Learning about SPED Law this week in class has been really beneficial. I know that going into Special Education will add to the amount of paperwork that I have to do, but I believe that it is well worth it if it means help and protection for those with disabilities.
Seeing the videos about Serbia really made me think about how important laws for special needs are. I was so sad about how bad the circumstances were for those people in Serbia, it isn't right for them to be closed off from the world and stuck inside a facility their whole lives. Everyone deserves the chance to receive an education and to get the help needed to rise to their potential and the laws we have help protect those rights.
In our heterogeneous group in class we discussed these videos and how we felt after watching them. We felt that the reason for many of these conditions was because many people do not know and do not have the training needed to work with the patients living in those facilities. We all thought that if there were more laws put into place, then more knowledge and training on how to deal with those that have special needs could take place.
While learning more about our philosophies and having the chance to rewrite them it was easy for me to see that my thoughts and philosophies will constantly be changing. As I gain more knowledge and work more with education, I will change and so will my philosophies.
The court cases we learned about made it easy to see how much involvement different people have in special education law. Brown VS. The Board of Education was a really remarkable case and one of the most known court cases involving education and how it changed. It made me see just how much I need to be an advocate for these things. I, as a future educator, need to be strong in my opinion to help others and be a strong advocate in what I believe to be true. As I thought about this case over the week, it was clear to me that "separate is inherently unequal" is a very true statement. As an educator I do not want to hold others back because they learn differently or at a slower pace, I want to be able to help them learn their best in a setting that is the same as everyone else. This case and the others we read about and studied show that the laws are very important to know so that help can be given to those who need it.
I like your positive attitude about the extra work that comes along with SPED Law. You are in the right place if that is your attitude! Could you imagine if America did not have those laws and we had mental institutions here? I honestly could not even imagine it. I could not imagine people actually being okay with individuals with special needs being in those circumstances. I agree that our philosophies will always be changing, just as Brother Cloward had mentioned in class. I think as we continue to learn and experience more with children and individuals with special needs and as we begin teaching ourselves we will constantly think of new ways to improve or change the dynamic of our classroom and the way we deal with everything as teachers.
ReplyDeleteI really like your thoughts on "separate is inherently unequal". You are going to make a great special education teacher. I also think that teachers philosophies need to always be changing. Our experiences and knowledge are always going to be changing and so should our philosophies. I know that just in the year or so I have been in the education program my philosophies have changed so much!
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about Brown v. the BOE because it made me think about inclusive practices being implemented in schools throughout the United States (and hopefully in other places throughout the world). I read in the book tonight in chapter two and found out that 80% of the time, people with disabilities are participating in general education classrooms. I loved to read about different intervention levels and how we as educators can help these students. And it is all possible because separate is inherently unequal. I am grateful for the years of dedication from people like Thurgood because without them, America wouldn't be where we are today. Thanks for your post AnnDee! See you in class on Monday.
ReplyDelete