Facilitating Collegial Groups for Special Education

Collaboration and Resolution in a Special Education Class Collaborative groups are basic to the provision of special education services. Professional collaboration eases the problem solving that is inherent to serving students with disabilities (Brownell, et al., 2006). Special education teachers and specialists possess knowledge and skills that are not resident in the population of general education teachers -- unless they have received training in special education techniques and strategies (Brownell, et al., 2006).

The literature indicates that both general and special education teachers benefit from opportunities to collaborate, but sustainability research indicates that teachers benefit in different ways when they institute collaborative practice (Brownell, et al., 2006). Teachers who adapt to the demands of collaborative practice and adopt strategies that have been acquired through collaboration evidence differences in the following areas: Adapting instruction, curriculum, pedagogy, student-centered instruction, student management, and reflection on instruction (Brownell, et al., 2006).

Stakeholders in Collaborative Group Three primary types of collaborative groups are important in the provision of special education services at the school level. One collaborative group is tied to the Individual Education Plan processes, with stakeholders of this group determined by the specialist services that are needed by the student with disabilities. Another type of collaborative group engages in planning for the entire population of stakeholders in any given school.

The members of this collaborative group are generally heads of departments and those with particular outstanding knowledge that enables the best possible configuration of services and supports. The responsibilities of this group are to ensure that the systems, structures, and philosophies of the school provide support to the implementation of Individual Education Plans for children with disabilities, and also that these systems, structures, philosophies, and cultures do not hinder goal attainment or inadvertently create hardship or jeopardize the chance of students to be successful at their schools.

The third type of collaborative group primarily serves teachers and specialists, who work directly with one another to modify or adapt curriculum and instruction, and to generate synergy from their collective efforts to create sound pedagogical fit with the needs of students with disabilities. Objectives of Collaborative Groups The objectives of the collaborative groups are to share information and expertise, to collectively solve problems and allocate resources, and to ensure the most effective and inclusive educational opportunities for students with disabilities in the school.

The objective of the collaborative groups is to collectively articulate a mission and work to achieve it. In order to provide students with their highest possible levels of achievement that aligns with curriculum frameworks and state standards, the collaborative teams must collect, analyze, and act on a broad range of data and information. Moreover, the collaborative teams must figure out ways to improve student achievement outcomes when the data does not demonstrate that the current approaches to instruction are obtaining the desired results.

Collaborative teams of special and general educator must devise ways to use the state standards and the curriculum frameworks to design and develop assessment, curriculum, and instruction that effectively optimize achievement for all students with and without disabilities or special needs. Inquiry into practice and reflection about practice should be a collaborative endeavor that engages both special education teachers and general education teachers in efforts to continuously learn and develop as professionals.

As a natural extension of these efforts, both professional educators in schools need to conduct outreach and collaborate with family members and members of the community. These outreach efforts need to focus on tailoring the school response, teaching, and curriculum to local standards and needs, while ensuring that curriculum is aligned to state frameworks and standards. Dealing with Conflict Group discussions among collaborative team members sometimes get contentious and are often animated and somewhat chaotic.

Members of the group may talk over each other and interrupt each other in the heat of the moment and the excitement of ideas. Wit good moderation, a collaborative group can serve as the springboard to great, new ideas. The objective of having a moderator is fundamentally to keep the group moving forward and on target for their mission.

This means that the moderator will encounter times when they use a heavier hand than they would like in order to ensure that all members of the group have an equal opportunity to present or refute ideas. Under the current system for dealing with underperforming schools, conflict can be a result of the need for radical changes in the way schools operate and substantive replacement of wide swaths of staff. Indeed, a U.S. Department of Education practice guide from 2008 provides support for collaboration among stakeholders in schools.

The guide is titled "Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools" (ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/practiceguides) and it specifically attributes teacher collaboration as driver of dramatic turnarounds in 35 chronically low-performing schools. Turnaround is defined as "substantial gains in student achievement within three years" (Herman, et al., 2008). Facilitation of Collaborative Groups The same sort of approaches that work well in a negotiation can be applied to the collaborative meeting of diverse members.

Negotiator consider the interests of members of the group so that they can discern what is important to the others in the group, what their pain points actually are, and what kind of solutions are likely to elicit support. The synergy that can develop through the collaborative processes in collaborative groups is strengthened when group members listen to understand. Facilitation of group process in collaborative meetings is a little like dancing backwards.

"In a discussion we listen to try to understand the other member's points-of-view so we can edit and adjust our own. In a dialogue, the listening becomes the antecedent of our own contribution to what will become new knowledge we all share" (Ferguson, 2006).

A well moderated collaborative group fosters the sharing processes so that the members learn new techniques, gain insight into the effectiveness of their instructional strategies, and they learn about each other -- a variable that improves the overall insight about teaching and learning -- and about effective teaming (Kardos & Johnson, 2007). Exposure to the mindsets and perceptions of other generally results in cross-pollination of sorts, and may help to establish a new variety of hybrid professionals.

A good facilitator is able to bring members of the collaborative group to share a common store of skills and knowledge. Formal studies on the benefits of collaboration for teachers and schools have shown positive outcomes. A 2006 study by the RAND group reviewed the Schools and Staffing surveys conducted by the federal government; the review showed that beginning teachers evidenced lower turnover rates in schools that had programs for induction and mentoring, and that emphasized collegial support relationships (Guarino, 2006).

A survey conducted with 2000 current and former teachers in California schools showed that, "teachers felt greater personal satisfaction when they believed in their own efficacy, were involved in decision making, and established strong collegial relationships" (Futernick, 2007). Conclusion One can not escape recognition that the spectrum of information and skills necessary to work with the contemporary.