Necessary Course Attributes, Resources, and Attitudes, for a Successful Co-Teaching Experience

• In Event: Synergies and Tensions: Experiences of Administration, Faculty, and Students in Co-Taught Teacher Preparation Courses

Abstract

Due to the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA, 2004), and the emphasis on inclusion and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) within that legislation, maximizing access to general education for all children, including those with disabilities, has continued to increase in importance. As a result,
collaboration between special education (SPED) and general education (GE) professionals has functioned as one approach to help all students reach their full potential (Duchardt, et.al., 1999; Graziano & Navarrete, 2012). Improving student outcomes by implementing co-teaching experiences between SPED and GE teachers has increased in prevalence (Steele et al., 2021), and university teacher preparation faculty have noted the impact co-teaching can have on student achievement (Bacharach et al., 2007).
In this study, university faculty who co-taught foundational teaching courses were interviewed on their perceptions of co-teaching. CHAT theory was used as a framework to guide analysis of the transcripts in the first round of coding. A second round of inductive coding using
a constant comparative approach (Fram, 2013) was conducted to answer the research question specific to this study: What do faculty perceive as necessary to a successful co-teaching experience? Resulting data indicated that faculty viewed necessary course attributes to include: equal emphasis in student learning outcomes between special and general education content, appropriate class sizes, and an expectation of indirect over direct instruction emphasizing facilitation over lecture. Faculty perceived time as the most important immaterial resource, while funding for course load was perceived as the most important material resource. Openness, flexibility, and willingness to compromise were considered necessary attitudes within co teaching partnerships. Importantly, faculty participants viewed the co-teaching experience as a catalyst for improvement in their own teaching practice through exposure to their co-teaching partner’s expertise and feedback. Faculty participants further viewed their co-teaching practice as a model for future teachers.
Participants with extensive prior experience in co-teaching did not differ significantly in their responses from those faculty participants with only some, or little to no previous co teaching experience. However, full-time faculty participants held differing perceptions of the co teaching experience from adjunct faculty participants, who experienced greater challenges to full inclusion of their expertise in the co-taught courses. Special education faculty also held different initial concerns (regarding possible relegation to a secondary role) prior to co-teaching in the program than did general education faculty, however, SPED faculty noted that those concerns were ameliorated during the co-teaching process.
Implications for practice suggest that modeling of co-teaching within teacher preparation programs (reflective of situated learning theory; Eckhardt & Giouroukakis, 2018), allows teacher candidates to become increasingly comfortable with co-teaching, inclusion, and collaboration between special education and general education professionals in their own future classrooms. Moreover, responses indicate that the nature of the co-teaching classroom increases constructivist approaches on the part of faculty involved, allowing for greater student engagement in the teacher education classroom. Further, for successful co-teaching implementation, programs should provide professional development to all faculty, full-time and adjunct. Finally, SPED and GE faculty participating in co-taught courses learn from each other and, as a result, expand as professionals.

Author

• Jessica Cannaday, Colton Joint Unified School District
  Presenting Author