The Benefits of Collaborative Teaching to Students with Learning Disability in an Inclusive Classroom

...

Thirdly, Students with disabilities are provided access to the general education curriculum and general education setting. This facilitate an effective inclusion, because collaborating will involve special education teacher and a general education teacher. While general education teacher is delivering the content, the special education teacher will also be making modifications to suit the learning needs of his/her students. This will promote efficiency because the special education teacher will be monitoring the students with learning disability and other students, and guide them on areas they are facing difficulties with a more simplified instruction. Exposing students to the general education curriculum makes them gain self-confidence, and it takes their mind away from their disability and build on their strength to achieve their desired objective in life. This is because “the philosophy of inclusive education is aimed at helping all children learn, everyone in the class benefits. Children learn at their own pace and style within a nurturing learning environment” (www.pbs.org, Meeting the needs of Special Education students: Recommendation for top Consortia and State, Martha L Thurlow, Sherley S. Lazarus P. 45 par. 4). In inclusive classrooms, coteaching will help children with and without disabilities to read, write and do math. With higher expectations and good instruction, through collaborative teaching, children with disabilities learn academic skills.

Furthermore, there is greater instructional intensity and differentiated instruction: Coteaching is a technique for applying differentiated instruction through teaching. The ethnic background of a person could affect the learning process. Therefore, if one of the teachers is from the same ethnic group with the student who has auditory disability, the similarities of the accent will enable him to understand the instructions of his teacher. Also, both teachers will bring on board different differentiation techniques that will enable the learning disabled to comprehend whatever instruction is being delivered in the classroom. This is because the diverse presentation of information will address various areas of student’s disabilities. Again, “the differentiated instruction for students with disabilities in an inclusive environment embraces collaborative teaching, no matter which model is employed, and it begins with eliminating the stigma of special education. Co-teaching also provides opportunities for general education student to receive appropriate interventions early in the instructional process and benefit from a variety of educational approaches. Co-teaching can offer flexibility and modifications to instruction that work to the advantage of all students. Time spent in common preparation, professional development, and debriefing on successes and challenges can also be hugely rewarding to co-teachers themselves” (Trending Issues in Special Education, Part 3: Co-Teaching Strategies, Wednesday, November 18, 2015 -- Winnie O'Leary). Achieving the gains that could come from co-teaching begins with school and district support of the initiative. This show that with proper time, planning, and teamwork, collaborative teaching can be a key element of a successful special education program for students with learning disability, as well as inclusive general education program.

Lastly, Collaborative teaching enables students with learning disability to receive specialized instructions: special education teachers can collaborate with general education teachers to plan and implement lessons and to monitor the progress of students with learning disabilities. The special education teacher is also able to Identify and implement accommodations and modifications to assure a meaningful accessibility to general education curriculum. This will enable the him, during the collaborative lessons, to develop the best instructional strategies that will build on the literacy, reading and, mathematical skills of both students with disabilities and students without disabilities. During the collaborative teaching, teachers can test the skills of students. They will then build on these skills with the use of assistive technology and with the support of parent. Moreover, these specialized instructions in a form of developing a vocational or technical skill will build up the self-confidence of the disabled student, and it will develop positive energy in him or her. Specialized instruction is very important because “A limited number of students (approximately 10 percent of those with disabilities) may need adequate intensive instruction to satisfy their specific needs. Although, these students may require a larger percentage of their literacy instruction from special education providers, they still receive guided reading instruction at their instructional levels from the classroom teacher” ( Gersten, R., Chard, D.J., Jayanthi, M., Baker, S.K., Morphy, P. & Flojo, J. (2008). Mathematics instruction for students with learning disabilities or difficulty learning mathematics: A synthesis of the intervention research. Portsmouth, NH: RMC Research Corporation Center on Instruction).

In conclusion, teachers need to sacrifice enough time to research the content of the lesson before the due date of the lesson to enhance efficient and effective collaborative teaching. This is because when a teacher conducts adequate research about their topic, it enhances a smooth flow of ideas without conflicting with the ideas of the other co-teacher. Teachers will also have to respect the views of one another and if possible should review each other’s lesson plans to ensure uniformity and consistency. Even though, collaborative teaching has numerous benefits to students with learning disability, there are other challenges that needs to be addressed in future. These are challenges associated with misunderstanding among both students and teachers themselves during collaborative teaching. This usually occurs when one of the teachers fails to adequately research about the content of the lesson, which could confuse the students and his partner. This is the reason why teachers who have a collaborative class need to have a collective preparation of the lesson, if possible they should use the same materials to ensure uniformity of the lesson, to avoid confusion in the class. Also, the general education teacher sometime has doubt about the special education teacher as to whether he/she knows the content, this lack of confidence can affect the collaborative teaching process.

REFERENCE

Collaborative Team Teaching: Challenges and Rewards May 10, 2012, Marisa Kaplan

Gersten, R., Chard, D.J., Jayanthi, M., Baker, S.K., Morphy, P. & Flojo, J. (2008). Mathematics instruction