Advantages Of Co-Teaching

During this article, the author talks about the new method of co-teaching and the positive effect it has had on the students. Co-teaching can be defined as two teachers, general and special education, working together to teach the students with and without a disability in an inclusive classroom. An inclusive classroom is just a general education classroom in which all students are educated with their peers. Since the law mandates that all children with disabilities be educated in an inclusive classroom along with children that does not have a disability, co-teaching has been something that a lot of schools have put their trust in. When co-teaching first came about, it was just really meant to educate all students with their peers using the

During this approach, the general education teacher teaches all the students in one big group using the general education curriculum. The special education teacher works with the students that has an IEP or the ones that need the lesson explained to them in greater depth. While the general education teacher is teaching the lesson, the special education teacher may also answer any question that the students may have. This is the approach that many schools use because it is really the basic structure for co-teaching. Although this is the most common method used, in order for it to work the general and special education teacher has to be on one accord. They have to build a relationship in which they can trust one another. Friend tells us that the general and special education teacher should build a relationship as if they were a married couple (2015). Her reason for this is that the special education teacher will have to know what the general education teacher is teaching so that he/she could answer questions if needs be and work with the students that need more help. With all this being said, communication play a huge role in this method being successful. If there is good communication between the two teachers, they will have no problem making this method work. This is the first co-teaching method that I learned about, and it is the one that I feel more comfortable with. So when I become a special education teacher, I will be very relaxed with this method because I know the tools to make it work