ABSTRACT

THIS STUDY PRESENTS A CASE STUDY THAT EXPLORES TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE ROLE OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING AS A PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH IN PROMOTING EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND COLLABORATION WITHIN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS. ADDITIONALLY, IT IDENTIFIES BOTH THE PERCEIVED BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH ITS APPLICATION. THE RESEARCHER SOUGHT DATA FROM PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN ONE INCLUSIVE SCHOOL IN MACAU AND EMPLOYED IN-DEPTH SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS. TWELVE PARTICIPANTS WERE INVOLVED IN THIS QUALITATIVE STUDY. THE FINDINGS UNDERSCORE THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN CREATING INCLUSIVE, ENGAGING, AND EQUITABLE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS, PARTICULARLY FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS. OVERALL, THE PARTICIPANTS VIEWED COOPERATIVE LEARNING AS A VALUABLE PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH THAT FOSTERS EQUITY, INTERACTION, STUDENT ENGAGEMENT, AND COLLABORATION IN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM SETTINGS. WHILE COOPERATIVE LEARNING PRESENTS SEVERAL BENEFITS IN PROMOTING AN INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, THE FINDINGS ALSO REVEAL UNIQUE CHALLENGES THAT REQUIRE CAREFUL MANAGEMENT AND ADAPTATION BY TEACHERS. SOME OF THESE CHALLENGES INCLUDE CERTAIN STUDENTS DOMINATING GROUP WORK, DIFFICULTIES IN INTEGRATING STUDENTS WITH DIFFERENT DISABILITIES, AND TIME MANAGEMENT ISSUES FOR EFFECTIVE COOPERATIVE LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION. OVERALL, THE CASE STUDY CONTRIBUTES VALUABLE INSIGHTS INTO TO THE COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN MIXED ABILITY CLASSES