COMPETENCY 6:

EFFECTIVE PRACTICE FOR PLANNING AND DESIGNING CO-TEACHING AND COLLABORATION WITH PEERS

There are six espoused models for co-teaching as outlined above and in the mind-map below in order to serve the diverse needs of inclusive classrooms. There are various characteristics of a positive working relationship among co-teachers. They have equal authority and must foster this collaboration by planning together and trading off their teacher roles. Both teachers ensure they are creating a learning environment in which both work with all students and through their deliberate and consistent collaboration they complement their individual strengths, learn from each other, and both become adept at all skills.

For example, the co-teacher may have more expertise in analyzing IEPs and building assessments for the students with disabilities and the general education teacher learns from the expert and shares knowledge of other types of assessments in return. This enables their students to benefit from not only having two teachers with broader skill sets than their counterparts, but additionally students are able to see collaboration modeled effectively on a daily basis, thereby exposing them to an important lifelong skill.