Peer-Collaboration: An Effective Teaching Strategy for Inclusive Classrooms

Overview & Synopsis

With the growing need to make the curriculum accessible to students with special needs, there has been an increase in the inclusion of special education students with learning disabilities in general education classroom. The major challenge that has faced teachers in inclusive classrooms is using instructional strategies that will accommodate the social and academic needs of special education students. This article describes how peer-collaboration is an effective teaching strategy for students in inclusive classrooms in terms of their social and academic development. In this paper, inclusion refers to a classroom setting in which both general education students and special education students with mild to moderate learning disabilities receive instruction together in the same classroom. Inclusion teachers refer to a general education teacher and a special education teacher working together to service a class comprising both general and special needs students. Peer-collaboration can be an effective teaching strategy in middle school settings. (Contains 1 figure.)