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Philosophy of Special Education Collaboration

Sean Laughlin

University of Kansas

SPED 898

Dr. Brasseur-Hock

June 15, 2020

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Philosophy of Special Education Collaboration

Teaching in special education isn’t something that is a one-person job. A lot of

help and communication with others goes into the school year to help each student get the

most out of their classes. When multiple coequal parties come together to work towards a

common goal, it is called interpersonal collaboration (Friend & Cook, 2017). Special

Education as a whole would not be what it is without collaboration between teachers,

administrators, parents, therapists, etc.

Collaboration in special education is more important than general education

because of the constant adjustments having to be made throughout the students’ time K-

12. Special education students can change their behaviors, tendencies, and moods daily.

When there are changes in the student (could be positive or negative changes), it is

important for there to be a collaboration between their teacher(s) and administration in

order to all be on the same page. That is the main goal when collaboration occurs; for

everyone to be on the same page aiming for the same goal.

When collaboration occurs, there are many key players in the process, but three

specific individuals are most important. The head special education teacher that is around

the student most, obviously the student spends times with other staff members, but the

head teacher is present most. The next member of the collaboration that needs to be

extremely involved is the administrator that is the one who comes up the with game plan

and can put all of the correct pieces into place for the plan. And the last important

member that must be kept in the loop is the child’s guardian. Whether that is a biological

parent, adoptive, or whatever the home life is like; whoever is in charge of that student

once the final bell rings each day, needs to be informed and included in the decision
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making process. Other members who can most definitely be present in collaborations are

paraprofessionals; other teachers that are familiar with the student(s), as well as anyone

else who can find a positive contribution to the collaboration is encouraged have his or

her thoughts heard.

To ensure a successful collaboration, it must be clear to all parties involved that

whatever decision is made, that all of them follow through with that plan. A plan that is

decided does no good if the teacher does what was talked about, but then the

administrator and/or parent decide to do whatever they think is best. Everyone must be on

the same page and all must follow through with whatever plan was made. Another

important factor to a collaboration is telling the truth about what is occurring with the

student(s) as well as how is has been handled so far. Teachers are not perfect, but lying in

collaboration makes it difficult to move forward. The correct plans cannot be put into

place if everyone is not truthful about what is occurring.

The biggest roadblock to a collaboration gone wrong is when the parties decide to

do whatever they think is best or whatever is easiest instead of sticking to the plan that

was put in place. Special education students need consistency in their life and the three

members that are most important in the collaboration, are the three that are most

important to keep that consistency there for them.

It is a misconception that all collaborations involving a plan being put in place

must be formal in an IEP meeting. Though that is likely the most successful time to

develop a plan for that student, that is not the only time collaborating occurs. Casual

conversations between other teachers, teachers and paraprofessionals, phone calls home

to the parents, and stopping by the administrator’s office to ask them a question are all
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examples of collaboration. They may not feel like they are, but if the conversation is

asking input or strategies for how to deal with behaviors; that is collaborating.

Collaboration needs to occur over a specific student, whether it is formal or

informal whenever a significant change has occurred in a student. From a lack in

attendance to outbursts in the classroom, there are changes in special education students

often so getting out ahead of the change before it becomes a norm is important.

Another way that collaborations between educators can occur is when co-teaching

is happening. “Co-teaching is a method by which educators can meet the needs of

students with and without disabilities who are struggling in secondary classrooms”

(Murawski & Dieker. 2004). Co-teaching needs to be a team effort, not where one

teacher dominates or goes rogue during class on whatever they want to do. Each teacher

needs to work together in creating the best learning environment possible.

Culture has a tremendous impact in special education because children with

special needs or emotional behavior disorder (EBD), see what happens on TV, on their

phones from multiple social platforms as well as the students around school and they

want to duplicate everything they see. From a dance video going viral or the new super

hero movie, what they see daily becomes a huge part of who they are.

Keeping parents/guardians fully involved in their child’s education is a huge

factor that every educator needs to make sure they are apart of the decision-making

process. It can be hard due to cultural differences and many other variables to have the

parents be fully involved in their child’s education, but that does not mean the educators

leave them out of the decision-making processes. Communicating is an important part of

the collaborations which need to include a comfortable environment for everyone,

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meeting/discussing regularly, clear goals for everyone to agree on as well as knowing

everyone’s role that they can all make contributions to, (Turnbull, Erwin, Soodak &

Shogren. 2014)

Special Education as a whole would not be what it is without collaboration

between teachers, administrators, parents, therapists, etc. There are few days in the school

year that collaborations don’t occur between special education teachers and their peers.

This happens because of the constant drive in educators to do whatever it takes to have

their classroom be the most successful learning environment that they can create.
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Reference:

Friend, M., & Cook, L. (2017). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school

professionals. Boston, MA: Pearson (Chapter 1).

Murawski, W. W., & Dieker, L. A. (2004). Tips and strategies for co-teaching at the

secondary level. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36(5), 52-59.

Turnbull, A., Turnbull,H. R., Turnbull, E. J., Erwin, E. J., Soodak, L. C., & Shogren,

K. A. (2014). Families, professionals, and exceptionality: Positive outcomes

through partnerships and trust. New York: Pearson, Chapter 8.

Instructor Comment copied from Canvas: “Sean, a well-written statement. Please refer
to my comments for revision.” Comments were highlighted on original submission.