Looking in the Mirror to Create an Interdisciplinary Team in Middle Level Teacher Education

Collaborative Infusion: An Emerging Approach to Teacher Preparation for Inclusive Education

“…Numerous comments were made that support the potential of this approach. This finding is consistent with other studies that have examined the perceptions of faculty participating in collaborative infusion approaches (Bullock & Pedersen, 1999;Duchardt, Marlow, Inman, Christensen, & Reeves, 1999;Voltz, 1998).…”

“…Based on the findings of this and other studies (Bullock & Pedersen, 1999;Duchardt, Marlow, Inman, Christensen, & Reeves, 1999;Voltz, 1998), it appears that a number of factors enhance the success of collaborative infusion models. One such factor is the availability of time for preparing to implement collaborative infusion models, as well as time for on-going planning during implementation.…”

“…The need to "get everybody on the same page" was mentioned by a number of participants in this study, and has been a common theme in other studies as well (Grace & Picard, 2001;Winn & Messenheimer-Young, 1995). Great philosophical dissonance can result in conflict among team members, and stressful or confusing learning situations for preservice teachers (Bullock & Pedersen, 1999).…”

“…Collaborative infusion approaches also provide an opportunity for preservice teachers to see teacher educators model the type of collaboration they often espouse. Through such an experience, the collaborative ethic is reinforced and preservice teachers have an opportunity to learn through example (Bullock & Pedersen, 1999;Winn & Messenheimer-Young, 1995). According to Peterson and Beloin (1998), without congruence between what is said and what is done, "our teachers in training will clearly see the gap between even our best words and our actions" (p. 316).…”

Virtual Teaming: Placing Preservice Middle Level Teachers on Interdisciplinary Teams

“…This "deliberate effort" and "chemistry" have not been present in every team, often creating "marriages" that do not work. Bullock and Pederson (1999) argued that teams struggle when there is a "lack of common core knowledge, vision or philosophy, planning time, and scope and sequence for the program" (p. 26).…”