H Final
H Final
Co-teaching
Khalaf G. Alanazi
Mohammed A. Alshehri
Southwestern College
Action Research EDUC 512
May 5, 2016
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Abstract
Co-teaching is being embraced by educationists for its differential value in improving student
learning ability. A survey was conducted to assess the state of adoption for co-teaching practice
across schools in US and Saudi Arabia. The schools were drawn from two different geographical
Winfield, Kansas in US and Dammam in Saudi Arabia. The primary question in the survey was
how co-teaching affects the classroom environment; and the secondary questions being
investigated were how co-teaching affects the classroom teaching method, and the advantages
and disadvantages of co-teaching. The findings indicate that Saudi Arabia is still low as
compared to US in the adoption of co-teaching, as reported by teachers, school principals and
students. Subsequent recommendations on how to improve co-teaching in Saudi Arabia involve
including it as part of teacher-training curriculum, and changing the education policies to
recognize co-teaching as a formal instructional method.
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Co-teaching
Introduction
We have a wonderful experience that helps us to learn and participate in the classroom as
graduate students. Actually, there are many aspects that we like in learning while we are studying
our master degree. The most interesting method of teaching that we like as students is coteaching. We did not learn in classrooms that had more than one teacher in all our school levels,
but we had two courses in the graduate program that had two instructors in the classrooms. There
were some great benefits to us and our classmates in those two courses. Sometimes, we can ask
questions to the co-teacher that we did not understand from the other teacher, also we can get
chances to speak up and participate throughout the lesson when there were two teachers.
However, some of our classmates got confused when they asked for explaining some homework
instructions, so we would say that co-teaching can be a beneficial for the students when the tow
instructors have cooperated and designed there lesson together. For instance, we had
opportunities to visit some schools in Arkansas City, Kansas, and we observed many new aspects
that we have never seen and done our academic life. We learned different strategies, and we
realized that many classrooms were doing a co-teaching method which means there were two
teachers in the classroom. We saw how powerful this method in elementary school level, also
how students respond to the tow teacher's instructions. In activity time, the two teacher can
cover and work with all students, also they can support the special need students which is a
strong reason of doing co-teaching.
Literature Review
Co-teaching is a teaching concept that has become very popular within the education
field. The areas of research focus include defining co-teaching, approaches/models of co-
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teaching, and the advantages and disadvantages of co-teaching. The areas of research focus have
been identified by using a search method. Some of the keywords we used to narrow on the search
included pros and cons of co-teaching, what is co-teaching, benefits of co-teaching,
teachers together, and co-teaching experience. The issue of co-teaching should be given
educators attention since it provides ways to support students with exceptionalities in the regular
education classroom. The aim of the research was to identify the main issues associated with coteaching and how it is beneficial to elementary school students.
Definition of Co-Teaching
Co-teaching is a type of teaching method that is used to deliver instructions to students in
different teaching environments. It constitutes at least two teachers who have agreed to share
responsibilities to deliver learning instructions to one group of students. The learning instructions
are mainly based on an agreement between the teachers on the objectives or contents to be
delivered to the students (Kariuki, 2013). It initially started as an association between special
education and general education. This was a reaction to the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (Tschida, Smith, & Fogarty, 2015) that advocated for the provision of support to
students suffering from various forms of disabilities in general education classes. In its initial
implementation period, co-teaching was defined as a type of teaching that incorporated special
and classroom education teachers where general education teachers had extensive knowledge of
the content while the special education teachers had professionalism in the process of delivering
instructions to educate different students who might learn in a particular manner (Kariuki, 2013).
The other way co-teaching is also used is in middle and secondary classrooms to provide the
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instruction and support to students. This is where one member of the group offers to play the role
of the leader while the other students rotate to offer support (Forbes & Billet, 2014).
Approaches/Models of Co-Teaching
Co-teaching has numerous teaching approaches that offer different techniques for the two
teachers to collaborate and work together within the classroom. A sample of co-teaching
approaches includes team teaching, alternative teaching, station teaching, and parallel teaching
(Forbes & Billet, 2014).
1. Team teaching
Team teaching is a co-teaching approach in which both teachers deliver similar
instructions to the students simultaneously. In this method, students feel that they have two
content teachers within the classroom instead of one learning support teacher and one content
teacher in class. Educators using team teaching approach use various techniques to signal one
another that one of the teachers is about to stop in order to allow the other teacher to offer
instructions. These techniques include jumping, slapping or raising hands when one teacher stops
(Embury & Dinnesen, 2012).
2. Alternative teaching
Alternative teaching is a co-teaching approach used where many students require
specialized attention. In this method, a large group of students is taught by one teacher while
another small group is taught by another teacher (Vermette, Jones, & Jones, 2010). It is a
technique that operates well with students who might have challenges to learn, hence requiring
more extensive learning support (Forbes & Billet, 2014).
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3. Station teaching
Station teaching is a teaching approach in which teachers maintain their individual
classrooms however they divide the contents and rotate the students rotate between the
classrooms. The teachers then switch the groups after teaching one group. Teachers used
different contents in each of the groups (King-Sears, 2014).
4. Parallel teaching
Parallel teaching is a teaching approach where teachers teach similar information to
students, though they usually split the class and then teach the students at the same time in
various spaces within the classrooms. It is a suitable teaching approach for re-teaching and
reinforcement activities (Kariuki, 2013).
Advantages and Disadvantages of Co-Teaching
Co-teaching has both strong sides and drawbacks discussed below.
Advantages
Co-teaching has various advantages. First, there is a reduced ratio of student to teachers
due to the physical presence of the two teachers in the classroom. This enables teachers to offer
specialized help to the students (Murdock, Finneran, & Theve, 2015). Besides, there is the
chance for one teacher to be in class and offer feedback on the changes that should be established
to assist the students to grasp complicated ideas (Vermette, 2010). Students can also get
emotional and academic help from another teacher in case he or she has personality conflicts
with the other teacher; hence, education standards improve (Forbes, 2014).
Disadvantages
Co-teaching takes time to be effective in the classroom, and the co-teachers need time to
plan together and time constraints of a busy school day that means the co-teachers rarely have
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time to plan together unless they make arrangements to do so before or after school hours. The
available co-teachers are time constrained since they are compelled to cover a particular learning
content within a particular period. Besides, inadequate common planning period affects lesson
planning for teachers as well as discussion of the needs of students. The issue of personality
conflict might also occur between the co-teachers; hence, they might not be able to agree to
collaborate in the classroom (Seymour & Seymour, 2014). Co-teaching is an important area of
research focus. The study has allowed us to discover its advantages and disadvantages to learn
some of the problems that students face in school and how co-teachers help them to achieve
learning objectives. We selected the topic to study since it was important in the achievement of
the action research and suggests a promising avenue for further research.
Search Method
In trying to research on the topic, the search method that was used was the online
database ERIC Database. ERIC is an online education research platform where students can be
able to carry out research using the available resources. It is a database that has been used in
Southwestern College; hence, it is essential in the present research to provide adequate
information on the area of research focus. From the analysis of the literature, some of the topics
that emerged included pros and cons of co-teaching, benefits of co-teaching, definition of
co-teaching, teachers together and co-teaching experience. These were mainly established
through the use of keywords to find the different topics to concentrate on in the research.
Purpose, Rationale, and Context
For purposes of this study, Co-Teaching will be defined as 2 general education teachers
working collaborative with 1 class or 2 classes of students combined for a specific lesson or
series of lessons that could be in the same subject area or interdisciplinary. We will be looking
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An explanation of how the data collection strategies will provide the study with the data to
answer the question is provided below.
We will interview four general teachers in two different elementary schools in Winfield,
Kansas. We will ask both broad and specific questions that will show how much co-teaching
affects the classroom environment. We will conduct a survey that will show us the effects of
doing co-teaching in the classroom environment with four principals and eight general teachers
in four different elementary schools in Winfield, Kansas and Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Focus
group might be a data collection strategy that includes two general teachers in two elementary
schools in Winfield, Kansas. We could ask them some questions that can show the effects of
doing co-teaching in the classroom environment.
The secondary research questions that the study will address are:
How does Co-Teaching affect the classroom teaching method?
-
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An explanation of how the data collection strategies will provide the study with the data to
answer the question is provided below.
We will interview four general teachers in two different elementary schools in Winfield,
Kansas. We will ask both broad and specific questions that will show how much co-teaching
affects the teaching methods. We will conduct a survey that has different questions than the
interview, so the teachers will answer six questions that show us how co-teaching affects the
teaching methods. We will send an electronic survey to four general teachers in two different
elementary schools in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, so we can study how much experience they have
in co-teaching. Observational data might be conducted in two elementary schools in Winfield,
Kansas. We could observe two general teachers in each school who are implementing coteaching. We will be able to determine whether co-teaching affect the teaching methods to meet
all students needs at the same subject in the same time successfully or unsuccessfully.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Co-Teaching?
-
An explanation of how the data collection strategies will provide the study with the data to
answer the question is provided below.
We will conduct a survey that has 6-10 questions in two different elementary schools in
Winfield, Kansas, and two different elementary schools in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Four
principals, eight general teachers and two focus groups of 6-10 students will participate in the
survey to answer questions that about the advantages and disadvantages of co-teaching. Focus
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group will be a data collection strategy that will include the two focus groups and two
researchers in a discussion table in two elementary schools in Winfield, Kansas, and it will
provide an opportunity to discuss the advantage and disadvantage of doing co-teaching by
sharing feelings and suggestions. Observational data might be used in two elementary schools in
Winfield, Kansas, so we can observe two general teachers at the same classroom in each school
who are implementing the co-teaching; hence, we will be able to observe what are the
advantages and disadvantages of doing co-teaching.
Plan for Increasing Validity
For increasing validity, we will make sure to record data accurately, so we will use some
tools that will help us in recording the data that we have collected such as taking notes, audio
records and filming the interview if possible. Triangulating data sources will be our second way
for increasing validity, so we will use multiple sources of data including literature review,
interview, and survey. The last way that we will use for increasing validity is we will make sure
there is no bias that can affect our decision or prevent us from seeing positive or negative sides
of the topic that we are investigating. Therefore, we will review the biases, assumptions, and
preconceived ideas that we have written in our paper. Also, we will include the information on
biases and how we dealt with them in the research report.
Analysis
The survey approach was preferred after considering the issue of little time available to
conduct the study, as the researchers are in the final stretch of their last year in school. An online
survey would be easier to administer and analyze as compared to other data collection
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approaches. The two school principals from Winfield who took part in the survey extremely
agree that co-teaching affects the classroom environment positively. One school principal
interviewed holds a strong opinion that students learn better in co-teaching classes as compared
to their previous learning performance; while the other principal also agrees to this opinion. One
principal strongly agrees that co-teaching improves students engagement in co-teaching classes;
while the other principal simply agrees to this opinion.
Their responses underscore the role of co-teaching in improving learning. Both principals
agree that co-teaching teachers in their school cooperate consistently. They both reported that
sometimes teachers co-teach constantly, and that sometimes, the principals encourage their
teachers to co-teach. One school principal who participated in the survey believed that coteaching was beneficial; while the other principals held a weaker opinion, stating that sometimes
co-teaching was beneficial. However, both principals agree that co-teaching has more positive
sides than negative sides.
For the survey conducted on co-teaching amongst two school principals in Damman,
Saudi Arabia, both school principals indicated that they had asked their teachers to co-teach, as
all believed that co-teaching has a positive impact on the school environment. The school
principals surveyed believed that students learn better and student engagement levels would
increase through co-teaching. They all encouraged teachers to embrace co-teaching because they
believe in the benefits of co-teaching, which surpass the disadvantages.
The survey also captured responses from Winfield teachers who are charged with
executing co-teaching. Half of teachers from Winfield strongly agree that co-teaching has the
potential to positively affect the classroom environment; while the other half simply agree to this
opinion. Three teachers from Winfield who took the survey believe that students learn better
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through co-teaching as compared to earlier learning modes, while one teacher thinks that
sometimes this is true. They agree that students engagement is improved through co-teaching,
with one teacher holding a strong opinion on this. These teachers agree to teacher cooperation
during co-teaching. Most of them sometimes prefer co-teaching to teaching alone. They also
recognize the importance of comprehensive planning for less than five hours before co-teaching.
Two teachers from Winfield apply team teaching approach, while the other two prefer either
parallel teaching or station teaching. They teach comfortably and their students respect coteaching. Some dislike co-teaching when introducing new lessons, but most of them prefer it.
They find co-teaching tenable, despite the challenges that they may face. A general opinion is
that co-teaching is beneficial.
All the teachers at Dammam have co-taught. Most of them think co-teaching can bring
positive impact on the classroom environment. They all think that co-teacher brings better
learning, and improved student engagement levels. On the matter of collaboration for coteaching purposes, opinion was half-split, with some strongly believing in easy collaboration
while others being unsure. A half-split opinion was also witnessed on the matter of preference of
co-teaching over individual teaching. Despite that, they all recognize the importance of planning
before co-teaching, for less than five hours. Most of Dammam teachers surveyed were not sure
of all the four co-teaching approaches, but some had the knowledge. They have managed to
maintain confidence even when they present a distinct lesson to their students. Some students
know the rules to follow, while others do not know the rules applicable whenever two teachers
show up to teach in their classroom. All the survey Dammam teachers have experience in coteaching, though they do not have presently practice co-teaching frequent enough. They believe
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that they have the will to practice co-teaching and learn co-teaching principles because it is
beneficial and has more advantages than disadvantages.
A good percentage of the Winfield students surveyed have a general liking for coteaching classes. They believe that co-teaching is beneficial, and that it has more merits than
demerits. For the nine students surveyed, five indicated that they often liked co-teaching. Three
students sometimes liked co-teaching, while one always liked co-teaching.
These survey findings underscore the importance of co-teaching as a teaching method.
The teachers across schools in Saudi Arabia need to make more effort to adopt more co-teaching
practice. The teachers have the will to learn more about co-teaching, so education stakeholders
need to address the problem from a training perspective. The findings also indicate that planning
is also important before teachers set out to teach co-taught lessons. Such planning should not
take too much time (less than five hours). Good enough, the school principals who took the
survey recognize the importance of co-teaching, and they have moved to build an enabling
environment for their teachers to pursue co-teaching.
Conclusion
Saudi Arabian schools still lag behind in the adoption of co-teaching. Most of the
teachers do not even know all the four approaches of co-teaching. In comparison, the US has
made significant strides in the adoption of co-teaching as an instructional method. Effort should
be made to improve co-teaching practice in Saudi Arabia. This approach would help to reduce
student-to-teacher ratio and enhance the learning ability of students (Prizeman, 2015). There is a
policy perspective to this matter, where the lead education policymakers in Saudi-Arabia need to
entrench co-teaching as one of the required instructional method in schools. The other step is to
offer training to the teachers on what co-teaching is all about. They need to know the various
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approaches of co-teaching. They should also learn the importance of lead planning time,
collaboration, and how one can apply co-teaching in a classroom setting.
For Further Study
This study opens up new questions such as the desirable skillset that teachers must possess to be
able to apply co-teaching. Which specific training do the teachers across Saudi Arabia need in
order to be able to apply co-teaching. Other areas of study that may be explored include the merit
of co-teaching against individual teaching. One would want to know how effective is co-teaching
as compared to individual teaching when both are applied as the sole approach in teaching.
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References
Austin, V. L. (2001). Teachers' beliefs about co-teaching. Remedial and Special Education, 22(4),
245-255.
Conderman, G. (2011). Middle school co-teaching: Effective practices and student reflections.
Middle School Journal, 42(4), 24-31.
Embury, C, D., & Dinnesen, S. M. (2012).Co-teaching in inclusive classrooms using structured
collaborative planning. Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and
Learning, 10, 36-52.
Ferguson, J. & Wilson, J. C. (2011). The co-teaching professorship: Power and expertise in the
co-taught higher education classroom. Scholar-Practitioner Quarterly, 5(1), 52-68.
Forbes, L., & Billet, S. (2014). Successful co-teaching in the science classroom. Science Scope,
61-64.
Friend, M., Columbia, D., & Clarke, L. (2015). Co-teaching versus apprentice teaching: an
analysis of similarities and differences. Teacher Education and Special Education, 38(2)
79-87.
Kariuki, M. (2013). Co-teaching in graduate programs. Retrieved from
http://www.intellectbase.org/journals.
King-Sears, M. E., Brawand, A. E., Jenkins, M. C., & Preston-Smith, S. (2014). Co-teaching
Perspectives from Secondary Science Co-teachers and Their Students with Disabilities.
Journal of Science Teacher Education, 25(6), 651-680.
Laughlin, K., Nelson, P., & Donaldson, S. (2011). Successfully applying team teaching with
adult learners. Journal of Adult Education, 40 (1), 11-18.
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Murdock, L., Finneran, D., & Theve, K. (2015). Co-teaching to reach every learner.Educational
Leadership, 40-47.
Prizeman, R. (2015). Perspectives on the co-teaching experience: examining the views of
teaching staff and student. REACH Journal of Special Needs Education in Ireland, 29(1),
43-53.
Seymour, M. W., & Seymour, D. (2014). Are two professors better than one? Student and faculty
perceptions of co-teaching. The International Journal of Learning: Annual Review,20, 3952.
Simpson, J. F., Thurston, R. J., & James, L. E. (2001). Exploring personality differences of
teachers for co-teaching. Journal of Instructional Psychology,41(4), 100-106.
Tschida, C. M., Smith, J. J., & Fogarty, E. A. (2015). It just works better: Introducing the 2:1
model of co-teaching in teacher preparation. East Carolina University, 11-25.
Vaughn, S., Schumm, J. S., & Arguelles, M. E. (1997). The ABCDEs of co-teaching.
Teaching Exceptional Children, 30, 4-10.
Vermette, P. J., Jones, K. A., & Jones, J. L. (2010). Co-teaching in the university setting: Promise
and practice in teacher education. National Teacher Education Journal, 3(3), 49-57.
Walther-Thomas, C. (1997). Co-teaching experiences: The benefits and problems that teachers
and principals report over time. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(4), 395407.
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Appendices
Survey Questions for Winfield Kansas Elementary Schools
Primary questions
How does Co-Teaching affect the classroom environment?
Participants
Two principals and four general teachers.
Type of collecting data
Survey.
1. Does co-teaching affect the classroom environment positively?
2. Do students learn better in co-teaching classes than they did previously?
3. Does students engagement increase in co-teaching classes?
4. Do teachers who are co-teaching cooperate consistently?
5. If you are a principal, do your teachers co-teach constantly?
6. If you are a teacher, do you prefer to co-teach instead of teaching individually?
Secondary questions
How does Co-Teaching affect the classroom teaching
method?
Participants
Four general teachers.
Type of collecting data
Survey.
1. Do you plan with your co-teacher comprehensively?
2. How many hours a week do you spend with your co-teacher on lesson planning and
3.
4.
5.
6.
assessment?
Which approach of co-teaching do you and your co-teacher use the most?
While you are co-teaching, do you teach comfortably?
Do students respect co-teaching rules?
Do you prefer co-teaching in new lessons?
Secondary questions
What are the advantages and disadvantages of CoParticipants
Teaching?
Two principals, four general teachers and two focus groups
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of 6 10 of students.
Type of collecting data
Survey.
1. As a principal, do you encourage teachers to co-teach?
2. As a teacher, do you struggle in co-teaching?
3. As a student, do you like co-teaching classes?
4. For all, do you think that co-teaching is beneficial?
5. For all, do you see more positive sides of co-teaching than negative sides?
6. For all, what are the advantages of co-teaching?
7. For all, what are the disadvantages of co-teaching?
Secondary questions
How does Co-Teaching affect the classroom teaching
method?
Four general teachers.
Survey.
Participants
Type of collecting data
Have you co-taught?
If yes, answer the A, B, C, D and E questions:
A. Do you think that planning with your co-teacher is necessary?
B. How many hours a week do you should spend with your co-teacher on
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Secondary questions
What are the advantages and disadvantages of CoTeaching?
Participants
Two principals and four general teachers.
Type of collecting data
Survey.
1. As a principal, do you encourage teachers to co-teach?
2. As a teacher, do you think that you will struggle in co-teaching?
3. For all, do you think that co-teaching is beneficial?
4. For all, do you think that co-teaching has positive side more than negative side?
5. For all, what do you think the advantages of co-teaching are?
6. For all, what do you think the disadvantages of co-teaching are?
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Principals:
1. How often do you encourage your teachers in co-teaching per semester?
2. Do your teachers collaborate easily?
3. Do you support co-teaching in every grade level in elementary school?
4. What points do you consider in evaluating teachers format when they co5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
teach?
Do you think that co-teaching positively affects the classroom environment?
What is your philosophy on co-teaching?
Do you think co-teaching can work between two general education teachers?
How can you evaluate teachers who co-teach?
What kind of support do your teachers need in co teaching?
Teachers:
1. Have you co-taught?
2. What is your role in co-teaching?
3. What subject and grade level do you prefer to co-teach?
4. Does your desire increase in co-teaching?
5. Do your students enjoy learning while you are co-teaching?
6. Is the class period time adequate for co-teaching?
7. What are some of the reinforcements and consequences you employ in the coteaching classroom?
8. What aspects of the curriculum are you most comfortable co-teaching? Least
comfortable?
9. How well do you tolerate student movement in the classroom during coteaching?
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Secondary questions
How does Co-Teaching affect the classroom teaching
method?
Participants
Four general teachers.
Type of collecting data
Interview (Structured, Unstructured and Semi structured).
1. How long do you spend a week in planning with your partner in co-teaching?
2. Do you apply all of co-teaching approaches?
3. Do you prefer a specific approach of co-teaching in specific subject or grade
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
level?
Do you struggle in co teaching in any way?
What type of co-teaching do you prefer? Why?
What type of assessment do you use while you are co-teaching?
Can you explain how co-teaching affect the classroom teaching methods?
When you are co-teaching, how do you cover all students needs?
Secondary questions
What are the advantages and disadvantages of CoTeaching?
Participants
Two focus groups of 6 10 of students.
Type of collecting data
Focus group.
1. How do you define co-teaching?
2. How many times a week are you involved in a classroom that has co-teachers?
3. How do you feel in the classroom that has co-teaching?
4. What approach of co-teaching do you like most?
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