Collaborative Team Teaching as a Correlate of Teachers’ Effectiveness in an Inclusive Context in Public Primary Schools in South West Region of Cameroon

Collaborative Team Teaching as a Correlate of Teachers’ Effectiveness in an Inclusive Context in Public Primary Schools in South West Region of Cameroon

Elizabeth Fembe Sakwe (Ph.D STUDENT)¹, Prof Titanji Peter Fon² , Nekang Fabian Nfon (AP)³

^1,2Department of Educational Foundations and Administration (EFA), Faculty of Education, University of Buea 

³Department of Curriculum Studies and Teaching (HOD, CST), Faculty of Education, University of Buea

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.801191

Received: 15 January 2024; Revised: 22 January 2024; Accepted: 27 January 2024; Published: 24 February 2024

ABSTRACT

The main objective of the study was to determine whether there exists a relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in South West Region of Cameroon. The descriptive correlation design was used for the study and the sample was drawn using multi-stage sampling, purposive and simple random techniques. The sample consists of 248 respondents comprising 4 Regional Pedagogic Inspectors of Basic Education (RPIs), 40 teacher trainers from Government Teacher Training Colleges (GTTCs), 40 head teachers and 168 teachers of public primary schools in Meme and Fako Divisions of South West Region.  The instruments used were four scale Likert questionnaire and an interview guide. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 12. Furthermore, descriptive statistics were used to analyze data to answer questions while the Spearman’s two tailed correlation was used to test the hypothesis. The qualitative data were analyzed using themes drawn for thematic analysis of open-ended questions and structural interview guide. This study revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between Collaborative Team Teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in Fako and Meme divisions in South West Region of Cameroon  (ɼ_xy-cal = .330**) greater than the critical value (ɼ_xy-crit = .113) at 0.05 level of significance.  Based on this finding it was recommended that school administrators should ensure that teachers should practice collaborative team teaching in order to be effectiveness in an inclusive context.

Keywords: Collaborative Team Teaching, Teacher’s effectiveness, Inclusive Context

INTRODUCTION

All nations in the world have recognized the importance of education as fundamental human rights to all citizens as well as a vital tool for meaningful development. In this regards national and international stakeholders are striving for quality and equity in education. The effort to ensure equity in education through inclusive education has given rise to inclusive context.  Inclusive context is a learning environment that promotes the full personal academic and professional development of all learners irrespective of race, class, gender, disability religion, culture, sexual preference learning styles and language. National and international instruments have been enacted to ensure equity in education. The Cameroon government is a signatory to several international conventions on education and has signed legal documents relating to the education of children with special needs. Law No. 83/013 of 21st July 1983 relates to the protection of persons with disabilities, while Circular letter No. 86/1/658/MINEDUC/CTZ of 13th January 1986 calls on national education authorities to give priority, ease, and facilitate the enrolment of children with disabilities in public and private schools. Law No. 98/004 of 14th April 1998 outlines the guidelines for education in Cameroon, ensuring that all children have equal opportunities in education without discrimination. Joint Circular letters No. 34/6/LC/MINESEC/MINAS of 2nd August 2006 and No. 283/07/LC/MINESEC/MINAS of 14th August 2007 promote the education and participation of students with disabilities and students born of needy disabled parents in official examinations. Law No. 2010/002 of 13th April, 2010 relates to the prevention of disabilities, social, economic, and psychological rehabilitation and integration of persons with disabilities, and promotion of national solidarity in favor of persons with disabilities. Section 28 of Law No. 2010/002 states that the state shall take specific measures to guarantee persons with disabilities access to education and vocational training, including total or partial exemption from school or university fees and scholarship awards. Inclusive education in Cameroon was officially introduced in 2014 through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government of Cameroon and Sightsavers Cameroon. The program began with 05 general education Government Primary Schools in the South West Region of Cameroon, with some schools transformed into Government Inclusive Pilot Primary Schools (GIPPS). Sightsavers Cameroon and the Ministry of Basic Education designed modules in inclusive education for regular education teachers to train and build their capacities in inclusive education.

Teaching and learning in an inclusive context imposes the use some instructional strategies. Inclusive context is a learning environment that promotes the full personal academic and professional development of all learners irrespective of race, class, gender, disability religion, culture, sexual preference learning styles and language. It all means that regular school should accommodate all children regardless or irrespective of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions. Inclusive context which means educating children with special educational needs full time in the regular classroom has been found to be academically and socially beneficial to these learners (Ihenacho, 2014). Inclusive context imposes the use of some strategies to be used for teachers’ effectiveness. One of these strategies is collaborative team teaching. Collaborative team teaching has been in practice for a very long time.  However, the use of collaborative team teaching in inclusive classrooms is raising many issues especially on teachers’ effectiveness within an inclusive context. Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT) or cooperative team teaching is a process or style of interaction that involves planning and problem solving when two or more individuals are committed to achieving a mutually defined goal. Tambo (2004) defines collaborative team teaching as a process of guiding pupils’ learning activities by two or more teachers working in close cooperation with each other. When teachers work cooperatively, however, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are working as a team. Team teaching or team work means each member of the team has a specific function to perform; members share the same objectives and are committed to achieving those objectives.  Other concepts related to collaborative team teaching include co-teaching and team teaching. Friend & Cook (2010) outline some models of collaborative team teaching. Teachers should use when they co-teach in an inclusive classroom. These models are station teaching, parallel teaching, and alternate team teaching and tag team teaching. In station teaching, students and content are divided among teacher A and B. Each teacher then teaches the portion of the content to one group and subsequently repeats the instruction to the other group. All students rotate through both teacher stations and independent stations. Teachers prepare two or more stations in advance as groups rotate from station to station; have the opportunities to work with every learner in class. On the other hand, in parallel teaching model, the class is split into two groups with both teachers A and B teaching the same content and lesson. As concerns alternate team teaching models, while teacher A is working with a large group of students, teacher B is working for a short period of time with a targeted small group of students for remedial, enrichment, or other targeted instruction. Tag-team teaching occurs when teachers A and B present a lesson together, each presenting, interjecting and taking equal responsibility for instruction. Besides postulating models of team teaching (Friend & Cook, 2010), the presence of children with disabilities in regular classroom creates a challenge for the classroom teacher who carryout CTT. Most of these teachers have no professional training in special education or educational psychology. Some teachers have no formal teacher preparation and as such lacks professional skills.

With the introduction of inclusive education in Cameroon primary schools, the classrooms are characterized with the presence of diversity of learners such as children with physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, visual impairment, and auditory deficiency and internally displaced Person (IDPs). This diversity of learners within an inclusive classroom creates a challenge for the classroom teachers’ effectiveness. Teachers face increasingly diverse populations and do not know how to address every learner’s need. Most of these teachers have no or little knowledge and skills in special or inclusive education. In this regards they need professional development through collaborative team (CTT) teaching to address these difficulties they face, so as to make them effective in an inclusive context. It is against this backdrop that the researcher sought to find out if Cameroon public primary school teachers co-teach in the same class using the models of collaborative team teaching such as station teaching, alternative teaching, parallel teaching and tag-team teaching and if the use of collaborative team teaching correlates with their effectiveness in an inclusive context. The problem of this study posed a question as: What is the relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in Southwest Region of Cameroon? This study was guided by the hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in public primary schools in South West Region.

The study was delimited geographically, content wise, theoretically and methodologically. Geographically, it was carried out only in the South West Region precisely. South West Region has six divisions, namely Fako, Meme, Lebialem, Kupe Muanenguba, Ndian and Manyu with their headquarters such as Limbe, Kumba, Fontem  Bangem, Mundemba and Mamfe respectively. Due to political unrest and instability, as schools are not functioning in most divisions like in Ndian, Kupe Muanenguba, Manyu, Lebialem and even some areas in Meme and Fako, triggered the researcher to decide to carry out this research only in Fako and Meme Divisions where the crises is minimal and this gave accessibility to collect, analyse and interpret data that represented the entire South West Region of Cameroon. The study was limited to only public primary schools in Fako and Meme divisions.

Content wise this study was delimited to investigating the relationship of the independent variable on the dependent variable which is collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context. Theoretically, there are dozens of theories that serve as a basis of teachers’ professional development. However, for the purpose of this study, five (5) theories were used: three theories for teachers’ professional development being the Independent Variable (ID.V) and two theories for teachers’ effectiveness which is the Dependent Variable (D.V). Knowles’ Theory of Andragogy or Adult Learning theory (1968), Lev Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory (1978), and Bandura’s Social Learning Theory or Observational learning theory (1965). Theories for the dependent variable which is teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive content were Bandura’s theory of Self–Efficacy theory of 1997 and Maslow’s Theory of Human motivation or Hierarchy of Needs (1954).

McDuffie, Mastropieri & Scruggs (2009), in their non – experimental, explanatory research examined the differential effects of a peer tutoring intervention in co-taught and non-co-taught setting. In co-taught versus non-co-taught classes with and without class wide peer tutoring on science concepts and facts 203 7th grade science students (62) of who received special education services. The results gotten were there was a significant man effect for co-teaching on unit and cumulative post-test. Effect size for student with disabilities: (d) =0.35 for unit test; 0.29 for cumulative test. This result explains that co-teaching has a significant effect on learners with learning disabilities. This study was in line with the present study as both talked about collaborative team teaching which has an impact of learners in an inclusive context. In another study, Mageria and Zigmond (2005) observed that instructional experiences of students with disabilities in 11 co-taught classrooms concluded observations when both teachers were present and when only the general education teacher was present. The results of findings were that students with disabilities interacted significantly less with the general education teacher but received significantly more individual instruction during co-teaching. This balance ensured that the presence of two teachers one of them likely special education teacher was justified and that students without disabilities were benefiting from arrangement which may not be the case of the proportion if children with disabilities were much higher. Both studies were talking of the significant of collaborative team teaching impacting professional development of teachers dealing with special needs learners.

Fontana (2005), examined the effects on collaborative team teaching (CTT) on English and Maths grade for learners with learning disabilities. Students with learning disabilities were randomly assigned to collaborative team teaching CTT (N=17) or Non-collaborative team teaching (NCTT), (N=16). English and Maths, and all learners received one period of resource room support grades for students in CTT classes increased significantly but not for students in NCTT classes. The following results were gotten, effective size d = 0.8 for English grades and d= 0.40 for Maths grades. From this results or findings by Fontana in his work the effect of collaborative team teaching on the academic performance of learners in an inclusive context in a regular classroom, it was realized that students in CTT class performed better in CTT class than those who were in NCTT  class.  This explains why CTT has a significant effect on the academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. Both studies had collaborative team teaching but the former talked on student academic performance while the present is talking of CTT as impacting teachers’ professional; development as correlate to teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context.

Also non – experimental explanatory research was carried by Cook (2004), considered five of the six studies of Murawski and Swanson’s  (2001) Meta-analysis to be explanatory compared outcomes for middle school students with disabilities from two schools, a practiced collaborative team teaching (CTT) b= 27 and used a pull-off model n= 36 students. The results findings were that, there was a significant finding for grades. The scores in language and maths were encouraging and the attendance had no significant findings for proficiency tests and school suspensions.

An experimental research was carried out by Murawski and Dieker (2004) on grade student (38)with six  English classes in a collaborative team teaching class with (a) Non-inclusive general education class(b) two solution taught inclusive classes (c) Two students placement based on student ability and family preference Howe ever students with disabilities selected for a collaborative team taught were randomly assigned to inclusive co-taught class with n=12 or inclusive solutions taught n=8, the result was that there was no significant main effect, All these empirical researches were in line with the present work because they both talked on collaborative team teaching in an inclusive setting but differed in that the empirical studies all compared students’ achievements in CTT class while the present research dealt with collaborative team teaching as means of professional development for teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context.

Studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of co-teaching in specific educational settings. In elementary school setting, Friend and Cook (2016) conducted a study on the effectiveness of co-teaching in inclusive classrooms in elementary schools. This study found a positive impact of co-teaching in an inclusive setting. On the other hand Scruggs and Mastropieri (2007) investigated the effects of co-teaching on the academic performance of high school students with disabilities. The findings of this study indicated that co-teaching had a positive impact on student achievement particularly for students with disabilities.

METHODOLOGY

The study used both qualitative and quantitative mixed methods using descriptive correlation research design to collect data from questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions for teachers, head teachers and teachers’ trainers and structured interview guide for the regional pedagogic inspectors (RPIs). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to collect, analyse, interpret and process the data for the study. The reason for choosing correlation design was to correlate the independent and dependent variables; and to generalize the findings to the population. The target population of this study were the Regional Pedagogic Inspectors (RPIs) at the Regional Delegation of Basic Education South West RDBE (25) RPIs, all head teachers in all public primary schools in S.W.R (896), all teachers’ trainers in all Government Teachers’ Training Colleges (GTTCs) in S. W.R (410) and all teachers in all public primary schools in S.W.R (4750). Fako Division has (25) RPIs, 170 teachers’ trainers from GTTC Buea and GTTC Limbe, 146 head teachers from 146 public primary schools and  1075 teachers from public primary schools. Meme Division has no RPI, (100) teachers trainers from Government Bilingual Teacher Training College (GBTTC) Kumba, (154) head teachers from 154 public primary schools and (601) public primary schools teachers. The accessible population 15 RPIs, 160 teachers’ trainers, 140 head teachers and 550 teachers. The sample was made up of 4 RPIs, 40 teachers’ trainers, 40 head teachers and 174 teachers.

A questionnaire was used to collect data for the study, with two open–ended questions included for in-depth information. The questionnaire was organized into various sections in alignment with the research objective of this study. The first part was an introduction of the research topic and assurance of confidentiality followed by questions which were grouped into sections and two open-ended questions included at the end.  The multi-stage sampling techniques was used to select the respondents using purposive and simple random techniques where each member was given the chance to be selected, the respondents were given a chance to choose their own opinions using the four Likert scale of strongly agree (SA), Agree (A),   Strongly Disagree (SD) and disagree (D).

In order to ensure validity, the instruments were given to three experts for examination. They identified areas of weakness and their comments were used in amending the questionnaire the errors in grammar, punctuation, presentation and other suggestions were used to upgrade the instruments. The direct delivery method as used to distribute the structural interview guide to 4RPIs, and questionnaire to the 248 respondents registering 97.6 % return rate. The descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The descriptive statistics made used of descriptive tables showing frequencies, percentages, mean scores and standard deviation this was meant to illustrate the proportion and average of responses to questions from the different strata of the study pertaining to the research question. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used for the analysis. It facilitated the testing of the hypothesis using Spearman Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (rxy) analysis in order to correlate the relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness. Ethical consideration were carried out appropriately. A letter of authorization introducing the research topic and stating the purpose of the study was forwarded to the Regional Delegation of Basic Education (RDBE) for South West to enable collect information for the study, to the RPIs, teachers’ trainers, head teachers and teachers of the two Divisions precisely Meme and Fako in South West Region of Cameroon. The respondents were informed on the purpose of the study and assured of ethical confidentiality to collect data from them. This enable them to participate freely and not against their will. Another ethical practice ensured was that all ideas gotten from other works were recognized to avoid plagiarism

FINDINGS

Analysis of data collected produced salient findings which are presented according to the different respondents (head teachers, teachers’ trainers and teachers) as follows.

Table 1

Head Teachers’ Opinion on Collaborative Team Teaching and Teachers’ Effectiveness in an Inclusive Context

MRS = Mean response score  = Mean score   S = Standard deviation

Table 1 shows that head teachers are of the opinion that there is relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in South West Region of Cameroon with a mean score ( = 3.25±.64) above mean of 2.5. This shows that an increase in collaborative teaching will impact teachers’ professional growth and their effectiveness in an inclusive context as they all agreed to the items listed on the questionnaire with all their mean scores above 2.5. Head teachers all said that teachers both share delivery of the same instruction to a group of learners in the same classroom, use different teaching styles to create a better classroom for the learners see themselves as equals as they deliver instruction as classroom teachers. Both teachers shared responsibilities within classroom as a team, face a lot of challenges in their classroom. They also said learners benefit from diverse teaching methods in a co-taught classroom, syllabus coverage is easily done in co- taught class as teachers share their teaching responsibilities. Co-taught teachers’ benefit from each other as it increases teachers’ professionalism . They also establish good rapport to make learning environment conducive for the learners and classroom discipline is consistently implemented by both teachers for their effective teaching. This can be seen from their different responses

Table 2

Teacher Trainers’ Opinion on Collaborative Team Teaching and Teachers’ Effectiveness in an Inclusive Context

MRS = Mean response score       = Mean score              S = Standard deviation

Table 2 shows that there is a strong relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in South West Region of Cameroon ( = 3.13±.79) with a mean score above 2.5. The table shows teachers’ trainers’ opinion on the relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in South West Region of Cameroon. This can be seen from their responses  above as all agreed ; Co-Teacher Trainers both share delivery of the same subject to a group of learners in the same classroom, use different teaching techniques to create a better classroom for student-teachers, see themselves as equals as they deliver instruction a as a team. Teacher trainers share responsibilities within the same classroom as a team. Also face a lot of challenges in their classrooms as they co-teach. Student-teachers benefit from diverse teaching methods from both teachers as syllabus coverage is easily covered by both teachers in class. Co-taught teacher trainers benefit from each other as it increases their professional growth, establish good rapport among themselves in their classrooms for effective teaching and classroom discipline is consistently implemented by both teachers within the same classroom. Therefore, teachers’ trainers are in support that team teaching establishes a relationship between teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context.

Table 3

Teachers’ Opinion on Collaborative Team Teaching and Teachers’ Effectiveness in an Inclusive Context

MRS = Mean response score          = Mean score        S = Standard deviation

Table 3 shows that there is a strong relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in South West Region of Cameroon ( = 3.25±.71) above mean of 2.5. The table shows teachers’ opinion on the relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in South West Region of Cameroon. This can be seen from their responses as they all agreed: Co-teacher both share delivery of the same subject to a group of learners in the same classroom, use different teaching techniques to create a better classroom for learners, they see themselves as equals as they deliver instruction in same class and share responsibilities within the same classroom as a team. They face a lot of challenges in their classrooms. Learners benefit from diverse teaching methods from both teachers as syllabus coverage is easily covered. Co-teachers benefit from each other as they show case expertise in their different domains in teaching.  They also establish good relationship with them to make the learning environment conducive and classroom discipline is consistently implemented as both teachers have control in the classroom. Conclusively, teachers are of the opinion that collaborative team-teaching correlates teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context.

The statistical hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in primary schools in South West Region was tested with the used of Pearson’s product moment correlation analysis. Table 4 shows the Pearson’s product moment correlation analysis between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in South West Region of Cameroon.

Table 4

Collaborative Team Teaching and Teachers’ Effectiveness (N = 248)

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The analysis on table 4 shows that since calculated value (ɼ_xy-cal = .330**) is greater than the critical value (ɼ_xy-crit = .113) at 0.05 level of significance, we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a positive significant relationship between collaborative team teaching and teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in South West Region of Cameroon. This implies that an increase in collaborative team teaching greatly enhance teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context in public primary schools in South West Region of Cameroon.

There are studies which supports the above findings. A study by Scruggs, Mastropieri and McDuffie (2007) reported that co-teachers perceived that their instructional practices to be more effective and student-centred when compared to teachers in non-coaching setting. Also, this study reveals that collaborating with another teacher allows for exchange of ideas, instructional strategies and implementation of diverse teaching approaches which can contribute to diverse teacher effectiveness. Research by Pugach and Warger (2001) revealed that teachers involved in co-teaching reported increased professional development experiences, expanded pedagogical strategies and improved teamwork skills. Another study which support the findings of this study is conducted by Dieker et al (2014). This study found out that teachers who participated in co-teaching reported higher level of job satisfaction compared to those who did engage in co-teaching.

This Section Presented the Thematic Analysis of the Open Ended Questions from Different Strata

Table 5

Thematic Analysis Depicting Some of the Challenges Teachers Faced When Carrying Collaborative Team teaching an Inclusive Context

Table 5 explains some challenges teachers face while carrying out collaborative team teaching as perceived by the teachers, they said that; Teachers become lazy to teach some of the subjects “Programme of work not maintained”.  “They absent from school.” “Some teachers do not finish their scheme of work” “Ineffectiveness of co-teachers”. Time management ‘Inadequate time for teaching’.“Poor management of time”. “There is no proper timing”. “Time consuming as one teacher can teach more than time required’. ’Self- ego. “Self-ego and lack of sense of humility”. “Jealousy amongst colleagues”. “Lack of focus as one teacher may dominate the other”.“ Pupils may turn to love one teacher than the other’’. “One teacher will want to be superior to the other in some cases”. Teaching methods. “Clash of teaching methods and techniques. “Diverse teaching methods may confuse the pupils”. Lack of didactic materials. “No assistive technologies to teach these learners”. “Lack of didactic material to teach these learners” “May find it difficult to handle these learners”. “Lack of motivation to handle these learners by both teachers”. Lack of lesson plan because of no technologies to teach”.

Table 6

Thematic Analysis on Head Teachers, Teachers’ Trainers and Teachers Depicting Some of suggestions to Teachers When Carrying out collaborative Team Teaching in an Inclusive Context.

Table 6 presents some suggestions that were made by the respondents of the study; Teachers should work as team. “Head teachers ensures seriousness of teachers through supervision”. ”Teachers should maintain time to work so as to avoid being lazy”. “Team teachers should ensure that they finish their scheme of work as they share work load”. Time should be properly managed by both teachers so as to give enough time for the other teacher to teach. “Avoid jealousy when carrying out team teaching”. “Work load should be shared evenly so that the other teacher should not dominate the other”. “They should see themselves as equals”. “Teachers should avoid clash of teaching methods as to avoid confusion”. “Government should provide assistive technologies to aid the teachers in class”. “Learners should be motivated when using diverse teaching methods to teach since there are diverse learners”.

Table 7

Responses to Structural Interview Guide for Regional Pedagogic Inspectors (RPIs) Based on Collaborative team teaching

Table 7 presents the responses from the structural interview guide from the different regional pedagogic inspectors (RPIs) on the question how can collaborative team teaching impact teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context? Based on the question they responded that: ‘‘It impacts effectiveness because it reduces the work load of teachers’’. ‘‘It will upgrade skills of the teachers. They will learn from each other to gain professional development’’. ‘‘Teaching will be more effective’’. ‘‘Builds sense of self- efficacy; builds confidence; develops capacity and professional growth’’. What are some of the things teachers do when carrying out team teaching? They answered that: ‘‘you teach what you are good at, and teachers share work load among themselves’ ’They expose their common problems. ‘‘They come up with the finest methods or strategies to solve pedagogic problems’ ’Teachers share ideas in order to make work easier and effective’ ’and ‘‘Distribution of work load, peer assistance, peer review’.

Furthermore, they were asked of the challenges teachers face when carrying out team teaching and they said that: ‘‘Lack of seriousness as some teachers may not be serious and so may be killing the morals of others’’. ‘‘Absenteeism: some teachers may decide to absent knowing co-teacher will teach on her behalf’’. ’’Misleading in the team: There can be a lot of misleading if those in the team are not knowledgeable enough to handle these learners’’. ‘‘Poor misconception of duties: Co-teachers always find it difficult to handle these learners as work load might be on the more knowledgeable teacher’’. ‘‘There is envy amongst teachers, because pupils might to pay more attention to one teacher than the other; and work load is put on one person’’, and ‘‘Conflict of authority, jealousy and laziness of some colleagues’’. On this note they gave some suggestions as ‘‘The head teacher should strictly follow – up the various teachers to make sure they all do their work they were recruited for’ ’Work load should be shared evenly among co-teachers’’. ‘‘Both teachers should work judiciously as more knowledgeable colleague should always help the less knowledgeable one to handle these diverse learners’’. ‘‘Work load should be shared equally; and teachers should handle these learners with love there by making the learning environment conducive for both teachers and their pupils in order to avoid envy’’. Lastly ‘‘Work load should be shared in accordance with teacher’s output; and equal participation of both teachers in class and constant supervision and follow up by head teacher’

DISCUSSION

Collaborative team teaching is in line with the theory of self-efficacy that says collaborative teaching through peer coaching will help to build self-efficacy of teachers who are not as knowledgeable as their colleagues and thus increase professional growth on instructions. This gives them a certain degree of satisfaction and their internal motivation psychologically predisposes them to be successful teachers and better guarantor and implementer of the curriculum. Self-efficacy has been in line to teachers’ performance outcome and has been proven to be predictive of performance outcomes. Self- efficacy defined as the confidence in ones’ capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce attainments. With this self-efficacy, reflects the teachers’ confidence in team teaching in his or her ability to exert control over motivation, behaviour, and teaching environment. It is inferred that a teacher’s behaviour is motivated and regulated by self-evaluation reactions to their own actions, and therefore self-directedness partly determines the teacher’s behaviour and effectiveness in carrying out instruction inside the classroom, when a teacher has self-confidence, he or she will perform effectively and effectively in carrying out instruction while teaming.

Collaborative team teaching is also backed by some empirical review by Fontana (2005). In his work the effect of collaborative team teaching on the academic performance of learners in an inclusive context in a regular classroom, it was realized that students in CTT class performed better in CTT class than those who were in NCTT  class. This explains why CTT has a significant effect on the academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. Both studies had collaborative team teaching but the former talked on student academic performance while the present is talking of CTT as correlate to teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context. Also McDuffie (2009), in his non – experimental, explanatory research examined the differential effects of a peer tutoring intervention in co-taught and non-co-taught setting explains that co-teaching has a significant effect on learners with learning disabilities. This study was in line with the present study as both talked about collaborative team teaching which has an impact of learners in an inclusive context.

Mageria and Zigmond (2005) observed that instructional experiences of students with disabilities in 11 co-taught classrooms concluded observations when both teachers were present and when only the general education teacher was present. The results of findings were that students with disabilities interacted significantly less with the general education teacher but received significantly more individual instruction during co-teaching. This balance ensured that the presence of two teachers one of them likely special education teacher was justified and that students without disabilities were benefiting from arrangement which may not be the case of the proportion if children with disabilities were much higher. Both studies were talking of the significant of collaborative team teaching impacting professional development and teachers’ effectiveness dealing with special needs learner

RECOMMENDATION

Collaborative team teaching greatly enhance teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context and collaborative team teachings should be encouraged. The different models of team teaching (station, parallel, alternative, tag-team teachings) should be practiced in schools under study.  School administrators should ensure that teachers use collaborative team teaching in order to enhance their effectiveness in an inclusive context.

CONCLUSION

This study is of great significance because little research work has been carried out in this area of study in Cameroon. Many countries in the developing and developed parts of the world have recognized the importance of collaborative team teaching within an educational system as a means to assist learners with special needs within an inclusive context where a special educator and a general educator co-teach these learners. There is therefore an increasing global recognition of the importance of collaborative team teaching in an inclusive context among teachers and school administrators. On the basis of the findings discussed above, it is evident that collaborative team teaching does correlate to teachers’ effectiveness in an inclusive context.  This shows that collaborative team teaching remains the ultimate determiner of effective implementation of all the skills that are acquired in an inclusive context. This study reveals that collaborative team teaching improves teachers’ skills, teaching method/strategies, classroom management, presentation of their lesson notes, brings about improvement in learners’ academic performance, teachers’ self-confidence and their understanding of the learners’ problems. 

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