Co-teaching in Abu Dhabi Kindergartens: A Delphi Study

Co-teaching is one content delivery model that is commonly used to meet the needs of special education students and English language learners. Co-teaching has purported benefits, from increased achievement and improved attention and attendance for students to embedded professional development and camaraderie for teachers. The purpose of this mixed methods Delphi study was to investigate the challenges and factors that have contributed most to successful co-teaching between English and Arabic kindergarten teachers in the implementation of the New School Model, as part of the nation-wide educational reform in the United Arab Emirates. An expert panel of subject matter experts comprised of Arabic-medium teachers, English-medium teachers, heads-of-faculty, and principals completed a series of three questionnaires to reach a consensus: communication, intercultural understanding, and leadership are the factors needed for successful co-teaching, as the lack of these are the key challenges. Both Arabic and Western co-teachers used a variety of strategies to construct a hybrid third space to help them navigate the cultural differences between their native first space and the second space imposed by the teaching environment of the Abu Dhabi Education Council. Because the methodology included a series of quantitative semi-structured questionnaires derived from an initial qualitative data-gathering questionnaire, it was a hybrid of a traditional positivist design and a constructivist interpretative typology. Third space theory was used as a lens to view how teachers sometimes constructed a hybrid reality bridging cultures. Recommendations for further research include investigating other aspects of the Abu Dhabi education reform, exploring the intercultural competency of ADEC teachers, and studying the actual and perceived benefits of the biliteracy and co-teaching approach.