Special Needs Students in Mainstream Classrooms?

Are you challenging the learning of your special needs student, or are you being challenged?

I’ve recently spent some time working on a proposal to identify barriers for Māori students with special needs.  The reading I did threw shadows across some of my approaches to work, and the people who worked alongside me to build this understanding, threw even more shadows.  I thank them profusely.

Teaching special needs students has long been something mainstream teachers politely attend to.  This year, we are all being challenged to do more.  I’ve had the real pleasure of working in depth with principals, teachers and children who are in special schools over the past several years.  Believe me, the individual education plans for those children would leave a mainstream teacher gasping.  I accept that there is additional training and their class sizes are small.  But every child in each class is an individual, with very different needs (I’ve yet to see a reading group).  And each child is totally included in the classroom activities, which are designed to allow them access to learning.  They learn – in a real educational context, and their progress is monitored and plans adapted daily.  The progress may not be the milestones we are used to, but it is trackable progress nonetheless.  Parents are actively included in the child’s learning with a real open door approach. 

How does this feel for the mainstream teacher of a special needs student?  I’m guessing a little scary.  What are you doing about it?  Even scarier?  

ERO recently produced a report Including students with high needs that looked at how mainstream schools around the country included their special needs students and families.  On the basis of their report, ERO recommended that school staff should:

       ·     review the extent to which students with high needs are included across the school

       ·     implement a plan to extend the effective practice already in the school.

Now here’s the kicker.  ERO also recommended that the Ministry of Education:

       ·     build school-wide capability to support effective teaching for all students by extending effective evidence-based whole-of-school professional development programmes

       ·     review how well principal training and support fosters leadership for inclusive schools

       ·     consider, as part of the special education review, how effective mainstream schools, special schools, Group Special Education and Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour can work together to improve the level of inclusion in New Zealand schools.

So maybe help will be on its way shortly.  But if you are sick of waiting, give me a call J