Facilitating Teacher Candidates’ Understanding of Inclusive Education Through Coteaching in Field Experience

• In Event: Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Building Capacity for All Future Teachers to Work Effectively With Special Needs and Language Learners

Abstract

One goal for teacher education is preparation of teacher candidates who can fulfill the promise of equal opportunity in public education. The ability of teacher candidates to move beyond knowing pedagogical theory, to implementation of inclusive practice, is facilitated by structured field experiences. The inquiry described here extends teacher education program values and content to experimentation with co-teaching in an urban Professional Development School field internship. Two teacher candidates; one completing a special education internship, the other completing an internship in general education, were guided to co-plan and co-teach a standards-based lesson within a 10th grade inclusive social studies class. The planning processes, P-12 student learning on the lesson outcome, and the teacher candidates’ perceptions of their learning are described.

Author

• Bonnie Leah Utley, University of Colorado - Denver