Collaborative Working Relationships

COLLABORATIVE TEACHING ARRANGEMENTS

Bauwens, Hourcade, and Friend (1989) suggest three co-teaching arrangements though which co-teachers can share instructional responsibilities: Complementary Instruction, Supportive Learning Activities, and Team Teaching. Successful co-teachers plan to vary the arrangements chosen.

COMPLEMENTARY INSTRUCTION

Probably the most important role of the special educator in the co-taught class is to identify and teach those academic and social survival skills necessary for students to be successful with the content material. These may be identified as objectives on students’ IEPs, or co-teachers may see the need to teach these skills as they evaluate the progress of their students. These are the strategies and techniques which special educators frequently teach in pull-out programs, but students are more likely to use them when they are taught in the natural environment of the regular classroom. Students who are not disabled often need instruction in these areas as well. Complementary instruction may be presented to the whole class or to small groups of students. When large group options are chosen, the challenge is to design complementary instruction that meets the needs of the students with disabilities, but is also appropriate for the other students. Complementary instruction may involve teaching the following:

ACADEMIC SURVIVAL SKILLS

Organization
Skimming, scanning
Direction following
Paragraph writing
Preparation for tests

SOCIAL SURVIVAL SKILLS

Obtaining teacher attention
Brainstorming
Cooperating with others
Encouraging others
Giving constructive feedback
Persuading others

SUPPORTIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Designing interesting, motivating activities to involve students in practicing, processing, reviewing, and extending what they have been taught is often as challenging a task for teachers as teaching the content itself. If we want students to understand and remember what we have taught at an automatic level, it is important that we find ways to help them apply new knowledge. It is also important to remember that students have different learning styles. Some students learn through listening and watching. Others need to experiment, try things out, find ways to apply learning to their real world. Special educators often assume responsibility for designing supportive learning activities in a co-taught class. Supportive learning activities may be presented as whole group or small group activities and may include the following:

Cooperative learning activities
Centers projects
Video productions

TEAM TEACHING

Team teaching involves sharing responsibility for teaching the regular instructional material content for the class. Teachers may divide responsibility for teaching different segments of the regular curriculum, or they may work together to present the same information. Team teaching may involve whole group or small group instruction. This arrangement may be chosen when the special educator has expertise in the content area.