Browsing by Subject "Inklusiivinen kasvatus"

Co-teaching has become a common way of organizing teaching in recent years. Co-teaching is a method in which two equal teachers share responsibility for the planning, implementation and evaluation of the lesson. Co-teaching has been identified in previous studies as a viable means of teaching heterogeneous groups of students without the need for differentiated teaching solutions. The purpose of this case study is to find out how co-teaching in a Finnish teaching practice-school is implemented and what meanings teachers give to co-operation. Co-teaching is conceptualized as a combination of general education and special education in which teachers with different expertise work together to promote the inclusion of all students. The research is based on the idea of inclusion, the right of all children to study together in the same school with other children, regardless of their individual characteristics or disabilities. This case study was carried out using qualitative data collection and analysis methods. The research material was collected from a training school in Southern Finland during 2018. The focus of the study was on one special education teacher and two classroom teachers collaborating with the special education teacher. The material of the study was collected by interviewing the actors and by observing the practical work of the teachers. The interviews were conducted as semi-structured thematic interviews. The observation was carried out by videotaping co-teaching lessons. The research material was analyzed by means of theory-based content analysis. Co-teaching was carried out in the research school mainly by using the One teach, One assist model in which the special education teacher was the assisting one. The use of functional and diverse teaching methods, the structured structure of the lesson and the teachers' similar attitudes towards collaborative work were defined as aspects which promote teacher cooperation in this study. Cooperation and the ability of a special education teacher to bring their own expertise to co-teaching lessons were limited by negative attitudes towards co-teaching, teacher-led teaching methods, and the lack of joint planning time. The quality of co-teaching as a teaching method promoting inclusion must be further developed by strengthening teachers' knowledge of utilizing co-teaching methods. In particular, the transfer of special education teachers' expertise to co-teaching lessons should be promoted by encouraging special education teachers to become active actors in the planning, implementation and evaluation of co-teaching. In addition, co-teaching requires joint planning time included in teachers' working time, as well as training in the effective use of that time.