Work in Front of the Kids

Kohler-Evans, Patty A. Co-Teaching: How to Make This Marriage Work in Front of the Kids. Education, 127, 2, 260-264. Summary The article “Co-Teaching: How to Make This Marriage Work in Front of the Kids” by Kohler-Evans discusses the implications and effects of co-teaching on children, and provides co-teaching lessons for teachers whoa re willing to improve class performance. The article provides both theoretical and practical research of the problematic issues. The author writes that general education teachers don’t try to meet the needs of all students, but it is inappropriate as students have different abilities to learn.

Moreover, disabled students should be provided with more care and attention than normal students. Therefore, co-teaching seems to be one of the most effective strategies to make teachers feel the needs of all students and to choose education program depending on that factor. As a result, a practical research was conducted to identify whether co-teaching was effective in improving overall students’ performance. During experiment two teachers were placed in one room at the same time. This process was called co-teaching.

Kohler-Evans continues that “co-teaching teams have been forced into the general education classroom where veteran teachers feel insulted to have a special education teacher placed in the room with the expectation that they both teach content area critical concepts”. (p. 260) She claims that results appeared encouraging. Despite the fact that teachers were forced to teach, not asked, the majority of teachers involved in the experiment said they were pleased with the outcome and were going to try again as it ensured positive effect of students’ performance.

However, the author claims that more studies are needed to identify exacts effects and outcomes of co-teaching on children, especially on children with special needs. Nevertheless, it is apparent that co-teaching is effective way to make students more involved in studying process and to improve their achievements. I think that one of the most important ideas of co-teaching is tendency to cooperation and partnership as working with another teacher will provide more new ideas about managing, planning and monitoring the perfect lesson. Apparent strength of the article is that the author doesn’t simply discuss effects and benefits of co-teaching.

Instead, she provides practical recommendations for those teachers whoa re willing to practice the technique of co-teaching. She recommends, for example, finding volunteers. Of course, many teachers are confident in their professionalism and they don’t want to be taught, but there are still teachers who are open to new ideas. It is important to note that co-teaching relations are an excellent opportunity for professional growth and development. Further, the author tells to place value on co-teaching and to refer to it as inclusive practice.

It is important as “when all students are valued, students without disabilities have the opportunity to develop into more compassionate and caring individuals”. (p. 262) However, the central advice is to have fun from co-teaching as it offers many opportunities for cooperation and collaboration, for exploring new teaching practices and improving performance. Knowledge Application I think the article is very informative offering use new fresh ideas about teaching practices. The information provided in the paper has improved and broadened my knowledge of co-teaching and its specific moments.

I think that this practice can be implemented in every classroom as it is a new opportunity for both teachers and students. Teachers will learn how to treat each other equally and how to share responsibilities. Students, in their turn, will be provided with wider range of information and knowledge. However, I don’t think that traditional education should be forgotten. Summing up, co-teaching gives an opportunity to share the best teaching moments with someone else.