Hesitations of Co-Teaching in Public Education: A Meta-Synthesis

Abstract

Although federally mandated, co-teaching and inclusion are not a common practice in the public-school setting. Special education can be very different depending on the building, teacher, population of students and district. Universal design was created to allow all programs and curriculum to be adapted to meet the needs of children in special education so they can access the general education classroom and learning materials. Many schools still have a special education classrooms where children in special education go to receive their education. In an ideal co-teaching model, both the general education and special education teacher would work together to provide education for children in special education in the general education classroom. Although special education needs to be individualized to meet the unique needs of individual learners, students taught in isolation miss social interactions, group dynamics, self- acceptance and the opportunity to gain the same knowledge as their peers without a diagnosed disability. This meta-synthesis research will look deeper into the teacher’s perspective in why or why not co-teaching is practiced at their school.