WCU professor shares co-instruction expertise with teachers in Colombia
Tammy Barron (center) with students and teachers in the classroom
By Julia Duvall
甜瓜视频app has been engaged with Central and South American schools since 1978. Faculty travel and hold classes in various regions of Colombia, focusing on leadership in international schools.
Tammy Barron, an associate professor in 甜瓜视频app鈥檚 College of Education and Allied Professions, has continued that long-time relationship by taking her expertise in co-teaching and instruction abroad.
Barron is a nationally recognized expert and scholar on co-instruction. She has led workshops and professional development programs across the state and the U.S. She is currently leading a professional development program for the faculty and staff at Colegio Bolivar in Cali, Colombia.
Tammy Barron
鈥淭he schools across Colombia were interested in implementing co-instruction because they serve such a diverse population of students,鈥� Barron said. 鈥淭hey are working with students who have disabilities and students who are multilingual, so co-instruction is a mechanism that can be used to service all those students in the same learning community and the classroom is integrated. Now, students do not have to be pulled from the classroom to go elsewhere to complete their work.鈥�
For many years, Joe Nagy, director of Colegio Bolivar and WCU alumnus, and Dan Grube, assistant to the dean for international programs and professor of health and physical education in the College of Education and Allied Professions at WCU, have collaborated on master鈥檚 degree cohorts and professional development opportunities between the two institutions.
Barron is the latest WCU faculty member to partner with the early grades in the Tri-Association of Schools.
鈥淐olegio Bolivar is a highly regarded American school in the Tri-Association of Schools in Latin America and has partnered with WCU on master鈥檚 degree cohorts in the past,鈥� Grube said. 鈥淭his is a great way to continue our strong collaborative relationship with these schools. Tammy strives to improve outcomes for students through increasing understanding and advocating for the needs of children, families, support staff, teachers, and administrators through research and practice.鈥�
Barron has collaborated with school professionals to implement co-teaching and build collaboration in their schools. She is the co-author of several chapters, articles, and a book on specially designed instruction for co-teaching. She has published and presented nationally and internationally on inclusive practices.
Barron with teachers and administrators in Colombia
鈥淭he teachers and assistants going into that space to co-instruct are ready to fully support the students being part of this one learning community, which is so important for equity for the students,鈥� Barron said. 鈥淚 traveled to Colombia and facilitated two professional development days with administrators and instructional coaches. I visited classrooms to get a feel for the content and met with the co-teachers. They were very excited to begin this classroom integration. They began implementing the method of co-instruction at the start of this school year.鈥�
Barron returned to Colombia in August to help the schools roll out the new co-instruction model.
鈥淚 helped with implementing effective teaching strategies and collaboration. I observed classrooms and helped provide a coaching element,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his coaching will help them ramp up the service delivery, and we may be able to expand co-instruction beyond the early grades.鈥�
Barron is grateful to Grube and his connection with Nagy and the other Colombian administrators and teachers.
鈥淎nytime you see how another culture is serving students with disabilities, you take back information that you can share with the students here at WCU,鈥� Barron said. 鈥淭hese teachers and administrators can do amazing work with the students; we can also take back some of the things they are doing and integrate that into our practice. It is just such a great collaborative experience.鈥�
