I am living in Ghana, West Africa. To understand the special
education referral process as enforced by the America and as followed by India,
I have done the study of referral process for special education in a couple of
levels and countries. The purpose of my study is to understand the referral
process, its importance and to find way to make it work better. Being a part of
the parent community of Lincoln Community School, Accra Ghana, for the last six years, I was very much aware
of the special need teachers present in the school but had no idea that there
is a whole process before a student qualifies for it. If one goes around the
school, during the school hours, we will see a lot of students sitting one to
one with one teacher of the other. Also, everytime we have had some issue or
the other about my son’s behavior , and we have requested a meeting with the
principal, there has always been a group of teachers present. They include the
principal, the class teacher, the councellor and a special need teacher. I
never fully understood her position there, since my son never qualified for the
special need education.
There was an instance when the class teacher had advised us to
take my son for a psychological evaluation, which we did not agree with and did
not understand why we were being advised by the class teacher about it. A lot
of issues cleared while doing this study. Only this this unit, I also realized
that the school is following flipped classroom model of education and is already following personalized
instructions but is just a step away from personalized Learning.
In order to understand the process better, I interviewed a
grade 3 class teacher and the Elementary school councilor.
1.
Mr.
Alex Papp, class Teacher 3 grade, Lincoln community school, Accra Community
School, Accra, Ghana
Mr. Alex is a grade 3 Class teacher for the last 2 years. He
is trained as a special education teacher but he prefers to be in the
mainstream and helping the students in a class scenario rather than getting an
isolated student to help. When he started his career, his first assignment was
to look after a whole class of Dyslexic students. Which he found to be awful,
as it is, since they were made to be pariah of the school and labeled to be“
not normal”.
Me : How
do you identify a student for special education?
Mr. Alex: In his
experience, the first indication, of a student being special need, is he will
be unfocused and fidgety in the classroom. He will have low concentration
levels and may also show extreme disruptive behavior. The special need students
will always be a low performing student.
According to him, the first step of recognizing a special need
student, is to know them as individuals. To know where they have come from, who
they are, what are their likes and dislikes and every detail that makes them a
distinct child in your class. This helps a teacher to determine whether it is a
special need case or the child has other issues, which is not letting him
preform well in school.
Me: What are the signs of a struggling student?
Mr. Alex: A struggling student will not be able to preform well in the
easiest of tests and would struggle to keep up in class. Even during the
lessons, his understanding of the topic is usually low and he is unable to ask
questions or answer them when put forward by the teacher.
Me: At what time are the parents informed?
Mr. Alex: If I feel
that the student needs special care and help, the first help I ask from is the
councilor. The councilor comes into the classroom and, as invisibly as possible,
observes the student in question. If the councilor also feels that the student
needs intervention in learning, she advices me to change a few teaching practice
with the student. If this does not work, it is then my job to collaborate with
the parents for further help.
Me: Are there alternate methods of instruction tried out before
referring the student for special education? If yes, what are they?
Mr Alex: Like I said before, I feel it is absolutely essential for
any teacher to know ones students as individuals. So if I see that a student is
not concentration in the class, the first thing is to make the student sit next
to me. The extra attention given to a child, usually make him behave well.
Since, the student under my care, are mere 8 year old, a little motivation in
terms of stickers goes a long way for the student to feel important and special
and thus most of the problems get solved. If none of this work, and the child
shows a constant lack of interest in the class, knowing his details again goes
a long way. When everything else fails
and the student is still not learning, then it time for some extra
intervention.
Me: How do u handle if the parents get defensive?
Mr. Alex: No matter
how positively you put it, still a lot of parents take is personally and turn
defensive on the first information report about the child. Some parents go to
the length in saying that we have send the child to the school, paid the school
fees and now it’s your responsibility. I, as a teacher have to have to be vey
patient and choose the right kind of words, so as to minimize their shock and
concern. I try to communicate to the parents as to the slow progress of the
student as positively as possible, and also the interventions done by me and
the councilor. I then makes the parents aware of the Child Study team, which
will come into action after this. The parents are always kept in the loop and
made aware of each and every step in every intervention done.
Me: Do you feel it is better to have the special need students in the mainstream or is it better to have them isolated ?
Mr. Alex: I feel it is easier
to control a disability and show progress, if the child is in mainstream and
sit with everyone else. This way he has behavior levels to live up to and is
not new to the whole world once he is ready to leave the school. I also feel
that to children, curiosity to learn comes naturally. So if a student is not
learning, it cannot be that he is lazy or dumb. There has to be some other
reason for it.
Analysis of the interview: I
really like Mr. Alex’s insight about the important of a classroom scene. I
feel, Leaving the special education stream and joining into the mainstream
school, gives him a edge over the mainstream teachers. He ias able apply his
knowledge not only for the special need students but his training allows him to
recognize and engage the gifted students as well.
2. Mrs. Robyn Harwood, elementary councilor,
Lincoln community school, Accra, Ghana: Lincoln Community school, is an
American school with International standards. Ms Robyn, who is the elementary
school councilor, working here for last two years.
Me:
Do u have a referral process in the school?
Mrs
Robyn: Yes, the school has a very strong referral system in the school.
Me: How is a student
identified for special education referral?
Mrs Robyn: We have very small
number of children with 2 or more teachers per classroom. This good student to
teacher ratio helps us to notice the special need students quiet easily. Referral process starts with the class
teacher. All the teachers are given training to understand and recognize
students requiring extra help and support.
Me: How do you ensure that every student gets the right kind
of support and help?
Mrs Robyn: To ascertain the
kind of help a child requires is multi step task. Once the class teacher brings
forward a concern, I have to observe the student in the class room and see if
what the teacher is noticing is true. If I agrees with the teacher, I then
advices the teacher to modify particular teaching practices for the
student.
If changing the teaching practices does not help the student
in question, a group called Child Study Team (CST) is made. Which comprises of
the class teacher, the learning support teacher, the councilor, and an
administrator. Wherein, the class teacher brings forward measureable proof in
term of the child’s work and a comparative data, as to ascertain that the
particular child at a particular age should display this particular type of
work or behavior. Thus proving their point that the child needs special
attention.
From there on, the team starts to eliminate, by research,
other factors for the child not being able to achieve the level he should be
on. Other factors like wrong grade
level, English language hindrance, socio-economic factors, social emotional
factors, cultural bullying etc. due to which the child is displaying under
achievement.
Once all the known factors are eliminated, the first step of
intervention will be one to one i.e. the child will be given time with the special
education teacher on one to one basis , in the subject he is under-achieving.
It is done two to three times a week and during the time when the class has
their French class.
After around 4 to six weeks of one to one intervention, the
child is re- evaluated in the particular subject. If the student shows
improvement, he is put back into the mainstream for all the classes and the
intervention stops.
If not, then it is given some more cycles before we are sure
that this particular intervention is not working. Going back and forth, it
takes nearly a year of interventions that they then decide on a psychologist’s
education evaluation (PEE) of that particular student. Sometimes it does happen
that the teacher, who sees that her interventions are not helping the child,
want to hurry up the process for the psycho evaluation. But the school makes
doubly sure that the child needs it before it actually suggests it to the
parents.
It is the parents who choses the psychologist and get the
evaluation done. They then get the resuts back to the school. The PEE
ascertains the exact disability or disabilities, the student has and the CST
then makes a specialized Education Plan (SEP) for the child thus giving the
student proper and measured learning help and support. They then have a strict
monitor list, which is collected by the learning support and is shared by the
entire CST.
Me: At what age do u start keeping an eye for special need
student?
Mrs
Robyn: It starts as early as possible but not before the student is
seven or eight years old. Before this age , it is felt that every child is
unique and can have different rate of growth.
Me: How do you deal with multiple disabilities in a child?
Mrs. Robyn: In case of the child who is showing more
than one disability, one disability will be focused up at any given time
period. And the next disability will be taken into consideration only when the
referral process of the first is finished.
Me: How is data kept about the special education learner?
Mrs. Robyn: The main
difference that I noticed working in America and in Ghana is that in America,
due to laws and regulations, the paper work regarding the whole process is
vast. I feels the actual “child” gets lost in the details of the paper work.
The student just become a subject to be studied. Wheres here in Ghana, we come
to know the student well and focus on his disability.
Here, only the essential data like, the students class work or
his behavioral activities are recorded and kept by the class teacher. The
special educational teacher keeps her record of the work she does with the
student and I as a councilor keeps getting summary of the progress report which
I keep. There also a regular collaboration between the regular teacher and the
special educational teacher to keep each other informed.
Me: As a councilor do you feel that special need should be
mainstreamed as much as possible??
Mrs Robyn: Throughout the
intervention, the student is not isolated but allowed to be a part of the whole
class. Thus giving the student a chance to be normal and be a part of the
society. And I feel this is not only, the best way, but the only way.
Me: Who takes responsibility for the progress of the child before
and after the referral?
Mrs.
Robyn: The whole CST jointly
takes the responsibility of the child. The management has all the child’s
intervention records at all times.
Me: What is the school administration's directive for special education?
Mrs
Robyn: There will be one member
of the management always a part of the CST. It will either be the principal or
the vice principal level. It keep the management in the loop for the entire
process but does not interfere in any negative way in it’s working.
Me: What provisions are made for students
identified for special education?
Mrs
Robyn: We have enough special education teachers in the school. Every
student is taken care of as the only one. We make sure that the student is not
neglected in any way or made to stand out in any negative way.
Me: What is the level of parent involvement in
referral process and special education?
Mrs.
Robyn: Parents are involved at all levels. At any time they can request
to meet the CST. And we keep them involved by giving them regular updates about
the child’s progress.
Right from the time, the CST recognizes that the particular
child need extra help, the parents are made aware of the child’s progress or no
progress, by the class teacher. By the time the PEE is advised, the parents are
well aware of all the interventions made by the school.
Me: How do you
handle if parents become defensive?
Mrs. Robyn: The parents are
already prepared when they come to talk to about the student. Still the I have
to be careful, to be polite, patient and positive with the parents, conveying
that the school is trying to help the student and it is usually well received
by the parents.
Analysis: We see that the
referral process the school follows for the special need cases is quiet
exhaustive. Though it does take a long time before a psych educational
evaluation is requested, I feel that is essential so that no child is put
through undue pressure without being sure. The importance given to every
student in the school seems remarkable.
To understand what is done in other
countries, I did an interview with a Principal of a private school in a small
town of India, a Teacher in a government school in a big city (Bangalore), and
a special need teacher in a top Delhi school.
A.
Mrs.
KiranDeep Kaur, Principal, Little Angels School, Kapurthala, Punjab, India.
Mrs Kirandeep kaur is a principal of the school for the last
twenty five years. According to her there is no facility for special need
students in the state of Punjab. Neither is any Special education teacher
available nor is there a training facility for such.
So on asking how you deal with
special need students, in recognizing them and then putting them through
needful interventions, she states that she has not really come across
any special need students in her experience apart from two autistic children
that she took, since their elder siblings were already in the school and there
was no other school where they could study. Also, the student to teacher ratio
is so high that it gets impossible for teacher to notice a special need student
let alone give a student extra time. Though she has tried to restrict the
number of students per class to not more than 25, there is no concept od a
teachers assistance in the school.
According to her, even today the mentality of education system
is that students are categorized as
a.
high fliers
b.
Medium intelligence
c.
weak
These are the only categories in which the teachers are
equipped to understand the students. Even today the profession of teaching is
taken more as a convenient job, than a serious profession. For years together,
the teachers keep on teaching the same lesson in the same way and just getting
along. There is hardly any creativity applied to make lesson interesting and
engaging. Hence, it is obvious that the students are bored and often lazy to
learn. Even though she tries to
intervene in the methodology of teaching, teachers are often more defensive
than forthcoming. With the huge problem of obtaining good teachers in the small
town, one cannot keep firing the non-interested teachers.
Even the Indian teachers certification is to blame for low
creativity of teachers. There is no training for special needs education during
the certification and it is not even touched while training the teachers.
Most of the students in the school come from non-English
speaking families. So English language training is one of the major problems.
These students are only taken into the school at the primary most level. If
such a student wants to take admission in middle or high school, the student is
refused admission. At the primary level, the non-English speaking students are
given extra, one to one, time with the teacher. Since there is no help from the
home front, these students are helped as much as possible.
She feels another hindrance
in learning is something called private tuitions. The moment the students reach
home, they are sent off for private tuitions to help them with the homework. As
a result, the students are tired and hardly have any free time for recreation.
Thus having low or bad learning progress.
Thus any kind of weakness is put on one of these factors. Also
the gifted students are usually neglected since there is no way the teachers
could keep them engaged. There are students who are self motivated and go ahead
to do extra work than asked for by the school curriculum.
When a very low preforming student’s parents are called in to
inform them of their child’s progress:
·
If they get defensive and try and cover up for
the child, they are asked to take the child home as it is difficult for the
teachers to manage such students without the parents support. This is usually
the case with boys rather than girls.
·
But usually the parents are aware of their
childs learning level and they help the teachers to plan out ways to help the
student at home.
B.
Mrs
Neena Muddappa, Government school, Banglore, India
Mrs Neena is a teacher in a government school in Bangalore,
India, for the last 20 years. According to her there is no facilities for
special need student at all. There is no consideration at all there is
something called special need student. If students with obvious disabilities
(like hearing and walking) come for admission, it being a government run
school, they have to give admission. But these students are put into mainstream
without any kind of interventions to help and support them.
In case of weak students or disruptive students, it is upto
the teacher to find ways to complete the lessons. Basically there is nohelp
from the management to the teachers and there’s is no help for the students
from the teachers. Again only the self-motivated students get education and the
rest the carry on.
C.
Mrs Josan: Special education teacher, Delhi
She started her career in the mainstream teaching which she
did nearly 23 years of her life. That is when she got interested in helping the
student who needed extra care and help. She feels that every teacher in the
world should get special need education training. Since it helps not only who are
special need but also the mainstream students.
Even though there are no explicit laws or regulations for the
methodology of treating a child with learning disability, many private schools
of Delhi have started employing special educations teachers as permanent staff
members. Once the teacher realizes that the student is not learning through any
or all interventions like one to one teaching etc by her, she reaches out for
the advice of the special need educator. But the is no formal methodology for
referral. It all depends on the expertise of the class teacher to recognize and
help the special need student.
Me: How do you identify a student for special education?
Mrs.
Josan: According to her, the most obvious cases of disabilities are
given help right from the age 5 to age 12. In the top most private Delhi
school, they feel that if the foundation is strong then any kind of disability
can be controlled and the student can grow up to be a confident and independent
individual. It is firmly believed that learning disability is not a disease but
just a different way of sending messages to the brain.
Me: What are the signs of a struggling student?
Mrs.
Josan: In India we lay a lot of emphasis on tests and examinations. So
right from the first test report we start noticing that the child is not
responding to the lessons and is having very low grades. Along with that, we
recognize the special need child through various indications, given by him over
a period of time. Like a child who is just not learning to write alphabets in a
proper way, A child who is constantly fidgeting and restless. The student also
shows constant disinterest in the class.
Me: At
what time are the parents informed?
Mrs.
Josan: Even though the parents are made aware of their child needing
extra help and support due to some disability right from inception.
As there is no formal way to ascertaining the child’s level of
disability, it is up to the teacher to recognize the disability and find out
relevant ways of differentiated instructions.
Me: How do u handle if the parents get defensive?
Mrs.
Josan: In her experience, the parents of the students with disabilities,
from educated background tend to become very defensive, when informed about
their child needing extra care and support. Where as the parent who themselves
are not vey educated but realize the importance of education, are ready to go
to any lengths to help and get help for their child.
If the parents get defensive, we need to emphasize the
importance of extra support for the child and talk to them in details about
methodology that will be used for giving support to the child.
Me: Are there alternate methods of instruction tried out before
referring the student for special education? If yes, what are they?
In the classroom, the student is also helped, by making an effort
on the part of the teacher, to keep any disruptions away from him or him away
from them. Some special need student are uncomfortable in bright light. So,
they will be made to sit away from windows. Also, two students with
disabilities will not be made to sit with each other. The child will start to
be taught in alternate ways which the teacher feels will drive the lesson home.
Me: As a special education teacher do you feel that special
need should be mainstreamed as much as possible??
Mrs. Josan: All the students should be kept in the
mainstream no matter what the disability, because we have to remember the whole
purpose to educating students is to prepare them for tomorrow and the actual
world. So, if we start isolating special need students, they will never be able
to function normally when they are let to leave school.
Me: Since there is no formal referral
process to be followed, what methods are used for special education?
Mrs. Josan: In that class,
they apply many different techniques and alternate methods for teaching the
student, depending upon his disability. For example, for a dyslexia child, they
use SONDAY system of learning. They also use alternate materials like sand,
hand signs , textures etc for making the child learn the alphabets. For a
student who has discalcularia, they use colour codes to differentiate to the
child whether it is a one digit number, a two digit number so on and so forth.
According to her, the Indian board of education is very much
aware of children with disabilities. If the school informs them of the number,
name and diability of its students, the board accommodates them accordingly.
For example, a disgraphical child will get another person to write his exams,
the question papers printed for the dicalcularian child with be in color codes
etc.
Me: In
your experience have you ever seen any trend in the disability regarding socio
economic fators, cultural factors?
Mrs.
Josan: I did notice that students coming from Muslim family had the most
disabilities. As we know that even today the Muslims allow marriages within the
same family so the fact is obvious for disability caused by genetic disorders. I
also found that students from Punjabi speaking families had the most problem in
English learning, even though English is now treated as native language of
India.
ANALYSIS
Doing an analysis of the all
the interviews put together, we conclude that most of India does not even have the
concept of any referral process for special education student and the degree of
recognition of a special need student varies from cities to cities. There is no
uniformity in the knowledge about special need students and that most of the
special need students are neglected, put into mainstream classes, with any help
or support interventions.
So we can safely conclude that
in this scenario only the self-motivated, gifted student will do well in the
mainstream classroom and the rest just pass their years in the school system. I
feel the government has to put in place strong laws to help special need
students, it needs to open up more Training centers for training teachers in
the special education stream, need to provide compensation and rewards to the
lower income group for taking good care and providing education to the special
need children they have. Moreover, the government need to play a huge role in
making special need education system accessible to one and all.
Looking at the education system
in India, there is still no concept of personalized Learning. The curriculums
prepared by the Indian board of education are still age old. They need to be
reviewed and the educationalists need to wake up at look around as to where the
world today is reaching vis a vis technology, and start preparing its students
for the world tomorrow. The government needs to be aware of the flaws in the
education system, which is getting forward the British era in India and enforce
new education system so that the students are better equipped for the future.
As far as the American school in Ghana is concerned, I feel it
is doing rather well in the referral process. Without the laws enforcing them,
they have taken the best practices of the special need referral process, cut
down on the unnecessary part of wasting time and energy in collecting too much
data, and is doing a brilliant job in help its special need students to become
independent human beings ready to face the future.
I know by experience that personalized instructions are
followed to the core. Platforms like khan academy are used for flipped
classrooms. The school is well informed about the technology needs for
education and has some excellent experienced teachers for its mainstream
students and special need students, and they are provided with training on
regular basis to keep their knowledge up to date.
CONCLUSION
Making the study of what personalized learning is, special
need education and special need referral process, we realize how important is
personalized training has become for the mainstream students and special need
students, and how easy it has been made by todays technology. All we need to do
is train ourselves as teachers and the present student, the usage of technology
and the rest of the education can be done by mere guidance by the teachers.
If we introduce personalized learning in all the schools, there
will be no demarcation or difference left between mainstream students and special
need students. The hard work for the referral process will not be required at
all. Every student will be treated as a special kids getting to learn at his
own pace, in a comfortable environment and having the option of choosing the
time to learn. There is no way that every student wont excel not only academically
but also flourish as a child.
