October 26th, 2011

Exceptional Learners

& Special Education in Alberta

        In Wednesday's class we began to discuss learners who are "exceptional". Dr. Nellis, our professor, said there has traditionally only been one way of seeing students:

"there are two types of students: normal & not."

However, his theory is majorly different, it is as follows:

"there are six billion types of people, and therefore, six billion types of learning."

Currently, Alberta schools opperate on the practice of "coding", but that practice is begining to be progressed away from. The basic idea of coding is that each student is assigned a code and based on that code the school recieves money for that student's education. The process, which the child has to go though, is as follows: 1) the child is put through two days worth of standardized tests, 2) the data from those tests is put together to see if the child has a disorder and if so, what kind of disorder he/she has, and finally, 3) if the child meets the criteria the school recieves money from the government which is meant to aid in that student's educational experience (i.e. aid worker, special bathroom needs, elevator, wheelchairs... ect.).  **multiple codes can be applied to one single student** This approach can be said to be a "mechanism for funding", or in other words, the more students with "codes" the more money that school recieves. So right there the flaw is easily visible.

Another approach, which is also being progressed away from, is the Individual Program Plan of IPP (as the cool kids call it). This is a collaberative approach where everyone (nurses, parents, teachers, aid workers, doctors...) is involved in the lesson and goal planning processes. Student's areas of need, and strengths, are taken into consideration when determining short term and long term goals and objectives. The good thing about this approach is that in the planning document it is specifically stated how the student's progress will be assessed and sometimes, if the author got ambitious, when said assessments will take place. This approach is very behaviouristic, a goal is set and the ourcome is assessed.. nothing more.

Moving forward, Alberta schools are going to be as integrated as is possible. This means that students who would normally be in a "pathways" class are going to be put into "normal" level classes. Obviously, this is not possible for some students whose disorders are too severe, and so there will still need to be a class for those students.. but for the most part students will be combined into regular classed. I am in the middle on this issue.. I do not think that all children should be forced to be in a class that is too advanced for them, while on the other hand I do believe that socialization outside of the "special room" is necessary for these students to succeed and grow. Being that I have worked in a pathways classroom for the past 2 years, I am undeniably bias. I have had children in my class who could easily assimilate into the general school population, but, I have also had students who could never survive in that enviroment. I am going to leave out names for privacy reasons, but.. one of my students, who actually goes to RDC now is a total social butterfly, and he is amazingly smart and athletic, despite his disability. He would benifit greatly from total integration as he was partially integrated in our high school. However; another one of my students, lets call him P, would, if integrated with a normal class, fail miserably. And I am not just assuming this, last year we tried integrating him into a normal drama class and for the first month or so he did great, he had little slip ups here and there, but for the most part he was coping well... that didn't last. By mid-april he had lost all focus, and interest, in the class.. he was constently absent, and when he did show up he paid no attention.. his integration experiance was the opposite of the other student I mentioned.. and so that is why I am torn on this issue..

I would like to leave off by asking your opinion... what side are you on and why? You don't have to reply on this blog, but just take some time and consider both sides of the argument.. which one resonates more with you... and why??

Thank you again.. I know this blog wasn't the most riviting to read.. but I hope the information managed to sink in, or jog your interest in the subject... as I have said this is a topic very near and dear to my heart, so it means alot to me that someone else is taking the time to think...

Sincerely,

Natasha.