Chap 10: Collaboration and Teaming

Supporting Co-Teaching-Differences between adults

1. Respect others 2. Listen 3. Try not to insist on your preference 4. Seek input from others who are well respected 5. Care about and respect other's ideas and perspectives

Skills for managing difficult interactions

Clarify the goal of collaboration Focus on the problem, not the people involved Focus on goals that all collaborators share Insist on using objective criteria to address the problem Examine your feelings, determine why the differ from others Generate possible solutions collaboratively to benefit others

Supporting Co-Teaching

1. Discuss minor issues before they escalate 2. Reflect on co-taught lessons 3. Make differences or minor disagreements a learning experience 4. Use student data to examine how co-teaching can be improved 5. Examine your approach to addressing differences 6. Competitive (tries to "win" conflicts) 7. Avoidance 8. Accommodation (relationship valued more than the outcome) 9. Compromise 10. Collaboration

What is collaboration?

Definition: A style of direct interaction between at least 2 co-equal partners voluntarily engaged in shared decision making as they work toward a common goal. See figure 10.1 • PARITY - contributions of everyone involved are equally valued • Collaborators share their resources • Collaborators share mutual goals • Collaborators share participation, decision-making, accountability • Collaboration is emergent

Collaborative Consultation

Definition: involves two persons working together to seek solutions to a mutually agreed on problem or issue Refer a problem or issue to a consultant Identify and clarify problem to be solved Brain storm possible solutions to the problem Select an intervention by the referring teacher Clarify implementation of the intervention Follow up to determine the effectiveness of intervention Paraeducators • Para educators are individuals who provide instruction and other services to students and who are supervised by teachers responsible for student outcomes • Tutor after a teacher provides primary instruction • Float in the classroom to monitor progress and answer questions • Provide skill-and-drill activities, individual and small groups • Prepare instructional materials, activities, and games • Read stories or content area material • Conduct small-group instructional activities • Grade, correct homework, handle paperwork • Work on learning centers, bulletin boards, etc. • Provide support for students with highly specialized needs Families • IDEA mandates that parents work with professionals as partners in ensuring an effective education for students with disabilities • Research indicates family involvement can enhance students' academic achievement Families can: Share info regarding their children with teachers and other school personnel Reinforce and support school programs at home Participate in school decision making groups Work in the community with businesses and local government to obtain support for the school Students as Collaborators Peer -assisted strategies have been developed to address basic academic skills, higher cognitive level skills, and social interactions or skill development The peer buddy program Initially developed to address the academic and social needs of students with more severe disabilities in middle and high school Students with disabilities are often isolated in upper grades Peer buddy system gives them someone to help them through

Define collaboration and describe characteristics of collaboration.

What is collaboration? It is a style of direct interaction between at least two co-equal partners voluntarily engaged in shared decision making as they work toward a common goal. In an inclusive school, there are different types of collaboration that are needed but each type shares the following characteristics: • PARITY suggests that the contributions of everyone involved are equally valued. A critical factor that can negatively influence parity is power, all must be free to express perspectives otherwise, collaboration cannot succeed. • Collaborators share MUTUAL goals; specific and common goals that are important to everyone • Collaborators share active participation in decision-making, make a collective decision that all agree to support and then share in accountability. Only one person will implement the intervention. • Collaborators share their resources and expertise to assure that knowledge, experience, and physical resources are used efficiently and effectively to meet the needs of all students. • Collaboration is emergent in that positive characteristics must be present and continue to develop over time. Participants must value collaboration and believe that two heads are better than one in a way that develops trust and respect as they work together to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses of participants.

In inclusive schools, several types of collaboration are needed, the success will vary

• Co-teaching or consultant roles (when problems arise, one teacher assists another by problem solving possible solutions) • ______?????_______ • Consult with other professionals (behavior specialists, physical therapists, instructional strategist) • Collaborate with parents

Dispositions and Skills Needed for Successful Collaboration

• Collaboration does not come naturally to most, and teachers must keep up certain dispositions • For collaboration to work, professionals need to develop and exemplify certain dispositions ► FLEXIBILITY - Professionals must be willing to Recognize that their solution may not be the best option Look at the problem from another perspective Compromise regarding an ultimate solution to the problem ► TRUST • Collaboration requires respect and trust • (For example) Two teachers who are co-teaching depend on each other for support when behavior management issues arise or to share responsibility when a student struggles • Trust develops over time as teachers realize their collaborations are credible • Demonstrate empathy for fellow collaborators (understand their perspective) • Share resources • Give help to others • Receive help from others • Divide the work of the team and take on a reasonable share of the work ► RESPECTFUL INTERACTIONS • Work together as equal partners • Respect and attempt to understand the perspective of others • Factor that interfere with parity (equality) may include degrees held, salary, gender, stature, ethnic background • Effective collaborators must carefully examine their tendencies towards protecting territory ► FRAME OF REFERENCE • Every collaborator brings a predisposition to respond to professional situation in a certain way, based on his or her frame of reference • Teaching background, previous work experience, professional experiences, teacher preparation, and disciplinary style • Differing frames of reference can result in difficulty collaborating and can result in distortions of communication • Frame of reference may also be influenced by cultural identity of collaborators (individual goals/achievement vs. interdependence/wellbeing of the group) ► BELIEF • There should be a belief in collaboration to meet the needs of all students • The belief that students should be included in general ed. to the maximum extent appropriate • Examine beliefs on what inclusion is, why is it important, and how students benefit • Having confidence that collaboration can improve outcome for all students

Co-teaching models

• One teach / One help • One teacher teaching and one circulates and offers help • Parallel teaching • To lower pupil-teacher ratio, both teachers teach the same material to equal size groups • Station teaching • When teaching material that is difficult but not sequential, both teachers present different content at the same time to equal groups of students and then switch groups and repeat the lesson • Alternate teaching • One teacher works with a small group of students to promote mastery or enrichment and the other teacher instructs the class • Team teaching • Both teachers plan and teach a lesson together

Collaborative roles in inclusive schools

► Collaborative Teams Teams of professionals Inclusions support teams recognize school wide issues Another type looks at individual student needs called teacher assistant teams (TAT's) 50-60% of teachers view interventions developed by TAT's as using acceptable procedures and high fidelity ► Co-Teaching General and special ed teachers working together to share responsibility for instructing a diverse group of students in a single classroom __?????_______ Uses expertise of both Teachers need to emphasize the need for compatibility among co teachers ► Co teaching is effective for students with or without disabilities Provides opportunity to capitalize on the unique knowledge and skills that both teachers bring to the class Two teachers emphasize planning and bring extra hands to the classroom (more structure) Co teachers can combine their expertise to determine novel approaches to meet student needs