Dance Lessons: Preparing Preservice Teachers for Coteaching Partnerships

Abstract

Federal legislation (Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act, No Child Left Behind) mandates access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. As a response, K-12 schools are moving to coteaching models with increased frequency (National Center for Education Statistics, 2008). However, preservice teachers have not been adequately prepared for collaborative teaching in these inclusive classrooms (Dieker & Murawski, 2003; Fennick & Liddy, 2001). To address this disconnect, we participated in an interdisciplinary, cross-departmental collaboration to create shared course and field experiences for a mixed group of special education and elementary education preservice teachers. Using our blogs, reflections, personal observations, meeting notes, and recorded discussions along with students' reflections and course assignments, we provide an analysis of the experience and implications for teacher educators.