Co-teaching and collaborative work in inclusive educational contexts

Abstract

Introduction: interdisciplinary collaboration stands out as a key strategy for inclusive education, mediated by teamwork both inside and outside the classroom, focusing on the work of regular and special education teachers in the inclusive educational context, taking into account the mental health of the members of the school community. Co-teaching, on the other hand, involves a transformation of teaching practices to improve the learning of all students within the classroom. Objective: the purpose of the article is to describe the pedagogical experience of co-teachers from the social imaginaries of classroom teams in educational institutions in the province of Concepción, Chile. Method: since imaginaries are subjective aspects, they are approached from a complementary perspective, which allows for the consideration of phenomenological and hermeneutical aspects. The approach was qualitative, through a multiple case study. The information was analyzed by seeking the mobility of social imaginaries, where social coordinate maps were the tools used to visualize the shifts in emerging categories. Conclusions: the study shows a strong social force deeply rooted in the conception of inclusive education as a model imposed by regulations, with competitive and individual pedagogical practices, characterized by tense and hierarchical relationships that do not contribute to the mental health of all. At the same time, imaginaries also emerge as opacities, projecting a new school where the recognition of others is seen as a possibility for joint construction and learning, beyond the imperatives defined by official voice.