Cooperative Professional Development

Abstract

The conflict between special education teachers and classroom teachers has a significant negative impact on the education of mildly handicapped students. The role of consultant has emerged partially as a response to the tensions generated from this conflict. However, standard models of consultation suffer from two weaknesses: In too many cases, they imply a superior-inferior relationship between the special education and classroom teacher, and they are narrowly focused on problem solving. Cooperative professional development is proposed as an adjunct to or substitute for consultation. Cooperative professional development involves small teams of special education and classroom teachers and uses a variety of approaches to enhance their mutual professional growth.