special educators. They felt as though they were doing all of the work and that the special educators contributed little to nothing to instruction and planning. The reality in this high school was that there were simply not enough special educators for all of the co-teaching classrooms. 

The special educators were often made to feel like visitors to another person’s space. It was not unusual to walk into a co –teaching classroom and see the special educator with a small cart on wheels or a small area carved out in the back of the room with their instructional materials. The cart lends itself to a brief or temporary condition.

The upgrade of curriculum for the 21^st century meant that for this high school the general educators needed to become more proficient with instructional strategies that addressed a diverse learning population. While observing an Algebra 1 classroom that contained students that belonged in co-teaching classrooms the veteran teacher shared with me a variety of instructional strategies, flexible groupings, and the addition of a mastery learning model to ensure that all of her students were successful. High School Assessment (HSA) scores supported the work this teacher was doing in spite of the lack of an available special education teacher. 

Where resources are spread thin, I believe that a school principal would serve students well by implementing a co-teaching environment with novice teachers or teachers with little to no experience with differentiation strategies. A team teaching approach (Friend & Coach, 2003) would allow both teachers to share responsibilities for sharing and planning. Teachers work as a team to introduce information, facilitate learning, and address classroom management issues. This approach allows the novice teacher to develop a cadre of instructional tools to address the needs of all learners. The special educator role is respected and appreciated for not only helping students learn, but also providing one-to-one instruction for novice teachers on how to differentiate instruction.

Evaluating a co-teaching classroom requires a supervisor to implement similar strategies utilized when evaluating a general education classroom. As a supervisor, I would expect to see lessons that were student-centered, activities that were creative, encouraged collaboration and communication.  I would also expect to see recognition of diverse learners and learning styles. Since I would be evaluating a team teaching classroom I would also evaluate the roles of the two teachers (Arguelles, Schumm, & Vaughn, 1997). 

I would expect to see evidence of co-planning in the instructional strategies and how the students are assessed (Wilson, 2005). I would also evaluate how the teachers treated each other. Is it a collegial, cooperative, supportive relationship?

References

Arguelles, M., Schumm, J., & Vaughn, S. (1997). The ABCDEs of Co-Teaching. The Council For Exceptional Children: Teaching Exceptional Children, 30(2).

Friend, M., & Cook, L. H. (2003). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Wilson, G. L. (2005). This doesn’t look familiar! Intervention in School and Clinic, 40(5), 271–275.