1. How should public education function within a democracy? According to Dr. Alice Hammel, within in a democracy, all students in a public education system should have the equal opportunity to learn; however, this is currently not the case (p. 4). They should have “equable opportunity to receive and take from others…[and] there must be a large variety of shared undertakings” (p. 4). Without these things, there are large gaps in the education system concerning outcomes and learning environments. In my own opinion, a public education should provide the same opportunity for people to grow, learn, and be inspired to become something greater regardless of their ethnicity, socioeconomic backgrounds, gender, etc. 2. Discuss the inequities within our current public school education system. Some inequities within our current public school education system include not providing similar opportunities for students to learn and grow because of their learning differences or demographics. This includes students with disabilities who have “marked discrepancies in the[ir] educational outcomes and learning disabilities” (p. 5). Another inequity is the lack of resources faced by students living in poverty, whether that be in rural or urban areas. Students with a lack of resources are not given the same support by teachers and cannot attend beneficial events and activities because the strain of money or time is a burden to their parents. Another inequity is that of culture; cultural communication can be muddied at times and teachers want their students to adhere to the education standards within the American culture. However, students who learn English as a second language may have a different way of learning and struggle with being taught only in one particular way that does not connect with them. 3. What is special education? Special education is “specially designed instruction, which meets the unique needs of an exceptional child” (p. 5). In this current century, special education has evolved into an integration model where the general education classroom includes students with disabilities. 4. What are the continued challenges with inclusion in the 21st century? Some challenges with inclusion in the 21st century are “large class sizes, a perceived lack of support, and very busy schedules” (p. 6). Teachers also feel “pressures from continuing standardized test-driven school culture” (p. 6), which makes inclusion even more difficult. Another challenge is that special education programs are expensive and underfunded. Special education teachers have to balance the life of teaching special education and including their students in a general education classroom. This can be even more difficult if there is a lack of communication between teachers of special skills, like music. With so much to do and so little support, it is hard for special education teachers to find the time to be actively including their special needs children into the general education program if they cannot handle even handle their outbursts. 5. Describe how public school programs are funded. Public school programs are “primarily funded by a real estate tax-based system” (p. 10). Other than taxes, public schools can be funded by the federal or state system if that school fulfills certain educational standards and requirements. Once this money is obtained, it has to be allotted to different programs with more money going to activities that are deemed more important. 6. How does public school funding affect students in urban and rural settings? The public schools in wealthy areas “tend to have better services and therefore better opportunity to learn from higher-paid special educators and better equipped classrooms” (p. 10) because they have more funding. School systems in urban settings are usually underfunded and understaffed, causing a struggle for special educators to meet the federally mandated initiatives’ requirements (p. 10). Therefore, students are not given the best opportunity to grow and strengthen their abilities because they do not have the proper care and resources. Public schools in rural settings face similar problems, but a lot has to deal with decreased access to appropriate services. Families have to travel “long distances to get the health care and school support they need” (p. 10), which can be a huge expense to families that they do not want to take. Students again cannot be given resources that allow them to reach their full potential. 7. How can raising a child with a disability affect a family? Families that raise a child with a disability feel “enormous financial burdens in an effort to provide care to their children with disabilities” (p. 10). All the money poured into caring for their children can place a large load of stress on the parents and families may break apart because of it, leaving their disabled child in a single-parent home. Little things like paying to attend an event can cause increased stress on the family, especially when their main hope is that their child is simply being included and achieving their learning goals. 8. Describe the five categories of disabilities and describe the label-free approach. The first category of disabilities is cognitive which describes “the ability of a student to receive, process, and commit information to memory” (p. 13). Students with cognitive disabilities may lack the ability to involve “the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of knowledge obtained by the sensory and perception systems” (p. 13). Therefore, music teachers should observe their students to see how students hear or receive music and how they express themselves in a musical manner. The second category is communication; this includes “receptive language, expressive language, cognitive function/processing, and cultural use of language” (p. 15). For example, some students may not use English as their first language or may have troubles that affect brain processing. Teachers have to observe how students communicate themselves using music and understand how cultural affects the student’s experience with music. The third category is behavioral and emotional challenges which include: “an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; an inability to develop and maintain interpersonal relationships; inappropriate types of behavior or fears in normal circumstances; a general…mood of unhappiness; or a tendency to develop physical symptoms related to fears” (p. 17). If teachers are facing these challenges in their students, they should see if these behaviors are also occurring in other classrooms and reach out to the child’s parents. The fourth category is sensory which may be “students who have an impairment that involves their vision or hearing” (p. 18). These students may have extreme reactions to different sounds, sights, touches, smells, or tastes. Teachers should be made aware of these things and recognize what triggers these reactions. The fifth category is physical and medical, which causes students to “sometimes have difficulty achieving the skills necessary to be independent” (p. 19). Educators should provide a learning environment that allows the student to achieve goals and independence. A label-free approach to teaching is one that provides equal opportunities for students with special needs regardless of their disability. Teachers create environments where students are included; educators learn and observe their students’ behavior in an in-depth manner so that they can better provide for that student and make them feel included within the general classroom setting. 9. Pose at least two questions related to the reading to ask Dr. Hammel. State your questions AND tweet them to Dr. Hammel (@alicehammel). Paste the 2 URLs to your questions in this post. Why do you think there is such a stigma about special needs kids? How can it seem less like a disability and more like a gift? https://twitter.com/miawde1/status/790749044440178688 How is it possible to include special needs kids while teaching other kids that those students are not "weird" or "strange"? https://twitter.com/miawde1/status/790749690270720001 Comments are closed.
|
Davina MiawOn this page, I will present examples of my scholarship in the form of reflective essays and philosophical assignments. Archives
November 2019
Categories |