Recently for one of my TEACH-NOW assignments I was asked to interview our Special Educational Needs Coordinator as well as a couple of teachers who had experience working with students that had special needs. Like many students going into an assignment my initial thought was to get it all done an over with. However, what I found at the end of the interview was that I had learned so much and that there was so much more I had to learn to be an effective teacher. My school only has the one SEN Coordinator, so the choice was obvious there, but there were many teachers to choose from and what I decided to do was, on the advice of the SEN Coordinator, interview two teachers that were on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of attitude and experience towards having to work with special needs students.
While I have had limited experience in working with students with special needs while I was at the school and the school's admissions policy indicated that only students with mild to moderate needs would be accepted, there was a lot to learn. I knew all about the referral process - a Google Form that teachers submitted when they suspected a student with a need. What I did not know was that if a teacher did not attempt to implement alternative educational experiences and document the result that the referral would be sent back and the teacher instructed to try some alternative educational experiences and report back at a later date. At first when I heard this I was concerned that it was a waste of valuable time where the potential special needs student could, but having hear the rationale from the SEN Coordinator (often times teachers don't want to deal with SEN and want to put it on someone else's plate, and it is generally good data for the referral consideration process in general) I felt a lot better. However, while one teacher (the one who was deemed to be "on top of things" by the SEN Coordinator as well as the SEN Coordinator could site ways to support students with learning needs, the other teacher was not very convincing.
This, to me, pointed to a disconnect in the school about the services available and the knowledge and understanding of some teachers of the different learning styles of students and how to accommodate for them.
When considering the list of accommodations provided to me by the SEN Coordinator I could not help but wonder how overwhelming it must be for the teachers who all have 3 or 4 preps and 5 classes to teach. It was at this point that I asked about the levels of stress and work that they have and how it plays a factor in how they deal with SEN students. Of course, the answer was not surprising. No teacher wants to let a student fail or struggle, but no teacher has the time to do everything for each student and still meet the general needs of the school. While the first teacher I interviewed seemed very much on top of things (as the SEN Coordinator suggested), the second seemed to be overwhelmed. And why not? After further questioning, it was easy to see why: a father of two kids under the age of 5, he was teaching 6 classes (normal load is 5), he is the head of his department, coaching a sport, and the assistant athletic director for the school. So, while one might praise the first teacher for taking the initiative to go get the information, the scorn given to the second might be without warrant.
When I look back at what I learning about the process here at my school it seems very systematic, which is great. Students are referred, and, if the teacher has done all the necessary steps, the Student Resource Team (SRT) meets and goes over the referral and student files to make a determination of next steps. Parents are notified of the referral and the process to follow (usually some sort of testing) and modifications and/or accommodations are implemented (with parent support). This all seems very well and good, but to my point above, it seems that in the busy lives of teachers the extra step of carrying out some alternative methods is not look upon highly. Once in place, however, the student's accommodations are done in the least restrictive way.
Thinking about the learning from Finland's Formula for Education Success and The New York School of One it seems that we might be off the mark. It seems from those two examples that the further of education, special or normal, is individualized for all learners regardless of ability and needs. This, of course, would take a major shift in a school's thinking and approach to teaching, learning, and hiring.
Overall, though this was a very valuable learning experience and just goes to show that the teacher is always learning and should never stop thinking about how and why we do things. I was able to learn a great deal about how the referral process works at my place of work as well as a lot about the perceptions of others of the process.
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