Responsibilities and preparation for collaborative teaching: Co-teachers’ perspectives

Abstract: Special education and general education co-teachers currently involved in collaborative teach-ing responded to a survey of their team responsibilities and their preparation for collaborative teaching. Opinions of collaborative teaching were very positive. Respondents agreed that co-teachers ’ responsibilities in collaborative classes are similar to those expected in separate general education and special education settings. Co-teachers had little scheduled mutual planning time, though they considered it important. Special education and general education teachers agreed about who takes responsibility for planning and evaluation, but each group believed itself more responsible than the other for instruction and behavior man-agement. Few teachers experienced the preparations rated most useful: mentoring by a co-teacher, student teaching in a collaborative class, and release time. For collaborative teachers to make classes inclusive, they need mutual planning time, as well as sufficient professional preparation prior to their collaborative teach-ing assignment. As students with various disabilities areincluded in general education settings, special education service delivery has moved toward collaborative teaching arrangements. In such inclusive schools, special services occur in general education settings, but plac-ing students with disabilities in general edu-cation classes without appropriately adapting the setting, the curriculum, the materials or the teaching methods may not be beneficial. According to various researchers collabora-tive teaching is a powerful approach to pro-vide ongoing support for students and teach-ers in inclusive settings (Bauwens, Hourcad