By Hana Z. Alamri
Abstract
Collaboration is one of the best ways to ensure that a student will receive the greatest value from his or her education. This is true for general education students and also for special education students who are often diagnosed through collaboration. In order to be certain that effective collaboration is taking place, it is important that everyone involved (parents, educators, administrators and students) understand the importance of collaboration and how to carry it out. In conducting interviews of a variety of people involved in education, the responses reveal that most people understand how important collaboration is, but many differ about certain views on the limitations or details of the best ways to collaborate. This means that we must work hard to spread knowledge about the best collaboration methods so that everyone can be on the same page to reach the same goal.
Introduction
Although many articles, studies, and lectures about education include the term collaboration in countless contexts, there is not always a clear understanding of what collaboration means (Friend, 2013, p.104). Collaboration is defined by Friend and Cook as “A style for direct interaction between at least two co-equal parties voluntarily engaged in shared decision making as they work toward a common goal” ( Friend, 2013, p.104). In special education, collaboration is central and critical because it includes different resources such as general and special education teachers, principals, psychologists, parents, students, and other school staff or specialists making and creating plans for students with disabilities. Collaboration allows parents and students to be involved and also allows educators to create an inclusive plan for a student’s education in order to create a team effort in ensuring students’ success. Although all educators agree that collaboration is fundamentally advantageous for the student to achieve higher success, it is essential that everyone involved in the collaboration process understands the importance of collaboration. In order to find out more information about how much the people involved in collaboration understand the process, I have conducted several interviews in which individuals involved in the education of students with disabilities provided answers about their understanding of collaboration and their role in collaboration as well as assessed their understanding of whether collaboration may produce any negative outcomes.
Literature Review
Because collaboration has been found to be so effective and necessary in categorizing and serving the needs of children, especially those with disabilities, several laws have been put into place that actually require collaboration to take place before a child is placed into a special education class. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA), collaboration must occur between multidisciplinary teams in order to identify a child as having special needs and also to create a plan that is specially designed to meet the specific educational needs of each child (Yell et al, 2009 p.178). In addition to this, there are various other statutes that require educators to work in teams during the development of certain programs such as the Individual Education Plan (IEP). These laws and policies reveal the ways in which collaboration has recently been shown to be indispensable in certain aspects of education and that it is especially important in more specific cases such as students with disabilities.
According to Friend (2011), there are many ways to implement collaboration in special education: co-teaching, collaboration teams, and consultation (p.111). If possible, a combination of the three will yield the best possible results for students in any classroom setting. If a school or teacher does not have the means to accomplish all of them, it is at least necessary to make an attempt to collaborate in one of the three ways. Of the three, co-teaching often serves to be the most useful and effective method of collaboration because of the direct help a teacher is provided through the assistance of another teacher or specialist. Consultation and collaboration teams are also significantly effective and can have great benefits when paired with co-teaching. In any case, educators ought to strive to carry out as many of these methods of collaboration as are possible (Friend 2011, p.115).
When the general education teacher collaborates with the special education teacher or another specialist in the general classroom, they apply the co-teaching method of collaboration. Friend (2011) defines co-teaching as “a service delivery model in which two educators – one typically a general education teacher and one a special education teacher or other specialist- combine their expertise to jointly teach a heterogeneous group of students, some of whom have disabilities or other special needs, in a single classroom for part or all of the school day” (p. 118). There are many types of co-teaching such as “one teach, one observe; one teach, one assist; and station teaching …” (p. 120). Co-teaching creates a collaborative environment in the general classroom, and this ultimately establishes inclusion because special and general education teachers work together during planning and teaching as well as evaluation process to meet all students’ needs. “Effective teams of teachers work together as equal partners in interactive relationships, each of them involved in all aspects of planning, teaching, assessment, and classroom management and behaviour” (Tzivinikou, 2015, p.111).
Team collaboration can be described as “a style for direct interaction between at least two coequal parties voluntarily engaged in shared decision making as they work toward a common goal” (Yell at el, 2009, p.177). There are different types of this team: multidisciplinary teams, interdisciplinary teams, and transdisciplinary (Friend, 2011, p.116; & Yell at el, 2009, p.178). Collaborative teams can be formed completely from educational staff within the school or can be formed from parents, guardians, and others involved in a child’s education. Palmer and Wehmeyer (2006) developed an adapted version of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) that they called the Self-Determined Learning Model of Support (SDLMS) This allows students to determine their own actions and make choices that help them to solve problems and can be implemented in a home setting. “If a teacher is using SDLMI in the classroom, parents working on a complementary process at home…reinforce what is being taught at school” (Palmer et al, 2006, p. 37-8). The combination of these processes assists the student in eventually becoming more independent and capable.
Consultation is another form of collaboration that occurs between educators and education professionals such as psychologists or counselors. The consultant is able to provide a third-party perspective on the issues and is often highly-trained in child psychology. This insight from a consultant can help in a situation where a teacher is not able to see the challenges with students from an outside perspective. Since the professional is never in contact with the student, they provide an indirect service that aids the educator in making the best decisions about what to do when they encounter the student directly (Friend, 2011, p. 123-4). Typically the professional usually does not spend prolonged periods of time with the teacher; rather they meet once or several times a week to discuss the progress of select students and if the intervention is working as planned or needs revision.
For each type of collaboration there are countless benefits for everyone involved in the process. The most obvious effect of collaboration is that educators become responsible for students in different capacities. One area in which they take charge is the diagnosis and assessment of students. Educators (including teachers, principals, school staff, and other specialists) work together to test students and observe their academic performances and behaviors. Friend mentions that in collaboration, “professionals meet as a group to systematically identify and resolve student, service delivery, or other professional problems” (2013, p.112). This statement reveals how collaboration supports the team and the students. For example, in team collaboration, when a student has speech or language disabilities, the speech-language therapist meets with the team in the school and gives its members the strategies that will help the student in the general or special education classroom, and teachers understand how they can successfully teach the student in the class. Educators also can share these strategies with parents to help their child at home. Another benefit of collaboration is how general and special education teachers work together. In the class, collaboration results in teachers team-teaching, and outside the class it leads teachers towards becoming mentors to each other, sharing teaching resources and providing positive motivation (“The IRIS Center”). Co-teaching also enables teachers to teach together inside the general education classroom to help themselves and their students to improve students’ learning, social, and behavioral skills.
Another area in which educators become responsible for students is monitoring the effectiveness of the plan they have created. Collaboration guarantees that each one in the team has the “…responsibility for celebrating success and analyzing failure” (“The U. S. Department”). Teachers notice how these strategies have helped students improve their skills because co-teaching requires teachers to observe their students individually in the class. For instance, in every meeting, they look at students’ data such as their scores on tests and decide if plans are effective or need to be revised. An additional advantage of collaboration is a rise in communication between teachers and students (“The U. S. Department”). In co-teaching, for example, one teacher can focus on teaching the lesson while another teacher can walk through the class to help struggling students by talking individually and answering their questions. In addition, educators ask parents whether their child’s skills have improved or not. In team collaboration, teachers and other educators feel pleased, develop their occupational and personal skills, and use multiple creative methods to monitor their students’ progress (“The IRIS Center”; & “The U. S. Department”). Indeed, all these aspects make educators more accountable for improving their students’ performance.
Yet, the benefits of collaboration are not limited solely to the educators involved. Another substantial effect of collaboration is that parents start actively communicating with educators about their child’s needs and progress academically and socially. They attend meetings and give information about their child’s disability. For example, in team collaboration, parents give their opinion about the IEP, an Individualized Education Program, and what they want or need for their child. Parents in collaboration also do not just listen to other educators (Friend, 2013, p.126-127) when they are involved in each meeting; they can play and take a serious role in the planning, enforcement, and modification of their child’s learning. As a result, they understand more about their child’s educational progress. Furthermore, collaboration provides parents chances to know how to deal with and to teach their child at home (“The IRIS Center”).
For instance, when parents always meet with the collaboration team and participate with them in the formation of new ideas and observations, they ultimately strengthen their child’s opportunities to improve, and they are equipped with the knowledge of how to use these methods with their child any time outside the school. Parents can help themselves and can improve their child’s skills when they share important information about their child’s education and behavior with educators.
Through the collaboration team, students are also positively affected because they become engaged in their academic progress and self-worth. The collaboration team ensures each student’s specific needs are met by “…fitting services and programs into the child’s life instead of fitting the child into a program…. ” (Simpson & Bakken, 2011, p.217). Students can participate in meetings and share with educators, their parents, and other specialists. For instance, when students attend each meeting, they can talk about their challenges and learning styles and choose strategies that are suitable for them. Furthermore, students’ skills and academic achievements improve (“The IRIS Center”; “The U. S. Department”; Friend, 2013, p.104) because they receive effective teaching and strategies that meet with their needs. For example, all students in Beacons of Excellence schools show an increase in their academic performances because all educators, parents, and students collaborate in the students’ education (“The IRIS Center”). This example shows the benefit of collaboration in schools for all students, and it is also extremely important in special education for students with disabilities. When collaboration is performed carefully, the students receive accurate, diverse instruction by a specialized team.
Most strikingly, Wood (1992) mentions the most important benefit of collaboration for students is that the number of students who are referred to special education decreases (“The U. S. Department”). In team collaboration, students also feel equal with their peers because they are taught with their peers and receive the same activities in the general education classroom. Peer tutoring chances also increase and students can learn and help each other. Thus, these opportunities positively affect special education students’ emotions, and they become more confident because they achieve their goals. They also feel that they are a part of their school society because educators, parents, and students work as a family and share mutual goals and duties (“The IRIS Center”). Students are provided the general education curriculum, so that promotes inclusive practices (“The IRIS Center”; & Friend, 2013, p.104). If students have opportunities to become involved in collaboration, they will benefit academically, socially, and behaviorally.
Even though all of these effects are positive, there is a minor obstacle: a lack of time for collaboration (Friend, 2013, p.129-130; “the IRIS Center”; & “the U. S. Department”). First of all, collaboration includes many activities that take a long time to organize. Thus, educators need time to prepare how they assign these activities and determine the best ways to preform them. A collaboration team may also be busy and might not be able to plan for each meeting (Friend, 2013, p.130). If this happens, it reduces the effectiveness of collaboration. However, the collaboration team usually tries to find alternative ways to solve these problems such as communicating via email or other electronic methods. Even though these forms of communication cannot solve the whole issue, they can help in planning for meetings. Because collaboration is quite beneficial and required for educators and their students, they should fine solution for the issue of time
Another barrier that often gets in the way of collaboration is miscommunication between parents and teachers. Often, the teachers and parents may not be speaking the same language; this can be taken figuratively or literally as both can cause major trouble with collaboration. In the figurative sense, sometimes educational professionals use terminology or acronyms that parents cannot understand or are not familiar with. In order to overcome this, teachers must be sure that what they are saying is clearly understood by parents by avoiding jargon or questions that echo their opinions (Friend, 2011, p.111). If this is the case, the parents will not understand the meaning of what the teachers or specialists are trying to accomplish and will not be able to provide accurate feedback about the situation.
If the educator and parent literally do not speak the same language, an even bigger problem is posed. If this is the case, a third-party translator may have to be hired. In schools with a high number of culturally and linguistically diverse parents, a translator might be hired to work for the school every day, or if there are very few parents who speak the language, the principal or the district can either hire a part time translator or try to involve the child to act as translator if they are able to effectively communicate in both languages. This can also be difficult because cultural differences often lead the two parties to have different ideas about what is best for a child. It is essential that educators do not undermine a student’s culture and keep an open-minded classroom that allows for the expression of one’s culture (Olivos, 2010, p.32). It is important that both parties remain flexible to avoid larger issues than the ones they are working to resolve.
Methodology
In order to analyze how well parents, teachers, students, and other educational staff members understand collaboration, I have conducted a thorough analysis of several responses to interview questions. Interview questions are the best way to ascertain and comprehend the exact opinions of those people involved in collaboration; this ultimately deepens insight into the various approaches to this practice. It also allows me to find out if there are any misconceptions about collaboration that need to be addressed in order to allow everyone involved to have the deepest understanding of the topic so that they might receive the benefits of such a helpful process.
Materials
Three different types of interviews were conducted via email on my personal computer. I needed to have internet access as well as an email account in order to send the questions to the participants of the study. I conducted five of the interviews face-to-face and transcribed the responses as the participants verbally shared their responses with me. I crafted interview questions that would provide answers that most accurately depicted the views of the differing groups of people in collaboration. I wrote them to understand their views as well to gain new ideas into the different methods of collaboration, as well as obstacles that they felt make collaboration difficult. The interview questions are as follows:
- What would be some positive effects of collaboration (educators, parents, and school staff working together) on a student’s education?
- What ages or grade levels in a student’s education should educators, parents, and other staff or specialists collaborate?
- What are the benefits of parents being involved in collaboration (working together)?
- If parents cannot meet with educators, then what are other ways they can collaborate?
- Do you think the student should be involved in collaboration (working together)? If so, what is the student’s role or duties in collaboration?
- What are the some barriers in establishing collaboration (working together)?
- What are the long-term effects of collaboration “working together” on a student’s life after finishing high school?
Participants
The participants were chosen based on a variety of factors. It was important for me to collect responses from people in a variety of age groups and professions. All names have been changed to protect the anonymity of the participants. First, I interviewed one seventeen year old high school student with learning disabilities called Jake. I also interviewed a nineteen year old general university student with no disabilities named Sarah who is earning her bachelor’s in Languages & Literature. I additionally interviewed a young woman called Allison, 22, who has been working with special education students every summer for the past 6 years as a tutor. Two teachers, one special education and one general were interviewed. The special education teacher is around 40 and called Rebecca. The general education teacher, Jessica, is in her mid-twenties. I also interviewed a student, Dean, who is earning his master’s degree in special education and is 56 years old. I interviewed a paraprofessional who is 30 years old named Leon. The final participant is the principal of an elementary school; her name is Lisa, and she is around 45 years old. The participants were selected in order to provide a variety of perspectives and responses.
Procedure
The first step in my research was to find who I would ask to participate in my study and make sure that they would agree to participate. Once all of my participants had consented, I sent emails to each one who would complete the interview via email. I allowed them about a week to consider the questions and provide full responses to them. For the interviews that I conducted face-to-face, I scheduled a time with each participant and met him/her in whichever location was most convenient for him/her to conduct the interview. When I received the responses to all of the different interviews, I printed off each of the responses and prepared them for analysis.
Data Analysis
When analyzing the responses, I took several steps to create the clearest picture of the overall consensus about collaboration. I first checked for any patterns and similarities in responses. If I found any repeated answers, I summarized them and noted them. I then searched through to note any answers that were particularly surprising or interesting to me. In addition, I searched for any responses that seemed to show that the participant had a specific misconception or disagreement about the way that collaboration worked or its importance. I then tried to create a brief summary of the responses that would concisely state the general consensus among the participants.
Results
The results of the study show that most of the participants, regardless of age group or discipline, generally seemed to agree in their responses. The responses were typically the same or similar, only varying in length or depth of description. Everyone seemed to agree that collaboration was important and each was able to offer several benefits. Additionally, most agreed upon the different ways in which team members are able to collaborate even if they cannot meet in person.
There were only two questions that seemed to have varied responses, the first being the question about when collaboration should be implemented. Although most everyone agreed that collaboration should occur at any age, some specified that earlier was better, and others mentioned middle school as being a particularly important time for collaboration to occur. I was surprised because the student with disabilities only mentioned middle school as being the most important. I thought he would have aligned with the general consensus that earlier was better. But with further research, this student’s response may actually correlate with what several other researchers mentioned about times of transition being important periods for collaboration. Middle school represents a big change for students, so it is one of the most important times to collaborate. Additionally, one participant noted high school as being the most important time to collaborate for students with special education because it is when the student is preparing to start his/her life as an individual and therefore must practice essential life-skills and master them. Despite the difference in when people think collaboration should start, most of them have a fairly accurate understanding of collaboration and place a significant amount of importance on it throughout most school years.
Another question that provided a variety of answers was the question regarding the barriers that limit collaboration. Typically, the educators said they found issues with encouraging the parents to play an active role in the collaboration process. While others mentioned that everyone involved sometimes lacks enthusiasm or motivation to carry out the necessary tasks to effectively collaborate. Other participants mentioned that there was a general lack of motivation that included teachers not actively participating in the collaboration process. Additionally, some mentioned that a lack of organization meant that those who collaborate are not always on the same page and are therefore sometimes working in opposite directions. One participant said that a large problem that can affect motivation is that sometimes people set limitations on what they believe possible and do not even attempt to work towards making it possible. In terms of the presence of language differences (as mentioned in the literature review), only one participant mentioned the difficulties caused by language barriers and how difficult it can be to collaborate if you cannot even speak the same language. These findings suggest that schools/educators need to have more honest and open discussions about how individuals involved in the process view the barriers of collaboration
One participant, who works with students with disabilities, gave an example of a student who had Down’s syndrome. She said that often those who were supposed to encourage the student during collaboration actually underestimated the student’s abilities instead. After all educators spent a few months of encouraging her to become more independent, the student had achieved more than she had in all her years at school. This shows the way that a positive and encouraging attitude is one of the key elements that must be present during collaboration. Additionally, most of the interview participants agreed that it was important for the student to be actively involved. The same participant who mentioned the student with Down’s syndrome also spoke of a boy with autism who was nonverbal. Although he did not speak, he did not like to hear others speak about a topic openly in front of him as if he did not understand. It is important that the opinions of the child are given high priority in considering lesson plans or other procedures for collaboration.
In general, there was agreement that collaboration is necessary and useful for any child. I think there is a greater awareness about the benefits of collaboration than I first believed. I think now the most important issue pertaining to collaboration is the disagreement on how and when collaboration can be achieved.
Conclusion
Through my study I found that most people involved in education understand that collaboration is important for students. Most everyone was able to list several ways in which students can benefit from it. The only areas where there seemed to be disagreement about collaboration were in stating what the barriers to collaboration are and when the most important age level is for collaboration. So it seems that most everyone has a good level of awareness about the importance of collaboration; the focus for researchers and educators now needs to be informing others about the ways in which collaboration can most effectively be achieved as well as when it is most useful for the students. To do this, researchers could, for example, definitely study and propose ways to keep teachers motivated in the collaborative process or create studies to compare and contrast the different effects of collaboration started in early education vs. middle school. Collaboration ultimately helps educators, parents, and students all become involved in education progress and present many benefits for all of them. When they plan strategies together as a team, everyone learns in the progress. “Parents and educators can make the most appropriate instructional decisions and reach more effective outcomes by collaboratively interpreting progress-monitoring data based on their collective knowledge of the child” (cook et al, 2011, p.29). However, when disagreement and lack of resources in the collaborative process occur, then educators and other members in collaboration team will not receive the positive effects for themselves and their students. All educators in special education should take into account collaboration since it will assist them and their students in planning and achieve their goals effectively and successfully when they accurately implement collaboration. “Learning to collaborate is a key construct that underpins many successful approaches to working with other personnel and agencies delivering services to students with special education needs and it is” (Gillies, 2014, p.327). Thus, it is essential that all people who work with special needs children learn and understand how and when achieve collaboration.
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About the Author
Hana Z. Alamri works as a lecturer at the Department of Special Education, College of Education, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. Hana graduated from University of Missouri – Kansas City (Missouri, USA) and earned Masters of Arts in Special Education. Previously, Hana earned Bachelor degree of Special Education from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. Then, Hana worked as a special education teacher at the Special Education Academy – Riyadh
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