Ripley (1997) defined collaboration as follows: “An effective team of teachers will work together as equal partners in interactive relationships, with both involved in all aspects of planning, teaching, and assessment” (Ripley, 1997, p. 2). Collaboration within the field of inclusive education involves a range of educational professionals.
There are advantages in collaboration between educational stakeholders and teachers. Teachers are able to improve the learning of their students with disabilities, as they change the curricula or any special programs to accommodate the students’ needs. Teachers sometimes have their own concerns about how to implement the best possible learning methods for students with disabilities (Ainscow, Booth, & Dyson, 2004). A collaborative approach here, can offer different methods of teaching to solve the problem. The following section will consider the different roles within collaboration.
Collaboration between professionals and teachers to address the needs of students with disabilities is one of the principles for successful inclusive education (Smith & Tyler, 2011; Trepanier-Street, 2010). Inclusive education requires creative thinking and teaching methods. Teachers might sometimes be frustrated, and other times elated. Those moments of success will give them the passion to move on and overcome their fear of trying different strategies for successful inclusive education (Anderson & Antonka, 1992; Monahan, Marino, & Miller, 1996; Simpson, 2005). Collaboration, via inputs from other teachers, can reduce frustration when teachers’ current methods fail. Although collaboration between teachers can help to reduce the workload and stress of the other teacher when they work collaboratively
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with students with disabilities in the classroom, educators and policymakers also believe that such work can effectively engage such students (Giangreco, Edelman, Broer, & Doyle, 2001).
Teachers might not have the skills to do what they need to do in the inclusive classroom, thus inhibiting effective observations. In the case of such teachers, Carrington (1999) argues that professional collaboration between educators may produce effective teacher learning and the development if these the poorly skilled teachers observe other teachers who are knowledgeable about inclusive education processes in their inclusive schools. Some knowledgeable teachers can also guide their colleagues with limited or no knowledge, in trying different skills and practices that might work well in their inclusive classes.
Carpenter and Dyal (2007) added that there is a need for collaboration among teachers to share responsibilities in order to offer good learning goals for better inclusive education. Teachers can share the responsibilities associated with planning, classroom management and evaluation. Useful professional development in the inclusive education setting, as it relates to cooperative needs, further enhances the success of cooperative teaching situations (Carpenter & Dyal, 2007). A study conducted by Gebhardt, Schwab, Krammer, and Gegenfurtner (2015) on collaboration through training found that special and general education teachers who were involved in the study were satisfied with their teamwork, which enhanced students’
achievements and their social skills as well as improving the teachers’ positive attitudes towards inclusive education. Educational professionals’ involvement in the inclusive
education process has resulted in the exchange of strategies between professionals, increased understanding of all students’ needs, stronger instructional programs grounded in general education content for students with disabilities, and increased acceptance of students with disabilities by their peers as well as teachers (Sims, 2010; Smith & Tyler, 2011; Stockall, 2014; Trepanier-Street, 2010; Werts, Zigmond, & Leeper, 2001; Young, Simpson, Myles, & Kamps, 1997).
Different strategies of working together as professionals and education stakeholders in the inclusive education setting are extremely important for both teachers and students with disabilities to attain their goals. Teachers may implement many important procedures to
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deliver their teaching goals. In addition, in an extensive Swiss study by Abegglen and Hessels (2018), inter-disciplinary collaboration and team teaching was found to be a vital factor for the positive attitudes of teachers towards inclusion of students with disabilities. Inter- disciplinary collaboration between general and special education teachers was also found to be an essential pre-requisite in a Danish study by Hedegaard-Soerensen, Jensen, and Tofteng (2018).
Furthermore, Nel, Engelbrecht, Nel and Tlale (2014) studied teachers’ views on collaborations between different stakeholders within the South African inclusive education system using a questionnaire and interviews. The teachers perceived that they were not adequately trained or skilled to participate in collaborative partnerships on an equal status basis. They preferred to refer barriers encountered by learners to professionals and other supportive institutions to solve. However, the literature has shown conclusively that
collaboration between education stakeholders and professionals facilitates inclusivity. Yet, in Jordan, collaboration between educational parties has not been fully adopted
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher attitude may become a major barrier to successful inclusive education, if it is negative (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002). In either case, Woodcock, Hemmings, and Kay (2012) have suggested that teacher attitude is influenced by the level of training and the available resources. Thus, the absence of teacher training and resources will impact the attitude of teachers negatively (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002; Boyle, Topping, & Jindal- Snape, 2013; Cook, Tankersley, Cook, & Landrum, 2000; Gal, Schreur, & Engel-Yeger, 2010). Some other researchers have suggested that the types and levels of disability may also influence teacher attitudes (Al-Zyoud, 2006; Avramidis & Kalyva, 2007; Avramidis & Norwich, 2002; Forlin & Chambers, 2011). Within the inclusive classroom, teachers are facing pressure and difficulties in their roles. The challenges for teachers are to be practically prepared and have the ability to adjust their teaching styles to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Therefore, teachers are required to develop more positive attitudes to face the challenges. Some of the factors associated with teacher attitudes are discussed below.
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