Collaboration

& Co-Teaching
Group 4 - ITL 602 - May, 2019

Chris Atkin

Lisa Chitwood

Amanda Fay Sarmiento

Tania Gaxiola
 Collaboration vs. Co-Teaching
Powerful methods for improving all students

Collaboration Co-Teaching
Coming together with colleagues
01 can help teachers take on difficult 01 Teaching together in the same
classroom either with small groups
challenges or find new strategies to or whole class.
try.

Finding ways to share ideas with a

Defined roles can assist in effective
02 common goal of improvement for
themselves and their students.
02 co-teaching.

Teachers do not need to co-teach to

collaborate. They can seek out a
parent, administrator, speech Often, teachers collaborate to better
03 therapist, or anyone who can help 03 co-teach. This can include a special
education teacher and a general
share ideas for the greater good of
students. education teacher.
(Induction, 2010) (Five Tips, 2017)
 Did you collaborate with your classmates
when you were a student?
Explain why you did or did not.

I remember working in groups
in K-12 as part of reading and
math groups. Collaboration was
also a big part of my undergrad
education. The end results were
usually better than working on
our own.
-Tania
As a student, I was in a Medical
Careers Curriculum program
and many of our assignments
were collaborations. These
projects generally yielded more
unique problem solving ideas
and increased understanding of
the material.
-Lisa
I remember having to work in
groups on projects during K-12
which I would consider
collaboration. I often felt
uncomfortable for fear of what
others would think of my
contributions.
-Amanda
I can only remember one
time collaborating in the past
when I was a student. It was
a somewhat negative
experience as we did not
work together, we did it all
independently.
-Chris
 What do you think about collaborating with
your peers on the job?

Working together promotes
creativity and learning.
Collaborating with peers
who have common goals
and passions leads to
benefits for the students as
well as the teachers.
-Tania
Peer collaboration on the job can
lead to increased productivity and
a more inclusive environment.
Workplace collaboration allows us
to see things from a different
perspective while increasing our
own knowledge and skills.
-Lisa
The most influential changes
in our history were not
created by just one person
but by many working
together. If you’re going to
important in the development of
be the best teacher you can
be collaboration is key.
-Amanda
I feel that collaborating is
essential in today’s job market.
As a teacher, it is vital to
discuss ideas and challenges
with my peers. This is so
our team and individual.
-Chris
Photo Credit: Gerdes, C., 2018

Do you believe collaboration has a potential to enhance

students’ learning and their social skills?
Absolutely! Educational experiences that are active, social, engaging and student-owned lead to more profound learning. Students
that are actively engaging with the material will have greater levels of retention. Collaboration has the potential to enhance
students’ interpersonal social skills as they work together making decisions, discussing various aspects, and communicating their
thoughts, beliefs, and opinions.
 Benefits of Collaboration
Adult - Adult Student - Student
Higher Quality Instruction Improved Performance
Support to try new ideas and Increase in student retention and
different approaches. Opportunity to communication skills.
Increase creative instruction. Higher-level of thinking reached.

Increased Resources Student Focused

Access to more resources, Students take a more active role
both tangible and intellectual. in their own education.
Shared knowledge and skills. Increased student participation.

Understand Student Needs Promotes Social Awareness

Teachers increase knowledge of Appreciation of similarities and
SPED students needs. Better assist differences among individuals and
students w/ diverse learning styles. groups. Exposure to diverse
perspectives.

Increased Accountability Photo Credit: Strauss, V., 2015 Improved Self-awareness

Increased responsibility in promoting Confidence in own abilities.
student success. Ability to increase level Recognize own strengths,
of academic rigor. weaknesses, and interests.
 Classroom Benefits
Student - Student: Collaboration provides opportunities for students to engage on a more personal level. Working as a unit,
students begin to appreciate the similarities and differences among individuals and groups. Collaboration offers students insight
and understanding of diverse perspectives and cultural variances. Students can grow to appreciate others opinions, feelings,
and values. As students develop these social awareness skills they create an inclusive and safe learning environment.

Student - Adult: Teachers become facilitators of knowledge, while students gain more control of their own
education. Activities that are active, social, engaging, and student-owned can lead to more profound learning.
Students gain a deeper sense of responsibility. Teachers are better able to assist and observe small groups
versus a classroom full of individuals.

Adult - Adult: When teachers, specialists, and support staff collaborate they develop a deeper
understanding of all students’ needs. Teachers are able to develop and implement appropriate educational
experiences for SPED students when they collaborate with special education instructors and/or other
specialists. Teachers also benefit from the social aspect and increased support offered through collaboration
with other adults.

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.

-Helen Keller
 Effective Learning Outcomes
Increase the effectiveness of learning outcomes for all students
Power of co-teaching:
Accommodate diverse learning needs of all
students.

Teacher Growth in co-teaching Inclusion through co-teaching

Both general ed. and special Students of special needs can
ed. teacher can learn new skills achieve growth and
from each other that can help improvement while
them improve in meeting the mainstreamed in a general ed.
needs of their students. classroom.

Interpersonal Skills Collaboration

Through collaboration, students Opportunities for staff from
are able to strengthen skills that different fields to share ideas
were once considered a towards improvement.
weakness.

(Induction, 2010)
 Barriers to Collaboration
Ways to Overcome Them
Individualism and Conflicts Competition
of Interest ❖ Define and understand one another’s roles and
responsibilities
❖ Establish open, interpersonal communication with all
❖ Balance decision-making power across specific
team members
team members, so that whoever is most qualified to
❖ Determine the psychological types, needs, conflict
make a certain decision is the person who makes it.
styles, and stressors of all team members, and use
them to understand other members. A B
Differences of Opinion Learning Styles

❖ Practice active listening and listen for the real meaning C D ❖ Encourage teammates to share knowledge and

behind them. documents with one another in a central

❖ Have only one conversation at a time repository. Reward people for sharing knowledge.

❖ Focus on what the current speaker is saying instead of ❖ Build strong relationships across teams and

thinking of a reply business units to facilitate the transfer of tacit

❖ Let the speakers finish their thoughts before asking knowledge.

clarifying questions.
 Practical Recommendations
For Engaging in Collaboration and Co-Teaching

Provide leadership and Provide professional

support development support

1 2 3 4 5
Create emotionally Improve role design Provide assistance
supportive and provide resources and coaching
environments
Practical Application
Teacher - Teacher Collaboration

Creating an Emotionally Supportive Environment

1 Let teachers know you’re available to help

Take an interest and recognize their work

Listen to their thoughts, opinions and suggestions

Initiate conversation

Providing Leadership and Support

2
Encourage collaboration across departments

Provide examples

Clearly define individual responsibilities

Ensure time is allocated consistently for collaboration

Thank you
for viewing our presentation
References
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https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdf_case_studies/ics_begtch.pdf

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Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice. NY, NY: Pearson.

Stony, Jesse Lynn. (2019). What is collaboration and where does it come from? [Digital Image]. Retrieved from
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