Year: 1994
Type: article
Abstract: Collaboration occurs when two or more individuals work together to complete a project, create a product, or solve a problem.When people collaborate, they enter into a purposeful, goal-directed relationship with equitable contributions from all participants.In schools, collaboration could involve teachers working together to plan lessons, develop curricula, team teach, engage in peer coaching, or adapt instruction for a particular student.When collaborative relationships develop among teachers, benefits accrue for them and for their students.Teachers gain increased opportunities to learn content, improve practice, and receive feedback.They develop a greater sense of collegiality and community, and they experience less professional isolation (Firestone & Pennel, 1993).At the same time, peer collaboration among teachers has been identified as an effective strategy for accommodating students who have special needs in general education classrooms (Johnson & Pugach, 1991;Phillips & McCullough, 1990).For all of these reasons, enthusiasm continues to grow for the creation of collaborative relationships among general education and special education teachers with the goal that students who have special needs can effectively be included in general education classrooms.Given the apparent benefits of collaboration among teachers, it is surprising that it doesn't occur more regularly in schools, but, unfortunately, ongoing collaboration among teachers is still the exception rather than the norm.Organizational as well as cultural forces work to limit both opportunities and motivation for collaboration among teachers.The physical organization of schools tends not to facilitate collaboration.Each teacher works in a separate classroom and rarely has opportunities to interact substantially with peers.Scheduling and staffing patterns in many schools also prevent development of collaborative relationships.Virtually every minute of many teachers' workdays is consumed with directly supervising or teaching students.Furthermore, to maintain adequate "coverage" of classes, teachers' planning periods often are scheduled when the individuals with whom teachers could most profitably collaborate are engaged in teaching.It is not uncommon for teachers at all grade levels to report that they
Source: Focus on Exceptional Children
Authors: Victor Nolet, Gerald Tindal
Institutions: University of Oregon, University of Maryland, College Park
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W201197013