Teacher Preparation Programs for Students With Disabilities - Essay Example

Teacher Preparation Programs are Failing General Education Teachers for With Disabilities Education is paramount for each and every individual. Whether normal persons or people with disabilities, it is crucial that an individual gets a quality education from their teachers. Unlike long time ago where students with disabilities were isolated and segregated from normal students, there is a global view that all students-whether normal or having any disability-should get quality education (Grant & Murray, 1999). That is, every student should be included in inclusion classrooms. As a result for the push for inclusion, general education teachers play a critical primary role in educating physically disabled students. It is, therefore, very important that all general teachers get general training and additional skills on how to deal and handle cases of disabilities in their classrooms. This is because they are assured that sometimes they will have to encounter such students with disabilities either now or later in their career. Despite this, most colleges do not always provide general teachers with the necessary skills and developments to deal with students with disabilities. Most of the courses offered do not put much effort on the special needs students. Most college courses have insufficient coursework and requirements for proper preparation. Despite the fact that majority of colleges have adopted and developed basic courses on disabilities, there is a general belief that these courses are insufficient to provide knowledge to meet the needs of inclusive students (Kaya & Indiana University, Bloomington, 2008). The classes are just too basic and only introductory that in most cases do very little in providing the necessary knowledge to deal with inclusive students. Most of these coursework are also theoretical and do not provide any relevant life experience where teachers are required to have general knowledge on how to develop a one on one interaction technique with inclusive students. Most of the college curriculums do not also encourage the development and training of teachers. Most of college curriculums were developed before there was a need for inclusive students and therefore in most cases lack the necessary mechanisms of delivering to the students with special needs. It is important that all teachers be well trained on the various ways of communicating with students with different forms of disabilities. For example augmentative and alternative communication systems, communication boards and talking various colleges must install word processors (Sprankle & Wilmington University, 2009). These will enable teachers to learn and develop necessary skills that enable them to understand and tackle different types of disabilities such as hearing, visual, learning and physical disabilities. Most colleges do not involve people with disabilities in the development of various courses and curriculum that are to be used by teachers. It is significant that inputs from individuals working or living with the disabled be put into consideration when developing courses (LeComer, 2009). Undertaking this inclusive implementation will help bring the holistic experience from those suffering from disability either directly or indirectly. College administration plans and teacher training curriculums are mostly done with people who are not disabled and in some circumstances may not have one-on-one interaction with the disabled. This makes it quite had for colleges to know, understand and develop very progressive policies that can be used when dealing with disabled students (LeComer, 2009). As a result, teachers do not always get practical and contextual training that is relevant for them, and this always makes it hard for the general education teachers to deal with the disabled students. Despite the fact that most teachers will at one-point deal with disabled students, they are not are taught by the disabled tutors in most college courses that they pursue. This makes their work quite challenging when due to lack of first-hand information from those with disability. Ensuring that people with disabilities too have active roles and responsibilities to undertake in teachers’ training can at one-point improve the quality of education provided to teachers and hence the students (Great Britain & Great Britain, 2010). As people with disabilities do not teach most college courses, the teachers always lack detailed theoretical and practical information. As a result, they might have limited skills and knowledge of how to deal with disability cases. Most colleges do not also have even seminars where they can have a one on one interaction with various people with disabilities. It is of great importance that colleges must engage people with disabilities in the training as this will enable teachers to see the people with disabilities as partners in trying to ensure that all disabled students get quality education. Some of the colleges normally put very stringent rules and regulations on the various courses that are being offered. This is normally seen as discriminatory as people with disabilities are not allowed to pursue some teaching courses (Great Britain & Great Britain, 2010). Encouraging diversification in the courses offered can give people with disabilities a leeway to pursue such courses and, as a result, students with disabilities will also be encouraged to work harder in order to achieve more. Students with disabilities will always feel motivated when they have a common denominator with a teacher whom they believe understand them better (Great Britain & Great Britain, 2010). Most college buildings do not have special designs to ease accessibility for people with disabilities. In some cases, most college courses offered do not have special learning materials as Braille, large print and sign language interpretation and therefore it becomes quite hard for a disabled person to enroll in such a course. It is worth noting that if students are to be prosperous in their inclusion classrooms, their teachers must have quality training and skills so as to prepare them on how to deal with students with disabilities (Hammeken, 2000). Colleges must also review their courses in order to have teachers trained and prepared with current skills for the inclusion of special students in the general education setup. Policy makers should also develop more in-depth course curriculums that deliver more effective balance of theory based learning and field practical. It is also very prudent to train and equip general education teachers to be able to be more effective educators in the inclusion setups (Wagner, 2009). As the globe adopts inclusion classrooms, general education teachers need to be well equipped with various methods and techniques of dealing with various forms of disabilities that they may encounter. References Centre for Co-operation with Non-members., & Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. (2006). Education policies for students at risk and those with disabilities in South Eastern Europe: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Fyr of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. Paris, France: OECD. Clauss-Ehlers, C. S. (2010). Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural School Psychology. Boston, MA: Springer Grant, G., & Murray, C. E. (1999). Teaching in America: The slow revolution. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Great Britain., & Great Britain. (2010). Training of teachers: Fourth report of session 2009-10. London: Stationery Office. Hammeken, P. A. (2000). Inclusion : 450 strategies for success: A practical guide for all educators who teach students with disabilities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Kaya, O., & Indiana University, Bloomington. (2008). Inclusion and burnout: Examining general education teachers experiences in Turkey. (Dissertation Abstracts International, 69-8.) Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University LeComer, L. (2009). A parents guide to developmental delays: Recognizing and coping with missed milestones in speech, movement, learning, and other areas. New York: Perigee. Sprankle, M. A., & Wilmington University (New Castle, Del.). (2009). Teachers beliefs towards the inclusion of students with disabilities. Strickland, D. S., & New Brunswick Group. (2002). Preparing our teachers: Opportunities for better reading instruction. Washington, D.C: J. Henry Press Wagner, S. (2009). Inclusive programming: For high school students with autism or Aspergers syndrome. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons, Inc. Read More