The Importance of the Relationship Between General and Special Education Co-Teachers in Inclusive Preschool Programs

A qualitative case study was designed to examine the importance of the relationship between general and special education co-teachers in inclusive preschool programs. The holistic strengths-based portraiture method will be used to study the positive aspects of the relationships of two co-teaching teams. In-depth interviews with individual teachers, co-teaching teams, and administrators combined with a questionnaire and classroom environmental rating scales were used to examine the culture and community that build positive relationships between general educators and special educators who co-teach in an inclusive preschool setting. The main goal of this research was to identify critical elements that contribute to successful co-teaching relationships. The study revealed that a deep personal relationship supports a professional relationship. Four themes were revealed that support a positive co-teaching relationship: teacher’s responsibilities, teacher’s relationship, planning, and administrative support. Teacher’s responsibilities deal with the professional aspects of the relationship. The teacher’s relationship was primarily the relationship between the co-teaching partners but also deals with other colleagues. The planning theme is related to scheduling and setup of the classroom, and administrative support is related to both building level and school system-wide.