The perspectives of Indonesian teachers toward co-teaching experiences in the inclusive classroom: classroom internal support and instructional goals

ABSTRACT

Implementing co-teaching with equal roles and responsibilities between general and special education teachers is one of the keys to establishing successful instruction in inclusive classes. Against the background that the inclusive education system is still developing in Indonesia, we investigated the perspectives of elementary school teachers providing inclusive education who implement co-teaching. We interviewed general education teachers (n = 10) and special education teachers (n = 5) about their experiences with co-teaching in inclusive classrooms. The thematic analysis summarises statements on two main themes: classroom internal support and instructional goals. We see that general and special education teachers have yet to become equal partners in inclusive classes. There needs to be more flexibility in roles and responsibilities between co-teachers as equal partners in collaboration by increasing the professional development of teachers so that learning success is achieved for students in inclusive classrooms in Indonesia.

KEYWORDS:

• Co-teaching
• inclusive classroom
• general education teacher
• special education teacher

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).