TIME-USE BY METHODS AND RESOURCE TEACHERS
On several occasions we have had M&R teachers track their use of time to provide an objective look at their activities. This makes it possible to monitor the degree to which day-to-day practice corresponds to the theoretical model for their role. The most recent survey was completed in January 1990 during the fourth full year of an integrated school setting.
Twenty-five methods and resource teachers completed a time-use log for two consecutive teaching days. They recorded the maior activities they were engaged in during fifteen-minute time segments throughout the work day. Four major categories of activity emerged: 1) collaborative consultation; 2) teacher support; 3) instruction; and 4) other (see chart A1) .
The category that took up the major portion of time — 32.5 per cent — was collaborative consultation. This involves collaborating with teachers, teacher’s aides, other M&R teachers, parents, the principal and consulting professionals such as psychologists. Time spent monitoring in-class activities was also considered a collaborative function.
The second major area is teacher support activities. This category included areas like referral and assessment, planning, IEP development and the preparation of materials for instruction. These activities took 24.7 per cent of the M&R teachers time.
A third category, instruction-related tasks, totalled 27.9 per cent of the time. This area was made up of three distinct activities: 1) occasions when the M&R teacher provided direct instruction to the whole class so the regular teacher could work with the individual student or do program development for a student; 2) individual or small group instruction in the regular classroom in partnership with the regular teacher; and 3) pull-out instruction in the resource room.
The fourth and final category of activity included all the other activities teachers engage in such as professional development, meeting with students or student groups, school duty, and a variety of other activities. This area accounted for 14.9 per cent of the M&R teachers time.
