Reflection 3, Week 5
Posted on February 14, 2008
This course is really going hand-in-hand with the conversations we’ve been having at school around special education. We’re trying to shift from a very service-driven and somewhat arbitrary system back to making program decisions based on what kids really need. My school has a history of being inclusive and doing a good job at it. However, we’ve gotten a little caught up in too many pull-out services, and arbitrarily making decisions about the number of minutes a week a kid needs. We’ve totally taken the focus away from inclusive planning. Special educators are seen mostly as service providers (who do a bunch of paperwork), and not as facilitators or consultants.
Collaborative consultation is the way for us to get back to creative good programs for kids. However, defining the role of the special educator is difficult, and it seems like everyone has their own perspectives of what the role is or should be. We’ve recently created my role as the ISE special educator and I’m working with staff to make that role effective for both teachers and kids. The journey has been both exciting and frustrating. But I’m happy to keep on advocating for best practices while also striving to improve my own.
Comments
I think that it is great that your school is stepping back to look at service delivery. I think that it is easy to get caught up in pull-out services.
Posted by: Cortney at February 16, 2008 10:44 AM
I think that our service delivery model at my school is unfortunately moving away from inclusion and more of the pull-outs. Many teachers feel that they can not serve them efficiently in their class and then it falls on me to instruct them. As you said, teachers are confused as to what my role is. I think that working collaboratively would maybe take away from this confusion.
Posted by: Rebecca at February 17, 2008 2:48 PM
I think overtime we can loose focus. Courses like this help to bring us back to where we should be. What I struggle with at the high school are the 90 minute classes, the speed that material is delivered and the level of the material. I have to try to support my students keeping this all in mind. This is my challenge.
Posted by: Nancy at February 17, 2008 8:32 PM