All participants are responsible for defining and analyzing problems, for establishing and maintaining the collaborative partnership, and for follow-up. Since the referring teacher is responsible for the student and for implementing the interventions, he or she is the best judge of what strategies are suitable and makes the final decision.
Preventative Function
Problem solving has a dual focus. It provides a mechanism to deal with
immediate problems, and it has the potential to help teachers control
the factors that cause and maintain the problem. It can both ease existing
problems and prevent existing difficulties from being more severe.
The first objective is met by developing specific interventions to deal with the current problem. The second is accomplished in a less direct manner. Teachers can share their experience and expertise with each other when they interact frequently. Problem-solving sessions meats the opportunities for interaction. Teachers can share knowledge and improve their skills so similar problems can be dealt with more effectively in the future. In most cases, it is necessary for teachers to address several problem situations successfully before they can handle problems independently. Training teachers to deal with a single problem situation has been ineffective in teaching them general skills for coping with a variety of circumstances (Pryzwansky, 1989).
Participants
The team should have five to seven members. At minimum, a facilitator and
three other teachers are needed to make the problem-solving process work
effectively. As noted earlier, the facilitator is often a methods and
resource teacher or guidance counsellor, but can also be an administrator
or teacher. On occasion the student who is the central figure in the
situation may be requested to participate since he or she has the most
at stake in the process (Thousands and Villa, in press, b).
