Post: ADVOCACY FOR CHILDREN SPECIAL EDUCATION

Posted by AKMA on 12/26/04

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We are living in a time when the Bush administration has
had success in the "trickling down effect" of draining
educational resources by sending young U.S. citizens to
war. The effect on the classrooms is that you have
regimented methods of teaching students which are only
meant to maintain control of behavior, but little co-
operative teamwork is observed in these classrooms. The
outcome is that the minute you turn your head, students are
back to some form of aggressive behavior, either they throw
papers at each other, throw something at the teacher and
try to fool around with strange noises and disruptive
behavior. This is the symptom of an environment of few
resources. You have large classroom of up to 30 students
with no teacher assistant to help you to do better your job
and provide more quality education for students. You can
have more than five students with learning disabilities, as
well as numerous students with behaviorally disruptive
behavior. Then, when you make disciplinary referrals for
unsafe in-classroom disruptive behavior you are said to
have "ineffective practices for excessive disciplinary
referrals" But in the beginning of the year when you try to
do things on your own without asking for help then you
receive "wonderful evaluations of your performance as a
teacher"... Then you are told that the discipline issue has
to do with your seating arrangement, the lack of busy work
for students and you are pressured to control their
behavior by a row arrangement with a strong control system
established by "busy non-sensical worksheet/drill work"...
the students never learn co-operative behavior, neither are
they given the opportunity to receive quality education.
You have no in-classroom support except for maybe a
substitute teacher that will be sent "temporarily into your
room" to give you tips on how to control better your
classroom.After the principal and the "sent substitute"
came into my room admonishing me to uphold more strictly to
the bathroom policy (only 3minutes between classes and no
students allowed out of classroom to bathroom, unless
extreme case of emergency) my disciplinary referrals
increase in that students (some with medical/psychological
conditions) now find the opportunity to challenge the
teachers rigid policies. And when they exceed their
demands, then the counselor will come with the fear that a
parent can complain and with the reprimand that "the
student has the right to go to the bathroom"... then you
have a student that constantly talks and disregards general
rules of being quiet during instruction or testing time.
This student tells you when you try to maintain quiet "I
have been advised to walk out of the room if you call my
attention".... little did I know that they kept her out of
my room for a few days since they knew that I would not
return after vacation!... I did not even know. But I did
think it was strange when I walked through the corridors
and I saw her looking at me, talking to another student and
making an expression of mocking laughter towards me.
Then I have a group of entitled students who do not want to
receive a minimum detention or warning for a minor/major
disciplinary issue in the classroom. I have students who
take this issue to the house office who then presents false
information to parents about the fairness of my testing
system and comments about my unprofessionality in sharing
confidential info. of one student's family to another. I am
treated with disrespect by one office when I am asked to
discuss disciplinary issue about student, basically they do
not believe my version since several students present a
different version of what happened. These parents of the
entitled group tend to have ingrained some mentality in
their children that they can "fire teachers whom they don't
like because their children never do anything wrong and
their children will not accept much discipline from
teachers"... What happens to the parents of special
education students who feel that alternative teaching
methods (visual/auditory creative methods) are best able to
reach their children's needs but they are not as vocal at
the hour of trying to secure services for their children!
Are we supposed to be subject to the whim of students who
do not want to be disciplined and who become the victims of
false information they impart and supported by parents and
administrators in detriment of the reputation of minority
teachers. (No minority administrators and only two minority
teachers)... How can one do advocacy for these groups of
children of special education in these kind of
environments?

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ADVOCACY FOR CHILDREN SPECIAL EDUCATION, 12/26/04, by AKMA.