Date of Award/Publication

2001

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MS in Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education

Abstract

Team teaching in an earth science classroom between a special education and a regular teacher can prove to be challenging, especially when the special education teacher is new to the teaching profession and does not have a background in science. Couple this with a regular education teacher that has never co-taught a class and classroom situations that are neither efficient nor productive are created. This creates frustration, resentment, and low self esteem. An accurate record of our daily education lives would reveal that there existed high levels of frustration toward on another, the curriculum, and the students. Our roles were very well defined, as the regular education teacher i did most of the educating, while the special education teacher was more like highly paid secretary. These roles continued for many months until we each took the Gately and Gately survey of co-teaching environments. This survey served as a starting point for the development of strategies and techniques that would redefine our roles and create an environment more conducive to learning. As a result we have developed into a more effective partnership in education.

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