As a teacher, I have experienced parents’ concerns
about their child not having the same opportunities as nondisabled peers. I
have a self-contained classroom in which students only join typical peers for
lunch, computer class, library, art, gym, music, field trips, and recess (as
stated in their IEP's). I believe one way to promote social integration for my
students and other students is collaboration/ communication with parents. If we
get parents involved in "implementing the procedures mandated by law"
there would be an increase in acceptance and social integration in the schools,
communities, and society (p. 41) (Jiminez and Graf, 2008). Research shows,
after the implementation of the Education for all Handicapped Children Act of
1975 (P.L. 94-142), "parents were not readily accepted as partners in
decision making" (p. 42) (Jiminez and Graf, 2008). I believe this is still
occurring. If we get parents more involved, they would benefit from all the
services that are available to promote acceptance, not just in the classroom.
If parents do not feel comfortable or trust you as an educator, it is hard to
establish a parent-professional relationship. As a result, we are not meeting
the requirements of the mandated law IDEA.
We have come a long way with promoting social
acceptance with students with exceptional learning needs. In the book
"Education for All" Jeremy Jr. struggled finding a place where he
could learn and take care of him prior to the passage P.L. 94-142. Other
individuals were unable to live in society until Ed Roberts developed 400
independent living centers. The Americans with Disabilities Act has also
promoted social integration for people with severe disabilities by having
transportation services and assistive technology so these people can contribute
to society. Jeremy’s mom spent a lot of time reaching out to the community for
resources for her child. As a result, having more parents feeling equally
involved in the decision making process and understanding what rights they have
would promote social integration in which students would receive the best
education possible (FAPE) same as nondisabled peers.
Courtney, I to agree that making sure the parents are actively engaged in the education of their child is the a huge contributor to success. Parents believe that they have the best interest of their child in hand and as educators we need to make sure we do as well. Open communication as you stated through your own experience is an intricate part in ensuring success of students with ELN.
ReplyDeleteCourtney, I couldn't agree more. Parents are our children's first role models. Parents who show love and compassion unusually raise loving and compassionate children. When children go to school it is important that school life and home life are collaborating. This is a great way for children to take the knowledge they are learning at school and apply it to real life. Having the parents on board with what their child is learning or dealing with in school is the first step to school-home collaboration. Parents want the best for their child and no better way to get the best then to have a smooth line of communication for all parties that involve their child. As educators we take on the responsibility to care and love each child as it was our own. We are to celebrate the good, adjust the bad, and feed the needs of each child. Children bring their home life into the classroom so having an open communication with the parents can benefit the child as well as days mood. Parents and teachers should be on the same wave length is ensure that they are advocating for the at the full extent possible.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you that collaboration with parents is a huge part of the promotion of social integration. It’s extremely difficult and often times overwhelming to just be one voice in the equation, especially when we are promoting the wellbeing of ALL learners in the classroom. Parent involvement and educating those who aren’t sure of all the different services can make the transition for both ELN students and their families. You hit the nail on the head when you wrote that we are not meeting the requirements of the mandated law IDEA.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the parents role is huge in the integration of ELN students. In my experiences I have tutored students that had wonderful support at home but also parents that hindered their growth, by my belief. The split was about even, the school I worked at took parents advice, concerns, and opinions very seriously and seemed to do things to please the parents more than help the students. Some parents had no faith in their student and believed that it was the intervention specialist job to make sure they succeed in school with as little pressure or work from the student as possible. They just had the "they can't do it attitude", this showed in the student because whenever we tried to make them think or work for themselves to help meet goals, they had no desire to do so and would give " I can't" answers. Then on the opposite side we had parents that wanted as little support as possible, I remember during PARCC testing one little girl did not want the calculator accommodation she was allowed because no one else in the room had one. I later learned that this girls mother talked to her about doing as much work as possible on her own and she viewed her accepting the accommodation as making her "not as smart" as everyone else. While I think both sets of parents want whats best for their student, I am not sure if we can fully trust anyone even the parents know exactly what is best for each student.
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