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I was a full-time special ed TA (teacher assistant) in a sub-/exurban American public middle (grades 6-8, 11 to 13-year-olds) school for a year, then subbed multiple days/week in special ed programs in the same district for a couple years after that. So no formal training, I was not special ed myself (insert joke here), but here's my observations and answers to your questions and experiences: First, is there a particular category of special needs you're looking to teach? My TA position was in a severe and profound autism class, which was very different from the mild/moderate downs and not-autism rooms I'd sub in. Besides the type of program, I saw wildly different approaches to special ed. Some teachers were very, very focused on teaching the students, both academics and also job skills stuff like folding towels, sorting, etc. Other teachers barely even hid the fact their room was essentially daycare with no real instruction or learning going on. Just keep the students happy and don't let them break anything. Your experience as a mainstream student in rural Australia mirrors what I saw as a TA and sub in some ways and not in others. Our students were largely silo'd into their own programs, but depending on how high-functioning they were some were able to attend elective classes with a TA with mainstream students, like PE, choir, and computers. Anyone who was too "low" or had behavior issues attended our own PE class which our special ed teachers led, not the actual PE teacher. Otherwise, yeah, the special ed students were largely invisible to the rest of the school. That was my experience as a student, too--my elementary didn't have a separated special ed program, and in the 7 years I was in middle and high school the number of times I ever saw students from the special ed program, let alone interact with them, was very, very small. I didn't observe bullying going on when students went to the integrated electives, but also there was an adult (me) sitting with the student the whole time so if a kid said something mean I'd be sure to tell 'em to zip it. To be honest my observations were that most kids were kind to the special needs students, trying to be accommodating and welcoming of them. But there's no doubt some amount of bullying does/would go on, that's unfortunately just how kids are to a certain degree. I will say my time working in special ed was utterly invaluable to me, both when I went to become a teacher myself but just in general. Jesus Christ did I learn a lot of patience those three years.
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Jun 6, 2023 14:39
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 20:19 |
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