Reading this article helped me significantly, especially after reading what Mike and Mike had to say about being special Education majors and having knowledge of these terms. I really didn't know much about it before reading these articles. This is where I feel like the College of Ed may fall behind in things of this nature. I think that it is kind of important for Elementary Education majors to have some form of training on Special Education terms and procedeures. This post may not be fully what it is supposed to be, but I have a passionate argument that I feel needs to be stated.
Going through MSU's College of Education has been quite the experience for me. I feel privileged to be part of such a prestigious program, but I do feel that there are a few flaws--of course this is a personal opinion. One of the most prominent, I feel, is that as Elementary Education majors, we are not exposed enough to Special Ed training. The fact of the matter is that there are many many mainstreamed students who need Special Education in some form or another. There should be at least one required class for El Ed majors regarding all things Special Ed. Why haven't I learned how to accomodate for students with special needs? In the real world, I will have students with special needs in my classroom, and reading one article about it will be helpful to me, but it won't be as helpful as an entire class. Why is it that Secondary Education majors have an entire lab class that focuses specifically on Special Education students in their classrooms, but we don't get that? I think it is important enough for some attention.
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ReplyDeleteJenae, I think you are right about there not being enough emphasis on special education in the regular education classes at MSU. Mike, myself, and other special education majors have tried to incorporate key points and ideas about special education into our work and discussions that we have had as a class in both TE 401 and 402. I hope that this has at least been a little helpful to you. I often feel the same way about second language learners that you do about special education. Luckily, there are some similarities between the two in terms of how to incorporate different types of learners into the regular education classroom. I know you have heard this before, but the simple solution is being able to have material and lesson plans that can be adapted to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on this Jenae. In my special education classes we have talked about how important it is for us to be involved in general education classes, but at the other end of that sword, there needs to be special education training for those people going into general education. There is no doubt that in a general education class that you will encounter special education students on a yearly basis (some years maybe more then one student). Going the special education route in school is a decision I am very happy with because I have gotten that training. I am not saying that your entire education needs to be based around special education classes, but I feel MSU could cut out one or two of the "major" or "minor" classes and allow general educators to experience a special education class. The classes that I have taken here for special education have been extremly benefical and I have learned a great deal.
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