Chapters International

Overview:

Co-teaching has become an integral part of educators’ efforts to include students with special needs in typical classes while at the same time improving their learning and reducing the gap between their achievement and that of their peers. However, co-teaching is far more than assigning two teachers to a classroom. In this workshop, essential topics for building strong co-teaching partnerships and refining instructional practices will be explored.

Here are the guiding questions and related key topics we’ll address:

What is co-teaching? What are terms sometimes confused with co-teaching?
- The vocabulary and concepts of co-teaching
- Co-teaching v. team teaching v. collaboration v. inclusion
How do we build (or renew) our partnership?
- Professional roles of co-teachers
- Paraprofessionals / teacher assistants in the context of co-teaching
- Self-awareness and self-understanding
Why is co-teaching essential in today’s schools?
- Legislation and policy from around the world supporting co-teaching
- Data on co-teaching effectiveness from research about it
- Student, school, and school district data supporting co-teaching
How do we create instructional intensity through co-teaching?
- Description of six co-teaching approaches, including variations of them
- Strategies for grouping students for co-teaching
- Examples of lessons and evidence-based instructional strategies that are more easily implemented or enhanced through co-teaching
What is needed to make co-teaching sustainable?
- Common planning time
- Schedules for co-teachers
- Co-teaching class composition
- District and principal support for co-teaching
- Other classroom and school logistics for co-teaching
What are common co-teaching issues, dilemmas, and challenges?
- Partnership problems (reluctant partners; absent partners)
- Parent questions and concerns
- Getting started or renewing co-teaching practice
- Your additional questions and concerns

POTENTIAL AUDIENCE

K-12 teachers and special educators / learning support teachers; administrators; university teacher trainers.

MARILYN FRIEND

Marilyn Friend, Ph.D., has spent her career as a general education teacher, special education teacher, researcher, professor, administrator, teacher educator, and staff developer. She is Professor Emerita of Education in the Department of Specialized Education Services at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and she is Past President of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the educational success of children and youth with disabilities and / or gifts and talents. She is currently based in Washington, DC.

Dr. Friend has consulted with school professionals nationally and internationally (more than 3500 presentations and projects in the United States, Canada, Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia) as they collaborate to educate diverse groups of students, assisting them to create classroom partnerships through co-teaching, to form productive and efficient work teams, and to foster inclusive practices. She is the author or co-author of three widely used college textbooks on special education; a variety of co-teaching materials (for example, laminated quick-study guides) for teachers and administrators; more than 60 articles about collaboration, inclusive practices, and co-teaching; and a highly popular video series on co-teaching and other inclusive practices.Her work was recognized when she was named the 2016 recipient of the Teacher Education Division / Pearson Excellence in Special Education Teacher Education Award and most recently she was named to receive the 2019 Indiana University School of Education Distinguished Alumni Award for her local, national, and international contributions.

Venue:
Brisbane

8.30 am to 3.30 pm
Registration at 8.00 am
on the 16th August 2021.