Thursday, October 30, 2008

Expectations from a special education teacher.

When special educators face undesirable working conditions day after day, their commitment to teaching, satisfaction with the job and stress are likely to change for the worse, increasing the chances that would prefer changing of job. Conversely, when teachers feel that principals communicate openly, demonstrate their leadership, establish trust, and show appreciation for their efforts; teachers are more satisfied with their jobs On the one hand, excessive paperwork, high caseloads, and frequent meetings cause many special educators to feel stressed and less committed to their workplace and often question whether the content on the students IEP is implemented. A lot depends on how many para educators are provided to the special education teacher in particular classrooms. On the other hand, the longer teachers work, the more able they are to handle the organizational demands of their job. Indeed, classroom experience is linked to higher levels of professional commitment.

Teaching is one of the few professions where novices are expected to meet the same demands as their more seasoned colleagues. "Similar to their more experienced colleagues, beginning teachers must plan lessons, teach content subjects, manage student behavior, collaborate with peers, communicate effectively with parents, and complete paperwork" These challenges are enormous when one considers that beginning teachers have not yet developed basic classroom routines and are just starting to operationally their knowledge of instruction.

In my opinion beginning special education teachers like me face the same challenges as all beginning teachers-and then some paperwork requirements, development of instructional and testing accommodations, IEP development and implementation, and collaboration fall within the purview of special educators, novices and veterans alike. Some beginning special educators do not have the basic knowledge or skills to overcome the challenges they face. Inexperienced professionals like myself go through a lot of difficulties when have to meet up with challenging roles of a special educator along with planning, interactions with students, interactions with other teachers, and implementation of content. We not only have to make a classroom environment that prepares the students to face challenges of life but all keep with numerous expectations from the bureaucrats involved in the field.

2 comments:

Aravind said...

gud one, it would be great if you able to provide some real world example for the scenarios which you were discussing.

vinaym said...

Great Article
Keep it up
Vinay