
"All students are 'our' students" is a recurring theme in Dr. Elizabeth Stein's Elevating Co-teaching with Universal Design for Learning - Revised and Expanded Edition (CAST, 2023). What is powerful about this idea is the shift in mindset that is needed to help co-teaching relationships meet their fullest potential and create truly inclusive educational environments guided by the UDL framework. But before we can describe why this is significant and what that could look like, it might be helpful to begin with a working definition of co-teaching.
What is co-teaching?
Co-teaching has traditionally been defined as having one general educator and one special educator teaming up to plan and deliver instruction (Cook & Friend, 1995). Although this has changed in recent years, and co-teaching now includes any two teachers working together to plan, organize, deliver, and assess students within a shared space (Bacharach, Heck, & Dahlberg, 2007).
I'd like to take this a step further and suggest that co-teaching can include more than two teachers. I have experienced success co-teaching with small groups and professional learning communities. Here are just a few possibilities for co-teaching partnerships:
- Subject area teams
- Grade level teams
- Team up with a teacher in the grade just above or just below the grade you teach - this works well in smaller schools where there may only be a single class for each grade
- All of the above (or any other team) can be supported by co-teachers from resource or special education, administrators, and any other educator who participates in the planning and delivery of instruction to students.
General and special educator co-teaching relationships are a reflection of beliefs about inclusion
Dr. Stein focuses mainly on co-teaching pairings between general and special educators throughout this text. The co-teaching relationship can be challenging for any two educators (e.g. two general education teachers, like a grade level team), but there are some unique challenges that present themselves when the pairing includes a teacher from general education with a teacher from resource or special education, which are well explored throughout Elevating Co-teaching.
One particular challenge faced by co-teaching pairings of general and special education teachers is an incomplete understanding of the role of each partner plays in the co-teaching relationship (and arguably with facilitating inclusion within the education system itself, but that's a whole other entry). Everyone's prior experiences helps form their expectations and it can be frustrating when educators aren't on the same page about inclusion and/or how to execute a co-teaching relationship. I have been in co-teaching relationships with teachers as a general educator and as a resource teacher, and I have observed such frustration from time to time. It usually results in a difference of opinion about what inclusion looks like, and what the purpose of co-teaching is: is it to increase student engagement and achievement for all students in an inclusive setting, or is it an opportunity for the same few students to get some extra help?
Dr. Stein shares a scenario in which a group of general educators, each specializing in a different subject area, struggled to form effective co-teaching partnerships with a special educator who was new to their school. The group expected the special educator to take on a 'helper' role in 'their' classroom, to focus on 'her' students (those they perceived as 'special education students'), and not to use up any of 'their' instructional time. In contrast, the special educator expected to be included in the planning and delivery of instruction to all students, as her expertise could enhance the team's ability to address learner variability, which is not limited to those who may be seen as 'special education students'. It's little wonder this group was experiencing frustration with their co-teaching partnerships. School leadership committed to helping create a shared vision for co-teaching among staff.
Leadership is key! Co-teaching to build a shared vision of inclusive learning environments
Leadership in systems, districts, and schools are instrumental in building capacity in teachers to form effective co-teaching relationships that are centred on increasing inclusion and student achievement. It is vital to communicate the roles and expectations for all co-teachers, not only to help avoid frustration but also to learn how to use co-teaching more effectively in order to improve achievement for all students in an inclusive educational setting. Having a better understanding of roles of educators will also help everyone develop a better appreciation for the expertise their partner brings to the co-teaching partnership, which will hopefully result in building trust and mutual respect, which in turn will result in more productive co-teaching relationships!
I think this begins with the idea that "all students are 'our' students". To me, it's foundational to real inclusion. There are only our students. Not 'regular students', 'special education students', 'resource students', 'IEP students' or any variation of segregating and othering students. If we embrace variability and acknowledge that it exists among all learners, then what is the purpose of choosing a group of students to consistently leave out or treat differently? If we include students in the classroom but deny them access to curriculum, that's not inclusion, that's geography. Leadership can initiate and continue this discussion among staff, and can also provide professional learning for teachers in co-teaching and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to support teachers in efforts to elevate their co-teaching relationships.
Teachers also need proper supports to effectively implement co-teaching, for example, they need to be given time to work with the co-teacher that doesn't interfere with existing preparation time. Building time into the workday for co-teachers to review student data and plan next steps would not only reduce frustrations, it would communicate that this practice is important. It is valued. It is necessary - thus increasing teacher buy-in and engagement. And if it is important, valued, and necessary, then it shouldn't be dependent on unpaid overtime.
The value in a co-teaching relationship guided by the UDL framework is that more teachers can add their expertise into the planning and delivery of curriculum to reach all students where they are. Elevating Co-teaching with Universal Design for Learning includes a lot of practical examples of how to implement the CAST UDL Guidelines in the classroom and would be an excellent subject for a book study for schools or teams of teachers who wish to adopt a co-teaching model, or to elevate co-teaching within their school.