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Preparing all teachers for collaboration.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

This paper describes a study around a parallel classroom experience in separate, discipline courses. It was designed to bridge the separate discipline/separate program gap in teaching for inclusive practices in education.

Introduction

In an increasingly complex world constantly informed by growing knowledge bases, professionals find themselves collaborating with experts outside of their specific disciplines to seek solutions. This is as true in education as it is in the business world (Welch, 1998). Recent federal legislation such as P.L. 108-446, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which mandates inclusion of children with special needs in the regular classroom has forced space-sharing and much closer partnerships between regular and special education teachers. Teacher preparation institutions must respond to the federal mandate for inclusion by changing how they prepare teachers for these partnerships (Gable & McLaughlin, 1993; Welch, 1996), and have been doing so by revamping teacher certification programs across the nation. A survey of practicing general education teachers in Indiana revealed that only 20% felt prepared to teach students with disabilities (Collings, 1999). These figures appear to be a realistic assessment of the sense of preparedness of many general education teachers. A survey of 35 Illinois general education teacher preparation programs revealed that the instruction about teaching students with disabilities was both limited and inadequate (Reed & Monda-Amaya, 1995).

Expanding dual certification programs has been seen as one solution (Kerns, 1996; Campbell & Fyfe, 1995; Heston, Raschke, Kliewer, Fitzgerald & Edmiaston, 1998; Keefe, Rossi, de Valenzuela & Howarth, 2000). Another solution has been an interdisciplinary teaming approach within single major programs (Miller & Stayton, 1998). A third solution has been to more fully utilize partnerships with local schools to give students a better understanding of inclusive practices (Carey, 1997; Evans, 1996; Long & Morrow, 1996).

A potential consequence of genuine efforts to prepare preservice teachers for inclusive classrooms is a reconceptualization of the practice of teacher education. Such efforts, though, can be met with resistance to change on behalf of faculty members and the problems of limited resources and time, crowded state certification standards, competing interests and lack of familiarity with inclusion...

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