The Roles of Bilingual Special Educators in Creating Inclusive Classrooms

Abstract

One group of students whose unique needs present a challenge to educators seeking to create inclusive general education classrooms is learners who are learning english as a second language. The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to distill from the literature of bilingual special education, bilingual education, and special education a description of the roles of bilingual special educators in cooperative teaching endeavors designed to educate second language learners in general education classrooms; and (b) to offer the observations of a bilingual special educator who worked as part of a cooperative teaching team.