-..Norman
Kunc & Emma Van der Klift
..We have many biases...
..And we've worked very hard to get them
|
 |
 |
As I traveled around North America and met teachers who had been successful in including disabled kids in regular school, I would always ask them, "What support was most helpful to you?" The majority of teachers emphasized that the support they found to be most helpful was different from the support they thought they would need at the beginning of the year. |
 |
I also found that there were consistent differences between teachers who were new to inclusion and those with more experience. So, I’d like to outline some of these differences as well as some of the unexpected types of support which turned out to be most helpful for teachers. |
 |
All teachers wanted information. However, teachers who were new to inclusion wanted information about the disability, whereas teachers with more experience wanted information about the student. So, rather than searching for ways to adapt curriculum for a "student with cerebral palsy", these teachers would be asking questions like, "How does the student indicate "Yes" and "No?" "What is the student interested in?" "What worked well last year.?" etc |
 |
Teachers who were new to inclusion usually tried to avoid making mistakes; they would try to figure out how to do things the right way, the first time around. On the other hand, teachers with more experience with including disabled kids tended to see mistakes as inevitable and as an invaluable source of information on how to refine their approach. |
 |
A central concern for all teachers was student evaluation. The key to understanding this is knowing how to treat the students equally without treating them the same. |
|
It is often assumed that para-professional aides are there solely to support the disabled student. However, experienced teachers find that it is more effective to use the aide as a general classroom assistant. This allows the teacher to assume ownership of all the students, it minimizes potential barriers for natural relationships, and gives the teacher a much-needed extra pair of hands. |
|
can be found in the article: The Need to Belong: Rediscovering Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. |
|
Available in VHS - $50.00 Order This Video |
 
Videos, DVDs, & Posters are distrbuted by the Special Needs Project Bookstore |