The Importance of Collaboration in Special Education

When you hear about collaboration in school, you might assume that it’s just general education teachers collaborating in writing lesson plans. But just as important as that, special education teachers must work with general education teachers to plan for the year and support student success in school. A master’s degree in special education can teach you strategies and help spark ideas about how to work with other teachers, students and even parents to meet your student’s needs.

 

In this post, we’ll discuss the importance of collaborative teaching in special education.

 

What Is Collaboration in Special Education?

 

For students with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND), various professionals and loved ones usually work to provide the best opportunity for them to succeed in school. These parties all collaborate to plan and implement services in support of student success.

 

Collaboration in special education aims to ensure that all students receive lessons and assignments that meet their individualized needs.

 

Benefits and Importance of Collaboration in Special Education

 

Collaboration is a win for all students in special education, as well as for the many people who help them. Here are six reasons why working together to meet the needs of those with social, mental, or physical disabilities is a good thing.

 

1. Promotes Inclusive Learning

 

Learners are more likely to have access to appropriate types of assistance when teams of professionals are available to support their academic, physical and emotional needs. It also encourages a sense of belonging for everyone involved as students with disabilities are integrated into general education classrooms.

 

2. It Supports Differentiated Instruction

 

Collaboration in special education also offers greater opportunities to cater to individual skills and abilities in helping meet a broad range of student needs. This differentiated instruction allows teachers to teach students by adapting lessons to what students are interested in, how they learn, and how they excel.

 

3. Encourages Student Engagement

 

Making sure that students are not only surrounded by their peers but also by a large number of supportive staff members means that they will more likely receive the individualized attention needed to engage with the learning. Students with disabilities can learn not only their learning but also their social skills in an engaging special education classroom or general education setting.

 

4. Increases Educational Transparency

 

Special education requires regular contact among all who are working as a team. This open communication among professionals and with parents:

 

  • It keeps everyone on the same page.
  • It values all knowledge and opinions.
  • Builds trust and respect

 

5. Incorporates Wide-Ranging Expertise

 

Everyone at the table has a different set of skills and experiences from special education teachers who tailor lessons to the needs of students with disabilities to the social and emotional support professionals. Working together to help the student, these professionals and family members can pool their knowledge to identify problems and develop creative solutions.

 

6. Broadens Professional Knowledge

 

Working with other professionals in planning and problem-solving can enhance educators’ skills and knowledge and help them borrow expertise from others. As educators gain experience these opportunities for professional development are critical. If they choose, this skill development can also help to build on their salary as a special education teacher.

 

Teachers With Students

Free Students inside a Classroom Stock Photo

New students will come to your school each school year, and new students will join your caseload. Other schools allow special education teachers to keep the same special education students year after year because the special education teacher gets to know the special education students and their parents well. However, schools may assign different caseloads each year. You also have to know your students not only their needs but their personalities. They will be part of their education decisions in individualized education program (IEP) meetings and will have a say in discussions about accommodations and future planning for special education students in higher grades. This is an important special education collaboration with these older students because it can allow them some responsibility for their education as well as their goals and actions.

 

Behaviour also involves collaborating and understanding special education students. For those students who are especially challenging, it is important to learn what their triggers are and what you can do to keep their behaviour in check. It often takes time and the student has to be talked with to develop a plan so the student can stay in the classroom and stay focused.

 

Teachers Working With Teachers

 

If you are a special education teacher, you are responsible for every student on your caseload. It includes the responsibility to put in place accommodations for students, and the responsibility to see that students achieve their goals. Special education collaboration makes this goal easier. You may be the one keeping up with the paperwork for the student, but you and your general education collaborator are both responsible for the student in the classroom. Collaborate and help the student succeed is working as a team, developing a plan for the student and communicating openly. A master’s degree in special education could provide you with different ideas and strategies that you can use with a general education teacher to help these students be successful in the class.

 

You might be an inclusion teacher working with a general education teacher and you might go into his or her classroom and help with the special education students. This is the perfect time to work as a team to help the class as a whole be more successful. For instance, you could teach a small group of students while the general education teacher works with the other students in the class. The general education teacher’s comfort level with your collaboration may determine how much this technique relies on it, but if you and the general education teacher communicate and work together, this can lead to the two teachers bringing the whole class together, rather than isolating the special education students.

 

Teachers Working With Parents

 

A special education student’s parents can sometimes be a challenge, even if everything seems to be going well at school. These parents are intimidating, but from the get-go, you must let the parents know that you are here to help their student succeed. It is about collaboration and constant communication. The parents must agree to the IEP for their student, but you shouldn’t only be talking about the student’s progress in school during this time. Another way to get ideas about what could help the student in the classroom is to collaborate with parents, and you can share strategies for success that the parent can use in the student’s larger life.

 

Special education collaboration doesn’t always result in instant change, but many general education teachers appreciate the autonomy of being able to make their own decisions in the classroom. But if the students and parents are all in agreement with sharing their ideas and strategies, the student could be on the way to a successful education.

 

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