Teaching Methods and Strategies in Special Education

SPED 202

Agapay, Michael E. Dr. Estrella Mercado

REACTION PAPER

Teacher Qualities ‘must haves’

Knowledgeable

High flexibility/versatility

High adaptability

Realistically optimistic

Creative/ creativity/ novelty

Clarity

Given the aforementioned tasks of a teacher, I believe that teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must possess the following
qualities such as high flexibility/versatility, high adaptability, realistic optimism, creativity and clarity.

The teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must be knowledgeable, knowledgeable of the nature of children with special needs and
their learning deficits. They must also be knowledgeable of the effective teaching strategies and methods that were devised to help facilitate the learning
process in order to address their learning deficits and difficulties. They must also possess high flexibility/ versatility because he/she needs to be adept and
competent in many areas of teaching and learning that the children often lack and/or deficient. He/she cannot afford to be confined to a box of old or
existing strategies and would just expect and/or force the children to conform to the standard by any means without considering the effectiveness and the
appropriateness of his/her teaching style that would complement the varied learning styles of learners. He/she has to be highly adaptable/ quick to adjust
to the varying and changing nature of the learners and their special needs. He/she must be able to tailor-fit/ individualize, customize or make the curriculum
and all its components suitable/suited for the best interest of the child.

The teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must also possess realistically optimistic quality or outlook, one that is tempered by
reality and optimism. They must believe that they, as teachers, under proper understanding and training and accumulation of experiences, can teach these
children and that in their teaching, their students can learn and will learn. They must be aware also of certain boundaries of optimism when confronted by
the very nature of the learner and the qualities brought about by his/her exceptionality in order to minimize or prevent, if not eliminate, the inducement of
unnecessary frustration, anxiety and tension on the part of the learner and helplessness and hopelessness on the part of the teacher.

The teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must also possess creativity and novelty. They must cultivate their God-given abilities,
the available resources and technologies and the careful reflections and evaluations of their accumulated experiences regarding the teaching-learning
experience and make good use of it in handling and teaching children with special needs. They must also be cognizant of ‘alternatives’ , that under normal
circumstances and under certain limitations and contexts, there can be two (or more), not just one possible way of doing and learning things, which also
opens us to the realization that there can be two (or more), not just one possible way of doing and teaching things.

Lastly, the teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must possess clarity. Clarity is the ability to be sure of, precise and defined about
something. It is important for them that they ‘know and are sure of’ what they intend the children to know, to do, to learn and to accomplish in the end.
They know what they are doing and why they are doing it. They begin with the end in mind.

Teacher Skills ‘must haves’

Problem solving skills

Informal assessment skills (technical know-how)

The teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must be competent at problem solving. The must possess the skills at acknowledging the
problem, finding the source of the problem, finding the ways on how to solve the problem, finding the source of the answers, and finally arriving at the best
possible answer(s). They must be keen at sensing the problem when they see one. They must be able to assess the gravity and the extent of the problem In
order to have a proper view of the situation and to respond accordingly.

The teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must be skilled in (informal) assessment. They must know the ‘technical know-how’ of
conducting an informal assessment. They must know the developmental milestones and commonly agreed and accepted ‘normality’ and the ‘common red
flags’, deficiencies, difficulties and typical features of the various exceptionalities presently verified. They must be able to conduct observation and gather
sufficient data objectively (e.g., Antecedent-Behavior Consequence chart). They must be able to know what to measure and record regarding evidences of
learning (or unlearning) and to consider absence or presence, frequency, severity and duration of (inappropriate) behaviors. They must be able to formulate
tools or instruments to objectively measure what they intend to measure. They must be able to make sense of their data, to give sound judgment, establish
significant relationships, causations, or differences. They must be able to consider also the ethical and moral implications and boundaries of testing and
assessment and to apply it within its bounds. They must also know how to conduct observations, checklists, surveys, portfolio assessment etc., to utilize it
as evidences of learning or present level of performance. In the end, they must be able how to make referrals and recommendations to parents (to subject
the suspected child to appropriate service providers and professionals like Developmental Pediatrician or Psychologist) and to all people concerned and are
working with the child/children.

Teacher Attitudes ‘must haves’

Accepting/accommodating

Hopeful/expectant/positivity

‘Can do’ attitude

‘Can be’ attitude

Cognizant and Appreciative

Open-mindedness

Considerate

The teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must possess the following attitudes in order to be effective and efficient teacher to
learner with Special needs. These attitudes are as follows: accepting/ accommodating, hopeful/ expectant/ positivity, ‘can do’ attitude, ‘can be’ attitude,
appreciative, open-minded, and considerate.

The teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must be accepting/ accommodating. The first step to intervention is acceptance.
Without true acceptance, the parent, the significant others working with the child, the child him/herself, and the teacher who will handle him/her will be in
constant question, doubt, denial and frustration of the child’s given condition. The parent may reject the intervention, so as the child and the significant
others in the child’s life because they have never accepted the child’s given condition. This may create a vicious cycle of denial, anger, bargaining, and
depression until it ends in acceptance, and non-acceptance or rejection can be highly contagious between the people involved and especially, to the child
afflicted with the exceptionality.

It is very important that the teacher and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must be accepting because the basic psychosocial struggle of
every child (regardless of the presence or absence of disability) is the issue of Basic trust vs. Basic mistrust that corresponds to the basic need of the child to
be accepted. As a SpEd Teacher working with students with exceptionality, I have observed that these students (children) have a keen sense of discerning
acceptance or non-acceptance to people handling or taking care of them. They may not be verbal about it but they have this discerning ability which people
(teacher) are accepting or non-accepting towards them. Perhaps, this is a compensatory ability for those deficiencies they lack. Based on my observations
too, there is a significant correlation between the degree of acceptance (from teachers) and degree of compliance from students with special needs. As
evident to typical people, students with special needs tend to show more compliance (under normal circumstances without coercion) to people whom they
trust than those whom they are just afraid of and are rejecting towards them.

True acceptance paves the way to accommodation (or being accommodating).Proper Understanding may lead to acceptance, and once acceptance is
ushered in, accommodation follows. Accommodation is the attitude (and the ability) to make room or allowance for changes for the improvement of
someone’s well being. To quote Dr. Richard Lavoie’s statements regarding ‘fairness’ and ‘equality’, he wrote:

The juggling of "fairness" and "equality" presents a never-ending conundrum for parents, and few of us realize that these concepts are not synonymous ...in
fact, they are often total opposites. The classic work in moral development conducted by Laurence Kohlberg at Harvard University indicates that children, in
their initial stages of moral development, define "fairness" thusly:

"Fairness means that everyone gets the same."

Unfortunately, in many households children have convinced their parents that the above definition is a true and accurate one. Consider: How many fathers
would return from a business trip bearing a gift for only one child? How often do you resist the temptation to purchase a special gift for one child because
you would feel the wrath of the siblings who received nothing? At holiday time do you carefully compute and monitor each child's gift list to ensure that all
receive the identical number of gifts? If this sounds familiar, you should understand that you are applying the concept of "fairness" at the level of a 7- or 8-
year-old child.

In actuality, the definition of fairness has little to do with treating people in an identical manner. The true definition of fairness is:

"Fairness means that everyone gets what he or she needs."

What impact does all of this have upon parenting? Parents must realize that, in order to be fair to their children, each must be treated differently. We must
recognize their unique patterns of strengths and needs. In the life of a family, there will be times when the needs of one family member become
paramount. In order to be fair, the parent must react to those needs by investing a disproportionate amount of time, energy, and resources in that child.
Parents should not become guilt-ridden about the situation but allot their energies based upon the children's needs. Parents should feel secure in the fact
that their "offended" sibling will, at some time in the future, also require some extra effort to meet their unique needs.

The question I would like to pose regarding this is “What impact does all of this have upon TEACHING?” This is heart of accommodation as far as I am
concerned. It is not about fairness in that everyone gets the same (because every child is unique, therefore their given and their needs are unique too!).
Rather, it is about fairness in that everyone gets what he or she needs.

The next attitude that the teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must possess is that of being hopeful/expectant/positive. Against
all odds, they must believe that there is hope and there is help for these children. Without hoping, expecting and believing that these children will amount
to anything, all the acceptance and accommodation will be futile. Acceptance may lead you to hope or to a deeper despair. Psychologists often refer to this
as ‘learned helplessness’. As teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs, they must BELIEVE and HOPE that there is hope and help for
these children, that despite of the many disadvantages and handicap that they possess, there are still THINGS LEFT THAT THEY CAN DO. One must choose to
see what these children CAN DO rather than mulling about their ‘can’t do’s’. It is self defeating to teach a child a skill or attitude or quality if in the first
place, the teacher doesn’t believe that he/she can actually do or attain it.

This being hopeful and expectant and positive leads to the next two attitudes that I call ‘can do’ and ‘can be’ attitudes. These attitudes work both ways, first
to the teacher and then to the student. The teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must believe that he ‘can do’ teach his/her
students effectively and that he/she ‘can be’ really a teacher to them. Recounting my personal experience, I entered the world of teaching SpEd without a
degree in Special Education, let alone a degree of Education. Banking only on a degree in Clinical Psychology with limited exposure as a fresh psych
graduate, I entered the field of teaching Special Education. I know how to informally assess and can easily see red flags as a graduate, familiar to human
behavior, but I can only assess, let alone intervene (educationally). I had experiences of frustration, anxiety and tension, wondering about whether I can
really teach these children with special needs and can really be a teacher to them. Apart from the grace of God, I would have thrown the white flag early on.
But I have to believe that by the grace of God, I ‘can be’ a teacher to them and I ‘can do’ teach them.

These attitudes extend to students as well. We, as teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must believe that they ‘can be’ taught,
that they ‘can do’ learn, learn from us. We must believe that they can amount to something, that they can be ‘something’ or ‘someone’.

The next attitudes that the teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must possess are that of being cognizant and appreciative. It is
common to our SpEd circle in school, ‘…in Special Education, one must know how to recognize and celebrate small victories…’. One must choose to see the
good, the improvement, the development, the growth and progress in the life of the child with special needs.

The next attitude that the teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must possess is that of being open-minded. One must be guided
by the existing box but must not be limited by the box. One must be open to new possibilities, new ways, new discoveries, new learnings in Special
Education. One must be constantly improving and growing in the field.

Lastly, the attitude that the teachers and would-be teachers of children with Special needs must possess is that of being considerate. Despite the best
efforts that a teacher can give to his/her students, at one point in time, or perhaps in many points, our student may fail us or will fall short of our
expectations and standards. This is where being considerate will operate. Actually, being considerate must be applied at all times, before, during and
especially after the instruction (especially when the student, despite our best efforts in teaching them, has failed us or fall short of our expectations and
standards). To end this attitude, I would like to quote one of my favorite poems written by a teacher: