A one-year study of the development of co-teaching in four Finnish schools

摘要

In this follow-up study, development of co-teaching was studied in four different schools in Helsinki, Finland. Teachers, altogether 54, 51 and 26, respectively, responded to an electronic questionnaire three times during one year. The attitudes towards co-teaching were positive although the frequency of co-teaching remained low. Co-teaching was seen as a developing mode of teaching and it was said to be suitable for all school subjects. Special teachers and class teachers had the most experience with co-teaching. The majority of respondents co-taught 2-5 lessons per week and that did not change during the follow-up, although monetary incentive was available to those who increased their co-teaching during the study period. For class-teachers, another class-teacher was most often the chosen co-teaching partner. Special teachers were frequent co-teaching partners for all teachers. The most common reason for not co-teaching was the lack of planning time. However, 15 minutes were considered enough to plan one lesson. The respondents had no education about co-teaching. Receiving more attention was the most often mentioned benefit of co-teaching for the students. Sharing and well-being were regarded as the greatest benefits of co-teaching for the teachers. The advantages and obstacles of co-teaching are discussed and some practical advice is given.View full textDownload full textKeywordsco-teaching, Finnish education system, benefits, barriers, team-teachingRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2012.691233