A Phenomenological Study of General Education and Special Education Co-Teachers Using Digital Textual
Date
9-2015
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Chair
Randall Dunn
Keywords
Collaborative Planning, Co-teaching, Digital Textual Collaborative Tools, Inclusion, Social Media, Wiki Pages
Disciplines
Curriculum and Instruction | Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Instructional Media Design
Recommended Citation
HIgh, Brandi, "A Phenomenological Study of General Education and Special Education Co-Teachers Using Digital Textual" (2015). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 1048.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1048
Abstract
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the perceived success of digital textual collaborative tools for use in collaborative planning for special education and general education teachers working together in an inclusion setting at three Georgia public schools. At this stage in the research, the perceived success of collaborative planning was generally defined as the special education and general education teacher being able to plan and implement a lesson with equal input. The research questions were: (a) How do digital textual collaborative tools impact the perceived success of collaborative planning for special education and general education teachers working together in an inclusion setting? (b) What is the co-teachers’ perception of success using digital textual collaborative tools for collaboration? (c) How do digital textual collaborative tools impact the community of practice for co-teachers in the inclusion setting? (d) What obstacles do co-teachers face when using digital textual collaborative tools for collaborative planning? (e) What additional resources would co-teachers in the inclusion setting find helpful to aid in using digital textual collaborative tools more efficiently? Participants included six general education teachers and six special education teachers. Data was collected through interviews, site documents, and surveys. Phenomenological data analysis was used. The perceived success was a reflection of the time spent utilizing the digital textual collaborative tools. Teachers who utilized the digital textual collaborative tools on a frequent basis, perceived the digital textual collaborative tools as being a success for collaborative planning purposes. Conversely, the teachers who only utilized the digital textual collaborative tools one time or who only viewed lesson plans but did not communicate through the digital textual collaborative tool did not perceive the digital textual as being a success for collaborative planning purposes. Digital textual collaborative tools may be a beneficial resource for special education and general education teachers working together in a co-taught setting to use for collaborative planning purposes. However, digital textual collaborative tools should not completely take the place of face-to-face communication and planning.
