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Article Excerpt
Abstract
An analysis of special and general educators' responses to a question regarding their co-teaching concerns is presented. Time constraints and differing teaching styles/educational philosophies were identified as the two main issues needing further research.
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"Co-," as a prefix, has multiple meanings. In an educational context, "co-" can mean "together, jointly, mutually, as in co-education;" "partners or associates in an activity, as in co-author; or even "to the same extent or degree, as in co-extensive" (www.dictionary.com). Why, then, isn't obvious that when two teachers "co-teach," it means they are working together as partners? There are a number of elements to any definition of co-teaching as exemplified by Cook and Friend (1995). "Co-teaching occurs when two or more professionals jointly deliver substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended, group of students in a single physical space" (p. 1). The purpose of this article is to focus on the issues "two or more professionals" might have when "jointly" working in a classroom. In other words, what are teachers' greatest concerns regarding co-teaching?
One might assume that, in accordance with the dictionary definition of "co-," when two individuals co-teach, they should have equal roles in the teaching process and participate to the same extent in that process. Too often, however, when special and general educators are paired, the special education teacher becomes a support in the classroom and works only with the students with disabilities (Weiss & Lloyd, 2002) or even more disheartening, as a helper (Rice & Zigmond, 2000). If the goal is to meet the needs of all students, how can we as professional educators, better facilitate this process?
Gately and Gately (2001) offer eight components of the co-teaching relationship which, if addressed before and throughout the co-teaching experience, should make for a very cohesive pairing: 1) interpersonal communication, 2) physical arrangement, 3) familiarity with the curriculum, 4) curriculum goals...
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