The conversational interactions of 9 teachers and their third-grade students were recorded during individual seatwork time in academic lessons. teachers' views about their responsibilities in working with students who are exceptional or at risk of academic failure were quite divergent and were related to their instructional discourse strategies. teachers who saw themselves as instrumental in effective inclusion engaged in more academic compared to nonacademic interactions. this group also exhibited greater use of techniques to extend students' thinking, compared to those teachers who held contrasting views. they also interacted more with their students who are exceptional and at risk than with their typically achieving students, and at higher levels of cognitive extension than did the other teachers, who seldom interacted with the students who were in the exceptional and at-risk group. the results shed light on how teachers differ in adapting instruction for students in inclusive classrooms, and how instruction might be differentially delivered as a function of teachers' views about inclusion.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Clark, C. M., & Peterson, P. L. (1986). Teachers' thought processes. In M. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 255–296). New York: Macmillan.
2.
Coles, G. S. (1987). The learning mystique: A critical look at learning disabilities.New York: Pantheon.
3.
Cooper, H. (1979). Pygmalion grows up: A model for teacher expectation communication and performance influence. Review of Educational Research, 4, 389–410.
4.
Cooper, H. (1985). Models of teacher expectation communication. In J. B. Dusek (Ed.), Teacher expectancies (pp. 136–158). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
5.
Cuban, L. (1984). How teachers taught: Constancy and change in American classrooms.New York: Longman.
6.
Englert, C. S., Tarrant, K. I., & Mariage, T. V. (1992). Defining and redefining instructional practice in special education: Perspectives on good teaching. Teacher Education and Special Education, 15, 62–86.
7.
Epps, S., & Tindal, G. (1987). The effectiveness of differential programming in serving students with mild handicaps: Placement options and instructional programming. In M. C. Wang, M. C. Reynolds, & H. J. Walberg (Eds.), Handbook of special education: Research and practice (pp. 213–248). Oxford: Pergamon.
8.
Evertson, C. M., & Murphy, J. (1992). Beginning with the classroom: Implications for redesigning schools. In H. Marshall (Ed.), Redefining student learning: Roots of educational change (pp. 293–320). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
9.
Friend, M. P., & Cook, L. (1992) Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals.New York: Longman.
10.
Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., & Fernstrom, P. (1993). A conservative approach to school reform: Mainstreaming through transenvi-ronmental programming and curriculum-based measurement. American Educational Research Journal, 30, 149–177.
11.
Gartner, A., & Lipsky, D. K. (1987). Beyond special education: Toward a quality system for all students. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 367–394.
12.
Graden, J. L., Casey, A., & Christenson, S. L. (1985). Implementing a prereferral intervention system: Part 1. The model. Exceptional Children, 51, 377–384.
13.
Jenkins, J. R., Jewell, M., Leicester, N., O'Connor, R. E., Jenkins, L., & Troutner, N. M. (1994). Accommodation for individual differences without classroom ability groups: An experiment in school restructuring. Exceptional Children, 60, 344–358.
14.
Jordan, A. (1994). Skills in collaborative classroom consultation.London: Routledge.
15.
Jordan, A., Kircaali-Iftar, G., & Diamond, C. T. P. (1993). Who has the problem, the student or the teacher? Differences in teachers' beliefs about their work with at-risk and integrated exceptional students. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 40, 45–62.
16.
Jordan-Wilson, A., & Silverman, H. (1991). Teachers' assumptions and beliefs about the delivery of services to exceptional children. Teacher Education and Special Education, 14, 198–206.
17.
Knapp, M. S. (1995). Teaching for meaning in high poverty classrooms.New York: Teachers' College Press.
18.
Knapp, M. S., & Shields, P. M. (1991). Better schooling for the children of poverty: Alternatives to educational wisdom.Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.
19.
Marshall, H. (1992). Seeing, redefining and supporting student learning. In H. Marshall (Ed.), Redefining student learning: Roots of educational change (pp. 1–32). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
20.
Newman, D., Griffith, P., & Cole, M. (1989). The construction zone: Working for positive change in schools.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
21.
Ontario Ministry of Education. (1980). The Education Amendment Act of 1980.Ontario, Canada: Author.
22.
Pajares, M. F. (1992). Teachers' beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62, 307–332.
23.
Palincsar, A. S., & Brown, A. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension fostering and comprehension monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 1, 117–175.
24.
Palincsar, A. S., Stevens, D. D., & Gavelek, A. R. (1989). Collaborating with teachers in the interest of student collaboration. International Journal of Educational Research, 13, 41–53.
25.
Peterson, P. L. (1992). Revising their thinking: Keisha Coleman and her third grade mathematics class. In H. Marshall (Ed.), Redefining student learning: Roots of educational change (pp. 151–176). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
26.
Pintrich, P. R. (1990). Implications of psychological research on student learning and college teaching for teacher education. In W. R. Houston (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 826–857). New York: Macmillan.
27.
Prawat, R. S. (1992). Teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning: A constructivist perspective. American Journal of Education, 100, 354–394.
28.
Pugach, M. C., & Johnson, L. J. (1989). Prereferral interventions: Progress, problems and challenges. Exceptional Children, 56, 217–226.
29.
Rich, H. L., & Ross, S. M. (1989). Students' time on learning tasks in special education. Exceptional Children, 55, 508–515.
30.
Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom.New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
31.
Sarason, S. B., & Doris, J. (1979). Educational handicap, public policy and social history: A broadened perspective on mental retardation.New York: Free Press.
32.
Schulte, A. C., Osborne, S. S., & McKinney, J. D. (1990). Academic outcomes for students with learning disabilities in consultation and resource programs. Exceptional Children, 57, 162–172.
33.
Semmel, M. L., Abernathy, T. V., Butera, G., & Lesar, S. (1991). Teacher perceptions of the regular education initiative. Exceptional Children, 58, 9–24.
34.
Smith, M. L., & Shepard, L. A. (1988). Kindergarten readiness and retention: A qualitative study of teachers' beliefs and practices. American Educational Research Journal, 25, 307–333.
35.
Stanovich, P. J. (1994). Teachers' sense of efficacy, beliefs about practice, and teaching behaviors as predictors of effective inclusion of exceptional and at-risk pupils. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto.
36.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.London: Harvard University Press.
37.
Walberg, H. J., & Wang, M. C. (1987). Effective educational practices and provisions for individual differences. In M. C. Wang, M. C. Reynolds, & H. J. Walberg (Eds.), Handbook of special education: Research and practice (pp. 113–128). Oxford: Pergamon.
38.
Ysseldyke, J. E., Thurlow, M. L., Mecklenberg, C., & Graden, J. (1984). Opportunity to learn for regular and special education students. Remedial and Special Education, 5(1), 29–37.
