Team Teaching Special Educational Needs

To get us started….. What are your experiences of team teaching? Was it a success? Would you try it again? What are your views on team teaching? Do you think it could help you, in your own classroom?

School Context Bishop McEgan College, Macroom, Co. Cork VEC mixed school with 120 pupils DEIS school – JCSP, HSCL, project worker Approximately 30% pupils have SEN

SEN Department 2005  Set up department (3 teachers + Principal and Vice principal)  Weekly meetings  Began drafting SEN policy  Up skilling SEN department - SESS

Successful SEN department Timetabling – Non Irish and Non French The Team – “right people” – consistency Planning – time to meet. Support of whole staff, management, teachers, parents and outside agencies. ( Subject teachers, tutors, Guidance team, care team, pastoral care team, primary schools, Parents, HSCL, School Completion, NEPS, SENO, Enable Ireland, Speech & language therapist)

Whole school Approach  Up skilling all teachers with regard to SEN  Various presentations by SESS and SLSS “Engaging the Reluctant Learner”, “The Road to Inclusion and Differentiation” Team Teaching is mentioned as an effective strategy.

Whole school Approach…  Draft policy presented to staff.  Told we are entitled to DEIS  Presentations on DEIS and JCSP made to staff.  All subject departments up and running with regular meeting times.  SEN/ICT Partnership with Co Cork VEC

Whole School Approach 2007  Final draft of SEN policy accepted  DEIS and JCSP begins  Sign up to Co. Cork VEC team teaching pilot project  JCSP Success  Team Teaching Success  DEIS planning – literacy & numeracy

Team Teaching September 2007 – May 2008 One Team – Sarah & Máire No previous experience of team teaching TY English – 20 pupils, 9 pupils with SEN RA ranging from 8:11 to 15+

Types of Team teaching Traditional Team Teaching – both teachers actively share the instruction of content and skills, both teachers accept equal responsibility for all pupils and both teachers are actively involved throughout the class. Lead and support Teaching – one teacher leads the lesson assuming responsibility for teaching the content, the other teacher provides support and follow up activities. Parallel Instruction – the class is divided into two groups and each teacher delivers the same content and skills/ Both teachers are performing the same tasks in parallel fashion. Differentiated split-class team teaching – The class is divided into two groups according to a specified learning need. Each group is provided with activities to meet that specified need

Getting started….. Planning – 2 day meeting in May as part of pilot.  Ground rules – discipline & behaviour, workload, correcting, meeting parents.  Schemes – rough plan of work for year.  2/3 weeks lesson plan in detail.

Up and running…. Weekly meeting time. Keep principal and staff informed – staff meetings. Wider support – other teams to share difficulties, successful methodologies etc.

Methodologies – More successful!! More frequent!! Experiential Jigsaw – character wheels Group/pairwork Chalk & Talk Higher Order questioning Drama games Roleplay Freeze Frames

The Challenges Time!!! Teachers/Class being labelled. Picking a team that works! Getting used to another teacher in your class. Altering your personal approach. Evaluation – how will we know it works? Is the child whose Resources hours “pay” for team teaching benefiting as much as they would from one on one support!!!

The Benefits For Students: Better teaching and learning. Improved participation, self esteem, group dynamic, written work. Improved class test results. Less distractions due to improved discipline. Improved attendance. Overall attitude to class more positive – they are enjoying the innovation. Better teacher/student relationships.

Benefits…. Reaching the child who doesn’t qualify for learning support! They can now benefit from extra support!

The Benefits…. For Teachers: Improved teaching and learning Less correcting Less Stress More Support Greater sense of achievement Opportunity to learn new methodologies Less time spent on discipline - instant gratification/less boredom/two sets of eyes. Trying something different!!!

Evaluate – how do we know it’s working! Tracking results, attendance, discipline - red/yellow cards. Comparing with similar group not in receipt of team teaching. Student Questionnaire/feedback – 100% enjoying English, 15/17 see two teachers as a benefit.

In their own words….  Advantages “ You have more help if you get stuck”, “more help”, “learn more”, “getting more work done”, “they pay more attention to us”, “can get help faster”, “have better chance of getting a question answered, easier, help with the homework”, “less messing in the class”, “more strict so more work done”, “one teacher can help so the class isn’t disturbed”  Disadvantages “more giving out”, “if you get in trouble you have two teachers giving out”, “can’t mess”, “you get caught easier if you’re messing”. 7 pupils said there were no disadvantages

Group Work What opportunities can you see in your school for developing team teaching? What challenges would there be to setting up team teaching?