Arab Educational Information Network

This paper examines collaboration between general and special education teachers in mainstream schools in Jordan from their own points of view. It explores the extent to which teachers work collaboratively throughout the different stages of the special educational programs of students with special needs (i.e. referral, assessment, planning, and implementing the educational program stages). It also looks at constrains that may hinder this collaboration. The study adopts a mixed method design, where teachers' views on collaboration and constrains on collaboration were first surveyed and then further examined through a series of semi-structured interviews. Both survey and interview results showed that teachers collaborate at a low level throughout the different stages of the student's special educational program. Results also showed that collaboration is constrained by different factors including: teachers' large workload; high numbers of students in the classroom; lack of awareness of the importance of collaboration; lack of pre- and in-service training in the area of inclusive education; general education teachers' negative attitudes toward working with students with special needs; and lack of support from schools administration and students' families. The results are discussed in relation to the study context: inclusive education was only recently introduced to the education system in Jordan and has therefore not yet been fully adopted or understood by the different educational parties. Also, general and special teachers education programs at both pre-service and in-service level have not updated their programs so to prepare teachers to work in inclusive educational settings and be able to collaborate with each other. (As provided)