ERIC Number: EJ1232921
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1710-2146
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Four Key Ideas about Coteaching in High School Classrooms
Willard, Carol A.
International Journal of Whole Schooling, v15 n2 p81-102 2019
Coteaching is becoming a common practice in secondary classrooms as a way to provide special education services to students with disabilities (SWD). Effective coteaching supports an inclusive philosophy of schooling by creating appropriate learning spaces for diverse learners, allowing learners access to general education curricula, building a community of learners, establishing collaborative relationships, and using authentic multi-level instruction to provide worthwhile and engaging learning tasks for all students. While content teachers have expertise in their subject area and special educators have expertise in adaptations and supports for SWD, efficient coteachers must coordinate their ideas and practices to maximize the learning for all students. Implementing coteaching practices in any setting may be challenging; however, conditions in high school settings are conducive to coteaching, an idea that has been overlooked in the literature on inclusive practices in secondary settings. Furthermore, the learning objectives of a given lesson and the characteristics of learners in secondary settings provide the potential for the use of varied coteaching practices within the scheduled instructional block and an opportunity for ongoing professional learning. Shared pedagogical content knowledge (shared PCK) characterizes the new knowledge base teachers develop from their unique experience of coteaching. Coteaching in high school classrooms offers the potential of equitable access to content-specific pedagogical practices as well as the specialized instruction SWD need to be successful.
Descriptors: Team Teaching, High School Teachers, Students with Disabilities, Special Education Teachers, Inclusion, Block Scheduling, Faculty Development, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Teaching Conditions, Expertise, Individualized Instruction, Educational Objectives, Regular and Special Education Relationship
Whole Schooling Consortium. Available from: Concordia University College of Alberta. 7128 Ada Boulevard, Edmonton, AB T5B 4E4, Canada. e-mail: wholeschooling@twmi.rr.com; Web site: http://www.wholeschooling.net
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A