Causes of Conflict in Special Education - Term Paper Example

Introduction The Special Educational Needs (SEN) of Practice offers useful recommendations to the Local Education ities (LEA) and schools which enable them to recognize children with special educational needs assess their requirements and then incorporate those assessments in the teaching methodology. The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice provides a standardized approach towards the integration of the children with special educational needs in the mainstream. More importantly it focuses on the rights of the children with special educational needs and empowers them by making them a part of the decision making process of their educational system. One of the key areas of the Special Educational Needs code is the early identification of children with special educational needs. Once these children are identified, timely action is initiated to address those needs. The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice outlines an agenda for efficient school based education with stress on evaluating the progress of children with special educational needs towards identified goals. Causes of Conflict in Special Education Conflicts occur amongst stakeholders in special education due to a variety of reasons. Design conflicts arise when stakeholders have conflicting ideas about special education requirements of their wards. These arguments characteristically are about issues like eligibility for services; methodology of intervention; perceptions about student needs and educational placement. Parents usually feel that their ward has needs that merit unique education services while the school administration may decide that the child is ineligible for these services. Arguments may occur over the most suitable methodology for intervention. In the recent past, a range of interventions have emerged that offer the possibility of amazing outcomes. However, some of these treatments tend to be costly and need highly specialized employees. This is a possible area of conflict. The second area of disagreement is the delivery of services. Delivery problems are those connected with implementing an intervention program that has been decided upon by the family and the school district. Although the stakeholders may have reached accord, both on the requirements of a child and on the services that the child should receive, disagreements may arise if either the school district fails to provide the decided services or the parents feel that services are not being suitably provided. Delivery disagreements frequently involve issues of provider competence, coordination of services, transportation, scheduling, procedural requirements, privacy, and/or confidentiality. Relationships are the most important but indefinable sources of arguments between school districts and parents. Relationship conflicts may stem from cultural differences, breakdowns in communication, and loss of trust. Although only a handful of states include this category in their analysis of requests for mediation, mediators and mediation program coordinators consider relationship conflicts to be a central reason that increasing numbers of parents seek mediation. Difficulties in Evaluating Outcome Measures for Children with SEN The entire premise of the SEN Code of practice is to enhance the learning outcomes of children with special needs. But the 'learning' has to be quantified so that various intervention schemes can be compared on this basis to identify the optimum intervention scheme. Evaluation of the outcomes of inclusive education is a complex issue (Farrell, 2001) and various studies which have tried to evaluate the outcomes have not yielded results which can be used to compare intervention mechanisms. There are numerous methodological issues which make it difficult to quantify learning (Nind 2002). Firstly, it is not possible to employ matched control group designs (or RCT) to evaluate different intervention mechanisms. Next, it is difficult to evaluate different studies (each with different groups of pupils) because children with special educational needs show huge variation, and what works for one child or one study may not work for other children or studies. Lastly provision for children with special educational needs varies greatly making evaluation complicated (Nind 2002). The lack of strong data suggesting that children with special educational needs perform better in segregated surroundings has been used to justify the rights of children with special educational needs to be educated in mainstream schools (Hegarty, 1993). The Crowther, et al. (1998) study is very important in providing a structure for quantifying learning outcomes. It is pointed out that various outcome indicators are obtainable in terms of SATs results, IEP outcomes and screening test scores. The various children involved in various studies highlighted both the learning process as well as 'end-point' outcome, although this result was inclined to refer to individuals rather than to systematic evaluation of outcomes for groups of pupils. Factors for Success and their Critical Evaluation The SEN code of practice has identified certain factors which play a critical role in enhancing the learning experience of children with special educational needs (DfES 2001). However these factors play their intended role only when the intervention schemes satisfy certain guidelines. Firstly, it imperative that that the requirements of a child with special educational needs are met. These special educational needs should be ideally met in the mainstream schools. The opinion of the child should be sought and the views of their parents also play an important part to play in their child's education (Thomas 2004). Children with special educational needs must be presented with a wide, objective and relevant instruction which will include a suitable program of study, both for the foundation stage and the secondary level. These principles are essential to enhance the learning outcomes of the children with special educational needs (DfES 2001). Factors which can significantly improve the learning outcomes in children with special educational needs are listed below. The management, culture, and deployment of resources in a school should be deployed to make sure that all children's needs are met. Schools and Local Education Authorities should work together to guarantee that the special educational needs of the affected children are identified early. Various mechanisms of intervention should be evaluated before choosing the optimum mechanism. The wishes of the child should be an important input in determining the nature of the special need and the intervention mechanism required. The special education professionals involved in the child's education and parents should work together and complement each other. Review of the intervention mechanism used for every child should be reviewed on a regular basis (Thomas 2004). Conclusion This paper reviews the various factors which play an important role in the tutoring of children with special educational needs. In the SEN code of practice, certain aspects have been identified as prerequisites for effective learning. These aspects are common to a majority of the effective intervention schemes. Apart from these aspects, various factors which improve the learning outcomes of children with special educational needs. Bibliography Burchinal, M.R., Roberts, J.E., Riggins, R., Zeisel, S.A., Neebe, E. and Bryant, D. (2000). Relating quality of center-based child care to early cognitive and language development longitudinally. Child Development, 71, 339-357. Brooks-Gunn, J., Liaw, F. and Klebanov, P.K. (1992). Effects of early intervention on low birth weight preterm infants: What aspects of cognitive functioning are enhanced Journal of Pediatrics, 120, 350-359. Crowther, D., Dyson, A. and Millward, A. (1998). DfEE RR (89) Costs and outcomes for pupils with moderate learning difficulties in special and mainstream schools. Newcastle: Newcastle University. DfES (2001) "SEN Code of Practice" Farrell, P. and Ainscow, M. (2002) Making Special Education Inclusive David Fulton: London Guralnick, M.J., Connor, R.T. and Hammond, M. (1995). Parent perspectives of peer relationships and friendships in integrated and specialised programs. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 99(5), 457-476. Jordan, R., Jones, G. and Murray, D. (1998). DfES Publication (RR77)" Educational interventions for children with Autism: A literature review of recent and current research." Birmingham: University of Birmingham. Nind, M. and Sleehy, K. (2002) Inclusive Education: Learners and Learning Contexts. David Fulton: London Read More