Interdisciplinary approaches to providing authentic teaching and learning contexts for secondary pre-service teachers in English and Special Needs curriculum areas

The students enrolled in the curricula area - Special Needs second teaching area - undertook a teaching and learning action research project with students attending the LATCH-ON program. LATCH-On (Literacy and Technology - Hands-On) is a literacy program established by the Down Syndrome Research Program (DSRP) in the Schonell Special Education Research Centre at the University of Queensland which focused on teaching literacy to young adults (aged 17-21) with Down syndrome. The paper will describe three aspects of this teaching and learning action research project.

Firstly, at the start of the year within the LATCH-ON program, the pre service teachers' undertook observations of the students with intellectual disability learning in their classroom. Then as a result of these observations, the pre service teachers were required to prepare, organise, implement and evaluate a series of lessons related to their major curricula area study with the LATCH-ON students. This part of the paper will be illustrated with examples from the students' projects.

Secondly, the paper describes peer teaching sessions that the Special Needs curriculum area students undertook with their colleagues in the English curricula area. These sessions were organised and designed by the Special Needs pre service teachers to provide an experience of the considerations and preparation that may be required in schools, where they could assume an 'expert role' in developing strategies for working with secondary students who have special needs.

Thirdly, the paper will discuss preliminary research evaluations from the project. These preliminary findings are presented from pre and post surveys of pre service teachers' perceptions and experiences with this type of pre service training and its usefulness to them when they actually take up a teaching position. Over the last two years, focus group discussions and a survey were conducted with those who are now teachers to obtain these findings.

Finally, the impact and challenges of establishing and maintaining such projects in the context of changing teaching, learning and work environments will be discussed.