Special Education:Collaboration and Communication

Special Education : Collaboration and Communication

In the past , special professionals have serviced children with disabilities . This type of special servicing was needed to optimize the socialization that children with disabilities were getting by being integrated into the structure of an existing educational mainstream . It was needed because the mainstream structure is designed to meet the socialization needs of the majority rather than the individual . The inclusion ' philosophy is that classrooms , or the educational mainstream , must be restructured to meet the individual needs of all students , thereby accommodating individual differences . In such

a set-up , I could advocate a process that involves a support system that would include reading specialists , physical therapists , speech-language pathologists , and psychologists . These specialists would come to the regular classroom instead of pulling the child out for services . I would advocate for a team-up in the monitoring and evaluation of these special children

Another possible issue , which I can advocate for these special students , could be the provision of appropriate interactive activities such as cooperative learning . Cooperative learning as an educational goal structure here would involve a set of strategies that organizes students into small groups of five or six and gives them a task to constructively work with others . The child with disabilities can be part of the group , making a contribution according to the ability (Kirk Gallagher Anastasiow , 1993 . Cooperative learning structures also provide opportunities for reinforcement and tutoring

Similarly , knowing that reinforcement increases the chance of a behavior being repeated , children without disabilities can reinforce certain behaviors in children with disabilities . While helping children to learn , tutoring or direct instruction also provides an opportunity for close social interaction . The learner gets instruction , and the tutor gains sensitivity to others , communication skills , and an opportunity to nurture . While the learner gains individual attention and an opportunity for cognitive growth , the tutor gains self-confidence and esteem . This would be more of a peer-to-peer set-up but one that would have to be properly supervised yet generate a healthy sense of fulfillment for everyone

Meanwhile , some of the ways I could advocate on the families ' behalf is by empowering them to become involved in school and education when they vote . There is an important need to elect people to serve on the local school board to make decisions about educational goals , school facilities , budget allocations , personnel , student standards of achievement and conduct , and evaluation methods . Obviously , this advocacy is indirect , but theless influential . Another advocacy issue is to collaborate with the parents and empower them by implementing assignment monitoring and workshops that enable them to learn how to help their underachieving students . This program demonstrates that the school cares about the parents and the success of their children (Hyde , 1992

The factors that may hamper efforts are conflict , confusion , lack of consensus in goals or mismatch in motivation or cognitive skills (Hess Holloway , 1984 . For instance , a mismatch in the way language is used in a special education set-up in school and the community can result in learning problems...