Teamwork between special education teachers and classroom teachers

Providers of extra professional support usually work with children with special needs individually in resource rooms because individual instruction allows them to focus on one’s individual needs. Despite that, teamwork between providers of extra professional support and teachers is necessary. Some foreign surveys show benefits of teamwork, especially team teaching between teachers and special education teachers for children with and without special needs. They believe that children with special needs could receive extra professional support within the classroom because they listen to teachers’ explanation, develop independence and acquire learning habits. Besides that, providers of extra professional support can help other children in the classroom. In the first part theoretical background about teamwork between providers of extra professional support and teachers as well as the effects on children with special needs are presented. The study investigates teamwork especially team teaching experiences of providers of extra professional support and teachers. The study also aims to examine how respondents perceive teamwork, especially team teaching. Furthermore, benefits and problems of teamwork, especially team teaching for students and teachers are presented. In this study, the quantitative and qualitative empirical research complement each other. Questionnaires for providers of extra professional support (N=156) and questionnaires for teachers (N=112) were used to collect the data. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews with providers of extra professional support (N=5) and teachers (N=5) were conducted. Results of quantitative data were processed using SPSS, while qualitative data results were coded. The results indicate that participants are fond of team teaching. I found out that class teachers more often work with providers of extra professional support in comparison to general education teachers when preparing and evaluating individualized education program. The findings show that teachers who have more than 20 years of teaching experience more often use the team teaching approach with providers of extra professional support than teachers with less than 20 years of teaching experience. Likewise, providers of extra professional support, who have between 16 and 20 years of teaching experience, believe that children with special needs and other students in the classroom are, in comparison to individualized instruction, more motivated when two teachers are teaching at the same time. They also agree that team teaching makes children with special needs more active and consequently affects their academic achievements. However, respondents stated some problems related with organization of team teaching. Time for team planning and team evaluating is the biggest problem. The present study has a great applicative value for teaching practice. The results of the research present an insight into current pedagogical practice about different types of extra professional support and teamwork, especially team teaching between teachers and providers of extra professional support. The practical value of the research is that research participants report about positive effects of teamwork, especially team teaching. Therefore, the results of the research have contributed to better understanding of teamwork between providers of extra professional support and teachers. Findings also highlight that different kinds of extra professional support contribute to holistic treatment of children with special needs. This is because individual instruction of children with special needs greatly differs from team teaching but significantly complements with it