education

Executive Summary

The current educational system does not meet the needs of culturally diverse students. The global community is more interdependent and interconnected today than it was twenty years ago. The existing programs fail to provide necessary skills and knowledge on cultural awareness, the importance of cooperation, and collective decision-making. Initiatives to reform the system of education have already been applied in many countries; however, the achieved results are insignificant because there is a lack of adequate commitment and funding by the state. Educators are not empowered to change curriculum without governmental approval.

As the result, the students do not acquire knowledge on cultural and ethnic diversity, they are not trained how to establish cooperative relationships with representatives of diverse cultures, and they are not prepared to become global citizens. There is an urgent need to rewrite educational plans to include global studies into curriculum. Without proper support from the state, these changes are not possible.

Globalization has impacted th a theGlobalization has impacted economic, political, and social life of global community. Distances shrink and global relations are part of everyday considerations. To become global citizens of 21^st century, students need to understand their role in the changing world. This objective creates two questions: what are the knowledge and skills needed by students to be prepared for a global community and what is the role of the state in helping students to overcome challenges they will confront. The United States of America, as a culturally and ethnically diverse country, is a perfect example of how students are prepared to become global citizens.

Nevertheless, the state should be more involved in the education system to ensure an emphasis on educating students on global affairs. European and Asian countries, on the contrary, face different problems. More attention should be paid to the diversification of classrooms and the promotion of the idea of global citizenship. The state plays a vital role in the establishment of commitment to the integration of students into a global community and in the provision of necessary educational tools.

As Baubock (2005) has noted, students need to become more aware of the world’s interdependence and complexity and they have to appreciate the differences. It is not a matter of discrimination, though. Students lack the ability to communicate across cultures because there is a lack of understanding of differences. Students, as well as educators, should understand that it is not easy but possible to change attitudes.

The concept of identity and belonging has lost its value to global citizenships. The state possesses a limited capacity to fulfill responsibilities to diverse citizens (Baubock, 2005). In particular, immigration has a contentious impact on education. There are more than 175 million people in the world who live in countries other than their own. Communities become multicultural and transnational (Benhabib, 2005).

Therefore, education programs should be aimed to advance the democratic purposes of education. Personal responsibility, as a part of democratic values and global citizenship, plays a central role. There is an inadequate response of the state to the challenges of educating a democratic citizenry (Kahne & Westheimer, 2004). Today education is focused on individualism and voluntarism, while the need for collective and public sector initiatives is not paid enough attention. From this perspective, global integration is slowed down by volunteerism and kindness which are put forward as ways of avoiding policy and politics.

Schools promote honesty, responsibility for one’s actions, and integrity. Undoubtedly, these qualities are important, however, the state should use the potential to strengthen democracy by fostering students’ willingness to commit to collective efforts. Therefore, in addition to encouraging personal responsibility, such skills as collectivity and collaboration should become a part of education.

Moreover, educators promote the idea of cultural citizenship which is wrong in its essence. The state has failed to address the needs of South Asian Muslim students in American colleges and universities after the attack on September 11^th. Most of the immigrant youth have been targeted by the War on Terror and all of them had to grapple with scapegoating demonization of Islam, and fear of surveillance (Maira, 2004). The failure of educators and the state is evident. Even prior to September 11^th, South Asian students preferred to socialize with other immigrant youth in the bilingual education program. There was no integration into American culture because American students were not taught about cultural differences and were not provided guidance on how to communicate with representatives of other ethnic and cultural groups.

Traditionally, citizenship is viewed in terms of political, economic, and civil belonging. Maira (2004) provided a new definition of citizenship as a set of behaviors and practices that give meaning to citizenship as lived experience.

There is a lack of understanding of cultural differences among students. Moreover, immigrant youth have to deal with the choice of their parents. As Maira (2004) pointed out, young people grapple with the meaning of the state’s role in their lives and with the implication of violence, racism, war, and ethics of belonging. Educators fail to promote the idea of global integration and global citizenship; cultural differences still shape the idea of belonging. The state should devote more efforts to developing educational programs which deal with cultural diversity and promote the inclusion of diverse students into school and social life.

One of the effective solutions is offered by Erickson, Black, and Seegmiller (2005) who note that traditional school disciplines should occur within the service-learning projects. Students are taught about a world that is apart from them and they have never been invited to become a part of that world. The state should be committed to encouraging educators to promote students’ participation in activities that help them make meaningful connections between themselves and the rest of the world.

Education is a people-intensive occupation (Erickson, Black & Seegmiller, 2005). However, while educators are focused on dispensing information and teaching skills isolated from the human context, students need to be involved in service-learning. The knowledge is dead if it is not applied in real experiences. Students may be taught about cultural differences; however, if they do not have an opportunity to apply the acquired skills, they are not empowered to become global citizens.

As Suarez-Orozco (2005) noted, the work of educators should be tending to cognitive skills, cultural sophistication, and interpersonal sensibility. Globalization creates the need to change education and the state should adjust the system of education to increasing diversity, increasing complexity, the importance of collaboration, and the need to take multiple perspectives on problems. The education of global citizens should be focused on the development of lifelong cognitive, relational, and behavioral engagement with the world. Educators should strive to teach students to become intellectually curious and cognitively flexible, able to work collaboratively in multicultural groups, and able to synthesize knowledge across the disciplines (Suarez-Orozco, 2005). The state should provide educators with the tools necessary to deliver this knowledge to students.

Moreover, the state should pay more attention to the role of education professionals working with kindergarten children and elementary school students. As Ebbeck (2006) notes, teachers should be more proactive and be willing to change their professional practice in many ways. In particular, the curriculum has to become more inclusive to teach children how to survive in the global environment of collaboration. Ebbeck (2006) outlined the following measures:

1. The state and educators should promote the idea of civil non-violent societies that protect and value human life.
2. Teachers should work towards diminishing conflict and focusing on peacebuilding through cooperation and collaboration.
3. Children should be involved into decisions making process and be encouraged to offer their own solutions to problems.

The shift towards institutionalizing global education in the social studies curriculum has already been done. In particular, the global educators throughout the United States are working on creating internationally literary students who, having studied different cultures at work, are able to overcome ethnocentric biases such as discrimination. Cross-cultural awareness is considered to be the most important objective of global education (Scott, 1998).

Therefore, educators should enhance awareness of the diversity of ideas and practices of human societies around the world and promote understanding of these practices. Global teachers should help students to see things from the perspectives of other peoples of the world. The state has to develop new programs to recognize the existence of more than one valid point of view. This goal can be achieved if educators “develop a new mindset about the curriculum of global studies classes and the way it is delivered to students” (Scott, 1998, p. 180).

Current global issues curriculum suffers from the lack of cohesion, is over-reliant on textbooks, and is delivered in rote fashion. As Scott (1998) noted, current education is focused on facts and places while it ignores the contextual dynamics that shape culture and promote social reality. Students experience difficulties with understanding cultural similarities and differences. The purpose of global education should be to provide students with the chance to see others from their own point of view, to inquire into the ways in which ideas and inventions move from one tradition to another, and to experience different cultures as valuable and valid.

Global education is not a new idea in a classroom setting. Such countries as Australia, Russia, Canada, and Japan have already introduced global studies into the curriculum to provide students with better knowledge on cultural diversity and changing society. In Australia, a global education initiative is supported by the government which provides educators with instructional materials. Emphasis is made on human rights, social justice, and the economic and political interdependence of countries (Tye, 2003).

The government provides funds, resources, and training on global education. State education departments are responsible for rewriting the curriculum to reflect the necessity of educating young people for life in a global community. For example, the five new courses are introduced in most of the Australian colleges: Futures, Identity, Thinking, Interdependence, and Communication (Tye, 2003).

Canadian International Development Agency established global education professional development centers for teachers prior to 1995! There is numerous state and non-profit organization which provide workshops and instruction materials on global education to students (Tye, 2003). Nevertheless, the lack of sufficient funding by the government is a challenge that has to be addressed. The emphasis is made on the integration of global perspective into teaching and on increasing awareness of the difference that individual and collective action can make on global issues.

In the early 1980s, the Japanese corporations put pressure on the government to develop programs aimed at education for global competitiveness. This early initiative supported international educational exchanges, promoted international understanding in the curriculum, and called for improved foreign language instruction. Today, the Japanese Council on Global Education promotes global education and produces useful publications (Tye, 2003). Government plays a key role in the Japanese education system because institutions are centralized. The United States-Japan Foundation provides funds to several schools that are developing materials that enable students to learn more about foreign countries.

The situation in Russia is different. There is a nationwide network of global education centers; each of them includes a pedagogical university, a secondary school, and a center for in-service education (Tye, 2003). Centers are funded by the government and are focused on the exchange of teachers and students, on student performances with global content for parents and communities, and on global education. There are several programs that allow students from Russia to come to the United States for educational purposes. Without the legislative, informational, and financial support of the government, these programs would not be established.

Global education is vital in a rapidly changing and interdependent world. Students need to be taught collaboration, tolerance, and awareness, and acceptance of cultural differences. Teachers should be empowered to deliver knowledge on such issues as cultural diversity, human rights, and multicultural communication. The state is responsible for funding and changing the current curriculum in schools, colleges, and universities.

Students are not prepared to integrate into a global community because they lack the knowledge and necessary skills to become global citizens. As the experience of Australia and Japan reveal, the state plays a central role in the establishment of global education programs and organizations promoting global integration and awareness. The first step to being made is recognition of the need to introduce global studies into the curriculum. The second step is the provision of adequate state funding. The final step is emphasizing the development of skills necessary for the successful integration of students into the global citizenry. Globalization is irreversible and the failure of educators to prepare the young generation for global citizenship will have devastating results for the country.

References

Baubock, R. (2005). Expansive Citizenship – Voting Beyond Territory and Membership. Political Science & Politics, 37 (4), pp. 683-687.

Benhabib, S. (2005). Borders, Boundaries, and Citizenship. Political Science & Politics, 37 (4), pp. 673-677.

Ebbeck, M. (2006). The Challenges of Global Citizenship: Some Issues for Policy and Practice in Early Childhood. Childhood Education Journal, 82 (6), pp. 353-361.

Erickson, L., Black, S. & Seegmiller, D. (2005). Becoming Global Citizens: Disadvantaged Students Reach out to Kids in Hurricane-Ravaged Island. Social Education Journal, 69 (1), pp. 28-33.

Maira, S. (2004). Youth Culture, Citizenship and Globalization: South Asian Muslim Youth in the United States after September 11^th. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 24 (1), pp. 221-235.

Scott, T. (1998). Thai Exchange Students’ Encounters with Ethnocentrism. Developing a Response for the Secondary Global Education Curriculum. Social Studies Journal, 89 (4), pp. 177-182.

Suarez-Orozco, M. (2005). Rethinking Education in the Global Era: As the World Becomes Increasingly Interconnected through New Technologies, the Education Systems of Many Nations Will Necessarily Begin to Converge in Their Approaches and Objectives. Mr. Suarez-Orozco Shares His Ideas of What Schools Will Need to Focus on If They Are to Produce Global Citizens. Phi Delta Kappan Journal, 87 (3), p. 209.

Tye, K. (2003). World View: Global Education as a Worldwide Movement. Phi Delta Kappan Journal, 85 (2), pp. 165-170.

Westheimer, J, & Kahne, M. (2004). What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy. American Educational Research Journal, 41 (2), pp. 237-269.

Introduction

With a growing number of courses offered online, the major concern is about the role of instructors. Rendering online instructions is a challenging approach for delivering classroom-like education to remote learners. Even now, online education is mostly imparted as extended studies or some sort of continuing education; but over a period, online learning has placed itself parallel with mainstream classroom studies. Therefore instructing online learning has attained the same critical status as instructing students in the classroom. Instructors, facilitators, and coaches would have observed that with the arrival of the web, e-learning has moved out of its earlier specialized markets and became a mainstream part of education. Online education is widely accepted as a student- centered, and traditional education is regarded as a teacher- centered. Due to this shift, the instructor’s role has become more of a facilitator than a traditional lecturer. For the sake of the instructive approach, different facets of e-learning are analyzed hereunder.

Learning anywhere

E-learning works from any location and at any time. ‘Classrooms are a learning environment and not the learning environment. Learning can take place anywhere, and determining factor being the ability to access the resources to learn. As computing power increases and further technological advances are made, the ability of software to personalize the learning experience will increase. Amplified computing powers create a more realistic multimedia experience that engages students and motivates them to learn- whether inside or outside the classroom.’(Mobile Computing is the Lifestyle of Learning)¹

Sharing and Collaborating

Cutthroat competition in almost every field necessitates the dissemination of qualitatively researched education to students. The process of e-learning provides such an opportunity. By developing a centralized strategy like a network infrastructure with a common set of supporting applications, qualitative education can be disseminated to an unbelievably large number of researched information seekers. Moreover, it is encouraging and supportive to note that e-learning through modern technology provides students an opportunity to collaborate resources and information among themselves. Such share point servers have been developed that create team-oriented web- sites to share information and foster collaboration among users. ‘The collaboration also extends to a much broader level. The infrastructure and software have led to the building of large intranet resources where students and teachers can access information from their home and schools.’ (Learning Across Schools)²

Self-paced, faster, consistent, and cost-effective

The e-learning programs can be taken when needed by the learner. Learning is faster as the student can skip the already learned portion of the program. Such liberty cannot be availed of in-classroom learning. Different teachers’ teaching styles do not mingle with the learning process, and thus a sort of consistency is maintained for the benefit of the learner. This is important when learners acquire training for a business process. There is no dispute that e-learning cuts the cost to a reasonable extent as compared to traditional classroom study, and from the point of organizers, dissemination of education becomes virtually free once breakeven is attained.

Impact of e-learning on business process training

Unless the purpose and position of e-learning are not defined, e-learning is not going to have an impact on the growth of the business. Accordingly, it is important to fit e-learning into the overall business strategy. It is observed that in a mediocre business environment, e-learning is given to someone as an extra project, and overnight, his or her workload increases, and the e-learning fails to make an impact on the growth of the business. Entrepreneurs should be careful and take under noted initiatives to ensure business success through e-learning:

• There is a need to orientate the staff in the use of technology. The learners need to have clear learning objectives they want to achieve from the resources.
• E-learning should be seen as a valid form of training.
• The business must integrate e-learning into its working practices, i.e., all training delivery, knowledge management, performance appraisal process, performance support tools, and accreditation process.
• E-learning needs to remain dynamic and up-to-date, reflecting the changing needs of the business.

Problems of e-learning

Though e-learning shines with its obvious advantages, it is also infested with a few under noted problems asking for resolute solutions:

There is no guarantee that e-learning systems will impart only qualitative education to their seekers. ‘The issue is not the technology itself, but how it is used in the design and delivery of courses. Too often, instructors do not design their lessons to take advantage of the technology presented. This affects the quality of the instructions.’ ( Doug Valentine, 2002)³

1.  Technology, by its very existence and degree of present and expected penetration of education and training, throws all existing methods of education to scrutiny. Educationists are forced to examine their existences. New technologies require a lot of training. However, the problem is a shortage of pedagogies for e-learning. Many technology developers claim that e-learning applications are pedagogy-free. The fact is otherwise.
2. It is learned from experience that e-learning cannot be a source of attaining perfection in the selected field. ‘The navigational possibilities provided by the new technologies may or may not be a source of excitement, engagement, and learning for the student. What appears in some cases to be highly liberating, in other cases, works against the best interests of the learner. The ease with which the students may get lost in amongst the links and trails of internet and the web may produce a race of cyber nomads who have visited a lot of places and not much more.’ (R. Brennan, M Mcfadden, E Law)⁴

As the primary key to ensuring the quality of online instructions, instructors need to adjust their attitudes to teach online by understanding various nuances of e-learning. Instructors must remember that e-learning facilitates the growth of learner’s independence and builds a valuable learning culture. The requirement of developing new ways of teaching and training for educationists is not an impediment in opening a new panorama of e-learning.

References

1. ‘Mobile computing is the lifestyle of learning’– A strategy paper from Center for digital education, Page 4. Web.
2. ‘Learning across schools’- page 4.
3. Doug Valentine (2002), Promises, Problems, and Possibilities, Journal of Distance learning administration, Volume V, Number Iii, 2002. Web.
4. R. Brennan, M Mcfadden, E Law, All that glitters is not gold : Online delivery of education and training, Page 32,

Introduction

Professional standards are means by which the professional can provide professional leadership concerning issues of quality in teaching and learning which are defined by a professional body. Normally the professional standards of teachers are under the section of the ministry of education and they ensure that teachers or educators are properly credentialed and provide technical assistant to school districts, teachers and college administration in the area of teacher’s certification.

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Its mission is to provide quality services towards the certification of the educators. This in turn ensures that teachers are qualified in their area of teaching and that they have a mastery of the content. The professional standards for the teachers are generic in nature, defining knowledge, skills and ability that should apply to all teachers in the system of education and they are set to celebrate, articulate and support the complex and varied nature of a teacher’s work. They describe what teachers need to know and provides relevant and worthwhile learning experiences for individuals and groups of students in schools hence equipping the young people for future enabling them to contribute to a socially, economically and culturally vibrant society

Purpose of professional standards are; to provide a platform under which teachers can identify their professional development and drive their continuous learning and development, informs the program development for pre-service education, represents the aspiration of the teaching profession, teachers use the professional standards to device and implement learning and development plans, teachers normally use selected standards for reflections when; reviewing student learning and teaching practice, when formulating teaching goals and objectives, to strengthen teaching practice, to establish personal learning and development plans, monitoring their achievement of personal learning and developmental goals. The ministry of education and the school management should always ensure that the standards are valuable and useful to teachers. The standard supports and empowers teachers to identify and exert influence within their profession, system and schools by pursuing personal and team professional learning and strengthened practice. Professional standards encompass all aspects of teachers’ work thus it supports reflection and development for individuals and teams of teachers. Finally it also offers an important guide for the individuals who seek to join the teaching service

How standards ensure teacher quality

The standards aim at capturing what it is that highly accomplished teachers know and can do. Professional development plays a central role in enhancing his quality. Teacher quality is an ongoing, multi-dimensional process that cannot be determined by certification or recertification. The standards ensure that teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach them to children that they will understand how children learn and what to do when they are having difficulties; and that they will be able to use effective teaching methods for those who are learning easily as well as those who have special needs. Through the assessment and evaluation of teachers also improves the quality of education provided by an individual teacher. The standards thus prepare teachers with deep knowledge of the content areas they teach and with solid understanding of learning, teaching, curriculum, assessment and the use of technology such as information technology in teaching of science subjects such as mathematics among other things. The standards also improve the quality of teachers’ preparation which intern assist in improving the quality of the teacher. (Mullen, 2005)

Components, Trends and Characteristics of Teacher’s Professional Standards

Structure flexibility and innovative learning experiences for individuals and groups

This is a professional standard that covers the necessities for establishing learning goals based on appropriate course documentation, curriculum frameworks and school policy. This is achieved through; relevant state and school curriculum documents are read and interpreted to identify learning goals and assessment criteria which are established through consultation with colleagues and negotiation with students and other stakeholders. Analyses and incorporates information about students in the design of learning experience which is characterized by information on the background prior learning , learning needs, learning styles and special learning requirements of the individuals and groups of students, educational purpose, and information on the learning requirements of the individuals and groups of students.

Plan for and support students with their individual learning needs; information on the individual learning needs of students that includes- disabilities, learning difficulties and gifted students- is collected and analyzed to identify learning requirements, learning strategies are devised that ensures the participation of these students and to account for their personal circumstances, prior learning , and language, literacy and numerical skills. Plan and organize the delivery of learning experiences; learning experiences are planned and organized (to reflect the learning goals, the learning requirements of the individuals and groups of students and the developmental, holistic and experimental nature of learning),learning resources are identified, evaluated and selected according to learning goals, students needs, learning environment, availability of competence and support and constraints such as budget and time; learning experience are implemented in accordance with education and school policies and procedures that takes in to account teachers legal tasks. Individual and group management’s strategy is implemented to attain learning goals, ensure students contribution in learning and administer unsuitable behavior. (Mullen, 2005)

Review and evaluate learning experience: learning experiences are evaluated by obtaining relevant information on student progress; feedback from the students, parents, paraprofessionals and other contributors are used to assess learning experiences;

Contribute to language, literacy and numeracy development

This standard covers the necessities for monitoring facilitating, and assessing the growth of students’ language, literacy and numeracy skills through the use of a broad range of teaching and learning activities and across all curriculum areas. (Thornton, 2004)

It determines students’ learning requirements in language literacy and numeracy development to inform the planning and implementation of learning experiences that are characterized by

1. Students background, characteristics and learning needs
2. Strategies for assessing students’ language, literacy and numeracy requirements
3. The results of evaluation processes
4. Learning plans

Integrates language and literacy development across all curriculum areas that is indicated by

1. Learning goals and plans that articulate the language and literacy skills in the curriculum
2. Language, literacy knowledge and skills required in the curriculum area
3. Teaching and learning approaches and resources
4. Learning experiences that include explicit teaching of the language and literacy skills that are necessary for achieving learning results
5. Student language use that is connected to literacy and subject area knowledge through speaking, viewing, reading and writing activities.

Integrates numeracy development across all curriculum areas and monitor and evaluate students’ language, literacy and numeracy development.

Construct intellectually challenging learning experiences

According to Thornton (2004) this standard covers the requirements for planning and implementing rationally challenging learning experiences. It involves constructing experiences that help students examine the key ideas behind major issues and problems formulate and justify opinions and apply higher-order thinking skills to analyses issues, develop understandings and solve problems. It is characterized by

1. Topics, issues and problems that are relevant to students
2. Teaching and learning strategies
3. Learning environment
4. Opportunities created for students
5. Learning experiences
6. Support and directions provided to the student

Construct appropriate learning experiences that connect with the world beyond school

It covers the necessities for planning and implementing learning experiences that build on students’ former knowledge, life experiences, and welfare; creates linkages between key curriculum areas; and formulate connections between school programs and the world beyond the school. It is characterized by

1. Accurate and the relevant information on students’ prior knowledge, life experiences, and interests
2. Analysis of information on students prior knowledge, life experiences and interest
3. Examination of significant ideas and concepts that have the power to develop students’ understanding of themselves and their world
4. Planning and implementation of learning experiences
5. Identification, evaluation and incorporation of community-based learning resources in-school programs
6. Identification, evaluation and incorporation of learning partnership that involves the school, business, and community
7. Creation of opportunities for students to demonstrate enterprising behaviors in contexts within and beyond the school.

Construct inclusive and participatory learning experiences

It covers the necessities to design and implement learning experiences that are inclusive, acknowledge and value difference, and allow students to demonstrate personal, group and community responsibility. (Mullen, 2005) It is characterized by

1. The analysis of school policies related to equal education opportunity
2. Planning and implementation of learning experiences
3. Employment and selection of a broad range of teaching and learning strategies as well as resources essential to all students
4. Information of the student and their families that assist in establishing learning goals, identifying the needs of the student etc
5. Learning experience

Integrate information and communication technologies to enhance student learning

This standard covers the requirements for planning, implementing and monitoring teaching and learning strategies that integrate a range of information and communication technologies to promote and enhance student learning. (Berger, 2004) It is characterized by

1. Creation of learning experiences in which students can actively use information and communication technologies to organize research, interpret, analyze, communicate and represent knowledge
2. Evaluation of the effectiveness of teaching and learning approaches based on the information and communication technologies.
3. The use of information and communication technologies in the evaluation and management of information on student learning

Assess and report on student learning

It covers the need for planning and conducting evaluation, giving responses to students, reporting on student learning and using the outcomes of student assessment to notify program planning.

Characteristics

1. Establishment of learning goals and evaluation criteria
2. Plan for evaluation of student learning
3. Collection and use of several sources of evidence in making of judgments about student learning
4. Communication of student progress to students, parents and other authorities.
5. Use of assessment results to guide program planning, delivery and assessment.

Support the social development and participation of young people

This standard covers the requirements for establishing learning environments that support and help students to develop self-esteem, build constructive relations with others and assessing and planning their personal futures. It is characterized by;

1. Support is given to student in order to develop their personal identity, self-esteem and appositive image
2. Guidance is offered to students in order to develop relations and empathy with others
3. Construction of learning experience in which students assess and plan their personal future(Berger, 2004)

Create safe and supportive learning environments

It is a standard that covers the requirements for establishing learning environments that engage all students in focused learning experiences promote constructive relations among teachers and students and facilitate students to administer their own learning and behavior successfully. Their character involves;

1. Creation of safe learning environments based on mutual trust and respect and that provides social support for student achievement
2. Implementation of student management strategies which enhances learning and responsive behavior among students

Build relationships with the wider community

As noted by Ingersoll (2002a) this entails the requirements for communicating and liaising effectively with families, caregivers, and business, industry, and community agencies; for linking these groups in student learning; and for effectively promoting the school, its goals and achievements. It is characterized by

1. establishment and maintenance of the relationship among families, caregivers, and industry and community agencies
2. Establishment of learning environment that acknowledges the values and priorities of the students’ families, culture and communities.
3. Promotion of the school and public education in the community.

Contribute to professional teams

This standard covers the requirements for the teacher to be energetically occupied in collaborating and sharing with other workers to provide the superlative learning outcomes for students. (Ingersoll, 2004) It is characterized by;

1. Establishment and implementation of procedures that meet personal work-related goals and priorities.
2. Teamwork among the teaching personnel

Commit to professional practice

Entails the requirements for reflecting critically on professional practice, establishing focused learning goals, planning and undertaking learning, and development and participating in the extended professional community, it is characterized by

1. Professional practices
2. Participation in school governance
3. Ethical accountability. (Ingersoll, 2004)

Reflective practices

Reflective practice is a term often used in education pedagogy which was a concept that was introduced by Donald Schon in 1987. It is a continuous process from a personal perspective, by considering critical incidents within one’s life’s experiences. In education, it refers to the process of the educator studying his or her own teaching methods and determining what works best for the students. (Ingersoll, 2004)

Benefits of reflective practices

The main advantage of reflective practice for teachers is a deeper understanding of their own teaching style and ultimately, greater effectiveness as a teacher. Other specific benefits include the validation of a teacher’s ideals, beneficial challenges to tradition, the recognition of teaching as artistry, and respect for diversity in applying theory to classroom practice. By gaining a better understanding of their own individual teaching styles through reflective practice, teachers can improve their effectiveness in the classroom. (Berger, 2004)

Consequences of reflective practice

First, a reflective practice is data-driven which makes it a more suitable way for evaluating our knowledge and skills. In order to reflect, one has gathered information and data from multiple sources. Reviewing data from sources other than just our own self-assessment produces more perfect and applicable pictures of our developed skills and abilities while revealing the areas for sustained growth.

Second, a reflective practice leads to an individual, precise, well-defined professional development plan. When we rely on goal-setting with our immediate supervisor, we often end up with ill-defined goals or ones that really aren’t the next steps needed in our growth. Without a reflective practice we sometimes jump over some vitally important skill–and knowledge-building stages.

Third, it influences the improvement of student success through the recognition of truly authentic areas of strengths. When we are aware of our skill and knowledge strengths, we use them most efficiently. (Ingersoll, 2004)

Finally, a reflective practice leads to innovative practices through the continuous process of setting and attaining goals. New challenges prohibit a stagnating practice or maintaining the status quo. One can’t stand still if one is always striving to attain goals. New goals mean innovative practices, because the reflective administrator seeks out practices that will continue to move her practice forward.

So, reflective practice benefits educators, students, parents, colleagues and community members as well as the school district as a whole.

References

Berger, A. H. (2004). Liberal arts colleges and the well-prepared teacher. Web.

Bransford, J., Darling-Hammond, L., & LePage, P. (2005). Introduction in L. Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do (pp. 1-39). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Haycock, K. (2000). No more settling for less. Thinking K-16: A Publication of the Education Trust, 4(1), 3-12.

Ingersoll, R. (2004). Why some schools have more underqualified teachers than others. In Brookings Papers on Education Policy. Ed. Diane Ravitch. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.

Ingersoll, R. (2002a). Out-of-field teaching, educational inequality and the organization of schools: An exploratory analysis, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington.

Ministry of Education (2006). New teacher induction program: Manual for performance of new teachers. Ontario.

Mullen, B. (2005). Co-mentoring: critical reflection in practice. AARE 2005 International.

Education Research Conference. Melbourne: Australian Association for Research in Education.

Thornton, H. J. (2004). What can we learn about retaining teachers from PD teachers’ voices? Middle School Journal, 35(4), 5 – 12.

Introduction

21^st Century is characterized by great innovation in communication technology. The attention given to improving communication technology tells how important communication is to a human being. In living together, people have to cooperate. Communication enables people to work together, cooperate and co-exist. ‘Good communication skills is a phrase that is commonly used. In job adverts, it is common to find having good communication skills as one of the requirements. In choice of leaders, people very keep on communication and tend to go for those leaders that communicate their message at ease. Despite the general appreciation for communication, many problems in families, organizations and governments are associated with breakdown of communication. Either there is no communication at all, miscommunication or use of wrong method of communication. Communication skills can be improved as I have learned from the course. This paper is a personal reflection on my development in communication skills.

Areas of Improvement

Before the course, I considered communication skills as something obvious and that did not require keen attention. I considered myself to be a good communicator by being able to win arguments with my friend. To me, having good communication skills was synonymous with being able to win an audience from my friends. I did not mind much about what I communicated. I did not give time to my friend nor did pay attention to what they said. To me, interpersonal communication was like the competition where participants competed for dominance. I had problem maintaining a calm discussion. When discussing issues with my parents, I would easily turn the discussion into an argument. I could not maintain a calm discussion. It was hard for me to withstand other people’s opinions. A healthy discussion could easily turn into an argument because I could not be able to withstand opposition to my opinions.

From the course I have learned that communication is more than winning arguments or attracting attention from my friend. I have learned that the main objective of communication is sending messages to the other party (Schwartz 21). As I become more mature, I am expected to communicate more effectively. Good communication skills are required in relating to other people. Without good communication, cooperating with other people would be impossible if not with a lot of problems. After reflection, was able to identify my areas of weakness in communication. Many of the times I did not any clear objective in communication. For this reason, I did not structure my message in a way that would facilitate communication. Listening was area of my greatest weakness. I did not take time to listen or try to understand what others were trying to communicate. Because of this, my friends were not happy with me. They accused me of being excessively domineering and of being insensitive to other people. To improve my communication skills, I had to improve how I structured my message and how I passed the message to the other party. Listening skills had to be improved. I had to learn how to respond to feedback as well and give appropriate feedback. From the course, I learned the importance of not verbal communication and desired to incorporate these skills in my communication. As I take mere responsibility in society, good formal communication will be called for. I desired to improve my communication skills so that I could be more fruitful to the society.

Effective Communication

Communication is a role that people can not live without. The course brought insight into how effective communication should be carried out. To be a good communicator it is important to understand the process of effective communication. From the course, I was able to understand the process of communication. I learned that communication involves four important components: the sender, message, channel and receiver. I learned that communication involves feed-forward and feedback process. Feed-forward process involves movement of message from the sender to the receiver (Schwartz 67). Feedback process, an equally important process, involved the response that message receiver gives to message. From the course, I was able to appreciate the importance of every component in the communication process. As a communicator, I have to be aware of various factors in communication. Sender’s communication skills, knowledge level, attitude, culture, social position and feedback from receiver have significant effect on communication. Communication skills involve skills in speaking, listening, reading, writing, reasoning and non-verbal communication (Schwartz 57). I learned that these skills have high significance to communication and when the good skills are lacking, communication can be hampered greatly. To improve communication skills, an individual must on their areas of weakness.

Communication is more than mere transfer of message from a sender to the receiver. The attitude of sender has a high contribution to success or failure of communication. When communicating an individual should have a good attitude towards the message and the receiver. Misconceptions about the receiver can interfere with communication make the sender not send the message as intended. The course also made me appreciate the importance of receiver’s attitude to reception of message. The attitude of the receiver may interfere with communication making the receiver distort the message. To be better communicator, I have learned to make early preparation and change my attitude for the better. I also reflect on the attitude that the receiver could be having on me and the message. I ask myself how the receiver could be judging me, my culture, message, intentions and make the appropriate adjustments to ensure effective communication. I have learned that in every person there is internal communication that goes on in the subconscious mind. The success of communication is dependent on the ability of a communicator to move the internal dialogue to cognitive level. As I develop as an effective communicator, I have been able to appreciate the significance of my level of knowledge in communication. I have learned that one has to be knowledgeable in areas where one wants to communicate. By being knowledgeable, a communicator can be able to communicate with confidence and be able to attract the attention of the receivers.

Improving the areas of Weakness

The course gave me insight into importance of effective communication and the need to improve my communication skill. The first step to improving the skills was by accepting that my communication skills needed improvement. Verbal communication is the most common form of communication. To be a good communicator, I had to work with verbal communication skills. Two components of verbal communication are speaking and listening. Speaking skills are essential for a communicator to be able to connect to the audience (Condrill and Bough 56). My main problem in communication was not being able to connect to my audience. I had a habit of using colloquial language. I sometimes used vocabulary when communicating as a way of showing off how knowledgeable I was. From the course I learned that the communication process is incomplete when the intended message is not sent to the receiver. I came understand that any barrier to communication has to be overcome in order to communicate effectively. As a way to overcome the semantic barriers, I resolved to be using straight language in all my communication. Use of simple and easy-to-understand language enables me pass the intended message to my audience and am sure that the intended message is sent.

Listening had been my major area of improvement in communication skills. From the course I was able to appreciate the importance of active listening in communication. I was able to appreciate that just like speaking; listening is an important process in communication (Condrill and Bough 57). Active listening involves giving significant attention to what other people are trying to say. Through active listening I am to be engaged in the other person’s communication process. I try to understand the message, compare different perspectives to the message, manage my emotions and give the appropriate feedback. I learned to be an active listener by being patient when listening to other individuals. In addition, the course has helped me to improve on non-verbal communication. I am now able to read body language from my audience and be able to use the body signs as feedback. I have also been able to manage my body signs to make them rhyme with the message.

Conclusion

Communication is an integral part of human relationships but not all have good communication skills. Poor communication can lead to a lot of problems in organizations, institutions or between friends. Communication skills, however, can be improved. From the course, I was able to identify my areas of improvement and try to improve on them. I was able to learn how to be a better speaker, listener, and being able to use nonverbal communication. The course has given me valuable skills in communication and I believe that I am a better communicator than I was when starting the course.

Works Cited

Schwartz, Andrew. Communication Skills. Waverley: A.E. Schwartz & Associates, 2001.

Condrill, JO. And Bough, Bennie. 101 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills Instantly. Palmdale: GoalMinds, 1999.

Introduction

Special education can be defined as the kind of education offered to students with special needs in a manner that addresses their individual needs and differences. It involves individually planned and systematically monitored arrangements of teaching procedures, customized equipment &materials, and specially designed settings. These are provided along with other special interventions designed to assist the students to achieve a high level of self-sufficiency and the highest possible success in the school environment and the community.

The most prevalent special needs in society are learning disability, communication, emotional & behavioral disorders, and physical & development challenges. These can be mitigated through customized educational services, specialized approaches to teaching, and the use of related technology. This special education is widely used to refer to the instruction of students whose special kind of needs impair their ability to learn independently in a regular class setting. Society and employers have become more inclusive and welcoming to the people with disabilities since the enactment of The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) in July 1990 (Resources to improve instruction, assessment, and accountability for students with disabilities, not dated: Para. 1). The purpose of this research paper is to examine the role of general education teachers in the special education process and also to specify and provide a discussion on the thirteen disability categories listed under the IDEA.

The role of general education teachers in the special education process

One of the key roles of the general education teachers is to follow the student’s individualized education plan (IEP). The role of IEP is to protect the student as specified by the school law. They scrutinize the files of every student in their classes to ensure that all requirements of the IEP are being adhered to especially issues to do with accommodation of students with special needs (What do General Education Teachers Need To Know About Special Education, not dated: Para. 2). Among the issues, they focus on in the student’s individualized education plan is the categorization of the student’s disability, its effect on him, and how it affects the student’s learning and character.

The general teacher is also required to identify the student’s case manager who will be in charge of ensuring the IEP is followed. Depending on the assessment of the student’s IEP, the general teacher also chooses the appropriate accommodation for the student. He also investigates the types of services being offered to a special student. In addition, the general teacher is also required to find out whether there were any recommendations made on the previous reports that could help him assist the students better.

The teacher’s primary role is to utilize their skills to instruct students in the school’s curricula as prescribed by the school system as Ripley (1998, Para. 8) observes. They also integrate content specialization in their teaching activity and bring in training and experience in teaching techniques and learning processes so as to facilitate the assistance of the needy students.

The general teacher’s other role is to identify disabilities in students. He needs to be up to date and also to be familiar with the basic signs of common disabilities. This will help them to know when to refer the students to the school psychologist or the child study committee. The teachers are expected to have a basic understanding of the special education processes especially special education testing where they are involved throughout. Their main part in the process is mainly to provide information about the learner to the IEP committee. Among other things, he is expected to furnish the IEP committee with accurate and reliable data on the student’s behavior and progress in order to meet her annual goals and objectives (The General Educator’s Role, not dated: Para. 8). He also aids the IEP team in monitoring the student’s education progress, standards, and the general assessment. The reason is that teachers are usually better positioned to examine the student’s general performance, grades, and behavior due to their close proximity to the learners.

California Categories of Disability listed in IDEA Law

One is said to have a disability if he/she suffers from a chronic physical or mental disorder that hampers his performance of either one or more major activities associated with his age group (National Health Interview Survey in Center on Human Policy). These duties could be child pay, working and keeping house for adults, and self-care. The prevalence of disability depends on social, economic, environmental, and technological factors. For example, in a more technologically advanced society with a high rate of literacy, a higher number of people are likely to be identified as having intellectual and learning disorders than in a lesser advanced society. This is because literacy is an important requirement in the participation of people in that society. As stipulated in the Categories of Disability under IDEA Law, (not dated, Para. 1-15), the California thirteen Categories of disabilities listed under the IDEA include the following:

Autism: It is a form of developmental disability that affects verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction and impacts heavily on the educational performance of the child (Categories of Disability under IDEA Law). Among other related characteristics are uncoordinated movements, tendency to resist change in environment, and abnormal reaction to stimuli.

Deaf-Blindness: This disorder is characterized by simultaneous hearing and visual impairment. The result is a severe communication breakdown and other developmental and educational needs that can not be contained in either deafness or blindness special education programs.

Deafness: It is a severe hearing disorder that hampers the reception of spoken information even when the sound is amplified. This disorder affects the child’s educational performance adversely hence calling for special attention in a special education program.

Development delay: The term means any significant delay in one or more of the following stages in one’s life: physical development, cognitive development, communication, social or emotional development, or behavioral development. Under IDEA, this is defined for the period between birth to three years under IDEA part C and children from three to nine years under IDEA part B.

Emotional disturbance: This condition is manifested in the inability of the child to learn which can not be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors, and lack of ability to build a sustainable relationship with her peers and teachers. The child also displays inappropriate behavioral traits that are not expected of her under normal circumstances. These factors hinder the educational ability of the child.

Hearing impairment: This is hearing weakness (either in permanent or fluctuating form) that significantly affects the child’s (educational) performance but that which is not classified as deafness.

Mental retardation: It is the general malfunction of the intellectual state of a child which occurs concurrently with marked shortcomings in the adaptive behavior a trait that is manifested in the development stage of a child. The disorder also equally adversely affects the educational performance of a child.

Multiple disabilities: This manifests itself in form of simultaneous impairments which might come in a combination of mental retardation/blindness, mental retardation/ orthopedic impairment, and many others. The combination causes severe educational needs such that the student can not be accommodated in any one special education program on itself. The term is however not inclusive of deaf-blindness.

Orthopedic impairment: This refers to orthopedic damage of such a greater magnitude that it unfavorably affects the child’s performance (educational). It includes hereditary disorders caused by diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, and other physical challenges as a result of a loss of limbs, cerebral disorders, and bone injuries.

Other Health impairments: These include limitations in one’s strength, vitality, or alertness including oversensitivity to environmental stimuli. This impairs attention in an educational environment. This is a result of chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, leukemia, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome. All these conditions adversely affect the child’s educational performance.

Definite learning disabilities: It is an impairment of the body systems that control interpretation and use of the linguistic expression that expresses itself in form of inadequate ability to process and produce sound, reading and writing, and also arithmetic manipulation.

Speech or language disorder: A communicational malfunction manifested in form of stuttering, limited mental expression, language communication, and vocal disorder that adversely hampers the learning ability of those affected.

Traumatic brain injury: It denotes a physically acquired brain injury caused by forceful impact on the head leading either into a mental or psychological disability. Due to the severity of the condition, the educational performance of the child is adversely compromised.

Works Cited

Categories of Disability under IDEA Law. 2009. Web.

National Health Interview Survey in Center on Human Policy: What is a Disability? 2009. Web.

Resources to improve instruction, assessment, and accountability for students with disabilities: Week 7 Readings.doc

Ripley, Suzanne. Cable bill too high: Collaboration between General and Special Education Teachers. 2009. Web.

The IEP Cycle: The General Educator’s Role. 2009. Web.

What do General Education Teachers Need To Know about Special Education? 2009. Web.

Introduction

The following is a research essay that focuses on the stress and tension level faced by the higher education bearing international students. It would include all the necessary details and information which would highlight the problems, circumstances, living conditions, and living styles inherited by the higher education students.

Discussion

(Sidhu, 2006) Basically, international students are those education bearers who travel from their homeland to other countries in order to attain and gain higher education with flying colors. There are hundreds and thousands of students who travel every year internationally just to gain higher and quality education for improving their future aspects and to attain their future goals of life. For many years, students have traveled abroad in the search of opportunities to advance and increase their knowledge and educational level. Most of the international students prefer the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other parts of Asia to have the best quality education providing universities around the globe. This is because of the fact that higher education is considered to be one of the most significant commodities for the international students. Secondly, international students bring a lot to their host universities; such as, diverse backgrounds, assorted cultures, new perceptions, and augmentation of multicultural surroundings within the learning centers. This helps the students to live with different groups of people while gaining education from a single centre point and provides the opportunity to the students to learn helping and to live with other students from different family backgrounds, castes, religions (Sisk, 2009).

(Grünzweig & Rinehart; 2003) Despite all the advantages of gaining education, there is a particular dark side present that generates many of difficulties and problems for international students while living abroad for higher education. The problems and issues are several that affect the learning process and mental capabilities of international students as a whole. problems such as, poor quality teaching, lack of support from the teachers’ side, increasing educational demands, increasing academic responsibilities, new place to live all alone, changes in social and sexual identity, financial responsibilities and issues, difficult peer pressures, and mainly the depression and stress level faced by the international students. Among all these problems, a number of international students have agreed that stress and depression is the main problem they face while living abroad for higher education. It is because there are so many things to do within a short span of time and most of the time, they not only feel alone without their families, but also face financial difficulties and lack of confident support from their teachers in the universities (Liu, 2001).

(Schweitzer et al, 2006) The high extent of stress and depression level faced by the higher education international students gives rise to the use of alcohol intake, drugs and even suicides at times. The extent of stress level becomes so high and unbearable that the young high education students do not fear committing suicide so that they could get rid of all the problems they are facing from their educational side.

(Sisk, 2009) In order to deal with the level of high stress and depression by the international higher education students, it is recommended that these students should be given extra care and attention as compared to the local higher education students. In this way, they would feel that the teachers and the university management care about them. Apart from that, another thing that could help these students to reduce stress level is to run an evaluation of causative reasons and dynamics, discussion of treatment or healing or behavior options, and ruling out any physical grounds. Once the sol problem of the student is diagnosed behind stress, it becomes easier to treat and clarify that particular problem by counseling the student. This may include the short-term or long-term counseling therapy for the international student so that that student could focus on his academics and educational activities without facing any type of problem or stress level.

References

Ravinder Kaur Sidhu, 2006, Universities & globalization: to market, to market; Published by Routledge, p198.

Jennifer Sisk, 2009, Depression on College Campuses — The Downside of Higher Education, Social Work Today Website, Vol. 6 No. 5 P. 17, Web.

Walter Grünzweig, Nana Rinehart; 2003, Rockin’ in Red Square: critical approaches to international education in the age of cyberculture, Published by LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, p140.

Jun Liu, 2001, Asian students’ classroom communication patterns in U.S. universities: an emic perspective, Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, p2.

Eluned Roberts-Schweitzer, Vincent Greaney, Kreszentia Duer; 2006, Promoting social cohesion through education: case studies and tools for using textbooks and curricula; Published by World Bank Publications, p60.

Learning disabilities in children is something which cannot be clearly defined. It mainly affects spoken language, written language, memory, arithmetic and reasoning. 6-10 percent of the school-aged children are estimated to have learning disabilities in the United States. It makes academic achievement and progress difficult for the children and their development is found to be uneven. In most cases, these children are found to have compensatory skills even better than others. It is important for the parents and teachers to take proper care of the children from an early age itself, in order to help him get normal education.

Though these disabilities remain throughout the children’s lives, proper care and special attention can reduce its effects on them and help them achieve whatever they earlier found difficult. The disabilities are usually recognized at the time when children join elementary schools because that’s when they try to read, write and memorize. Teachers play an important role in identifying students with various disabilities. Once any of the above mentioned problems is seen, it requires for immediate special attention on the part of the teachers and parents. According to the disabilities, children receive either special attention in ordinary schools, or they are transferred to special schools where teachers are trained to guide and encourage them.

Whether the students attend a special school or a normal school, it is the responsibility of the teachers to give all the care and support to the special needs of students. Students with learning disabilities in elementary schools have a tendency to develop a low self-esteem when they find that they are not capable of doing things the same way and with the same speed as others and that is when the role of instructors comes in. Educators other than regular teachers are often more accepted by the students. Learning support teachers in the elementary LD programs observe and assess these children, and their needs. Separate learning strategies are developed for them with necessary modifications and adaptations to suite their disabilities. For example, demonstrations and visuals are frequently used in teaching. Their performances and progress are constantly monitored, so that changes in teaching methods can be made if essential. Individual attention is required in most cases, and so resource rooms and classrooms in special schools contain only about 8-10 students.

They encourage these students to participate in extra activities like the other normal students or in case of special schools, organize activities which will boost the confidence level of the students. Student disabilities include the inability to understand the teacher instructions. In such cases, direct instructions which do not confuse the children are given. It is found that older students are often helpful to the younger ones. Studies also show that peer tutoring is effective in children with learning disabilities. This requires the teacher to identify peers who are capable of teaching effectively and patiently. There have been successful cases of disabled students teaching other disabled students in the same resource room. This proves that age difference is not a criterion in peer-tutoring programs.(pg-1528, Encyclopedia of Special Education).

For these purposes, enough support is given to the elementary schools. This includes providing itinerant support to the students, their families and teachers, special materials required for teaching them, special education teachers and assistants and consultants to the schools. Elementary school-based counseling is one service provided in schools. Counselors also give personal talks to the students in cases of social or emotional stress. Since, the development as students begins in elementary schools, it is very important to support them the right way, so that they are encouraged to overcome their disabilities at least to an extent.

Middle School Significant Support Needs Class

When entering middle schools, children with learning disabilities face a lot of new problems. The new campuses which are bigger with more teachers and students, the requirement to move from one class to another after each hour, increasing homework and class-work, the introduction of using lockers are just a few of them. Children who attend the resource classes find it difficult to adjust regular studies and special education together. At this age, the students are expected to develop an individuality. The social pressure becomes high and the right guidance must be given by parents and special educators, in order to make progress like the other children.

Middle schools demand more from all students which only worsens the problems of the disabled students. They are required to learn complex theories, and understand itsconcepts. Critical thinking and problem solving becomes important at this level. Learning social skills, life skills and safety skills is difficult for them, but since at this stage, they are encouraged to begin being independent of their parents, a knowledge about these skills becomes essential.

It is at this point that the Special Support Needs program becomes relevant. Every neighbourhood school might give special attention and care to the disabled students. However, not all of them will be successful in providing it to a greater extend. Some of the students may need more than the school provisions. For this reason, Academy School District 20, provides services to meet the needs of all the students. Specialized center-based programs help in reducing the impairments and disabilities of students through Significant Support Needs(SSN) classrooms. “Each middle school and high school has an SSN classroom, and so is able to provide a continuum of services within the building for students with significant cognitive delays or multiple disabilities.” (Special education, 2009).

The idea behind SSN classrooms is to meet the diverse requirements of all students with learning disabilities. Apart from the class teacher, each SSN classroom staffs one or more paraprofessionals. The main goal of such classrooms is to teach the disabled students to be as independent as possible. Every student is made to work independently for at least some time daily, though they are under the supervision of the para-educators throughout the day.Even students with maximum attention, are made to move from one classroom to another independently. Instructions about life, vocational and social skills and recreation-leisure skills are given to the students. Individual guidance is also given individually, based on the student requirements. Peer tutoring, which is one of the best ways, is practiced, along with occasional classes by older students.

The para-educators are responsible for the health and safety of the students. They monitor the performances of the children, and implement the teachers’ lesson plans using techniques understandable to the children. Often these educators develop a very warm relationship with the students which help in guiding them sincerely. Complete devotion and patience are essential in tutoring children with special needs. The co-operation of the students is also important, which includes not only following the educators’ instructions, but also interacting with them about the difficulties that they face. Attempts made in the right direction can help the students develop as successful individuals and be independent in making decisions.

High School Significant Support Needs Class

With the advancement in medical technology and improved diagnosis, most cases of learning disabilities in children are identified at an early stage itself. This helps in giving proper guidance to the them from the elementary school age. Until the 1950s and 1960s, disabled children were not educated or considered equal as others. But with the civil rights movement, parents of disabled children began to demand the same freedom as others, to educate their children in normal schools. Getting a high school diploma is not easy; even normal students do not find every subject easy. Along with this, the school environment and the transition to adult lives provides challenges to them.

Special support must be given to them if they are to succeed in lives. One way, found most effective is, their inclusion at normal high schools and classrooms. Inclusion differs from mainstreaming, which was the only option in earlier times. Inclusion allows the disabled children to attend normal classrooms, but they are provided special coaching in their regular classrooms if required by special education teachers. They need to meet only the Individual Education Program goals in order to get a high school diploma and not necessarily the essentials of that grade level. Mainstreaming, restricted the children to IEP and the end goal was to meet all the essentials of that grade level which they found difficult. They were given special classes in different study hall and not their home classroom. Also, no special education teacher was assigned in earlier times for this purpose. Now, the educational system equally supports children with disabilities. This kind of a partial inclusion model is the best way for them. Inclusive classrooms help them to improve their academic performances, motivate them better and develop as independent individuals.

Another method adopted is the after school classes, which give opportunities to the students in a range of ways. After school programs organize various activities for children with and without disabilities. Many of these activities are extra-curricular, and they make use of technology and supplemental services, and also creative and collaborative planning to enhance everyone’s participation in it. These activities include, theatre and arts, cooking and academic clubs and athletics.

Such activities improve their academic achievement, school attendance, aspirations, social competence and behavior. “After school programs provide students with special needs opportunities to increase their skills while building on their potential.” (Griffin, 2008). It helps them to stay with the high school program providing all the instructions for academic improvement. Physical activities including games, make them healthy and smart, besides providing opportunities to mingle with other students and developing social skills. They are made assume leadership in many of the activities, which teach them the importance of leading and taking responsibilities. As leadership qualities develop, they learn to be independent in decision-making, which makes them more confident about themselves and their talents.

What must be taken care of while selecting the activities for after-school programs is that they must be of interest to the children and not their needs alone. The aim of such programs is to help the children attain the highest degree possible by learning the various life skills. Since, only the fittest survives today, it is of great consequence to equip them with all the qualities that other children have.

Transition Program

Once it is time for children to leave high school, they begin to plan their future and act accordingly. Children with disabilities are not often very successful in planning their future. They are unable to decide whether they would like take up job, join universities for higher studies or learn extra skills required to lead a successful life, because they find every option equally difficult. It is found that almost 47 percent of the disabled students drop out of high schools before they decide whether to pursue higher studies or take up jobs and begin living independently. Transition programs which are of various kinds help them be independent by providing support in getting a job or joining for higher studies.

Transition programs offer different services to the students. Many of them have introduced innovative methods to provide the students with real-life skills and job experiences. Some of them enable the students to join for higher studies in universities. Vocational Rehabilitation(VR) program is an example of such a transition program.

VR program becomes important when the students begin to plan about what to do after high school. They begin their services when the students are still in school or after completing high school education by providing opportunities for students with disabilities in higher education, additional formal skill training and job placements. Attaining a job requires the students to have knowledge about proper money management. Many of the jobs also require for a thorough information about the latest technologies and developments and methods of making use of them. The students will need the guidance of someone like special educators at school, to inform about all available opportunities. While the special classes in schools help in being socially and individually independent, VR program helps in becoming economically independent through work.

The first step in it is the reference given by high school to VR, following what they will begin preparing the necessary paperwork for the program, so that help can be provided as early as possible after the student finishes his high school education. The students will be contacted by the VR counselor for interviews in order to decide what services are required for each student based on individual disabilities and requirements. Planning for a vocational goal is usually begun while the student is still in school. IPE or Individual Plan for Employment is developed by the counselor for the students. “…it includes: your vocational goal, intermediate objectives, responsibilities that both you and the counselor have accepted, and a list of services that VR will sponsor.” (Services for students transitioning from school to work, 2009). This is based on an agreement signed by the students and the counselor after the interviews.

However, there certain limitations to what the VR program can do. It cannot sponsor for any educational services before the students have completed high school education. If a high school does not have an agreement with VR program, then their services are limited to finishing the eligibility process of the students.

Though transition programs are of great help to the disabled students, they have taken a back seat due to a number of reasons like, the lack of enough efficient transition specialists. It is found that only 30 percent of the disabled graduates and 45 percent of the post-graduate students take up jobs successfully. It is absolutely essential to understand that special services are necessary until the students finish their education and successfully take up jobs.

Secondary Sied Program

SIED refers to significant identifiable emotional disabilities in children. It includes an inability to learn which cannot be explained by the intellectual, sensory or health factors, inability to mingle and interact socially and effectively with teachers and peers, inappropriate behavioral patterns, depression and symptoms of fear for personal and school matters. Such students behave aggressively towards people unexpectedly, occasionally has hallucinations. All these problems affect their academics because, they are unable to concentrate most of the time in class. They are unable to build friends because of their lack of social skills. Any student who misbehaves in school can be suspended or expelled from the institution and this includes even students with disabilities. Three instances of misbehavior can lead to their suspension upto ten days a year. It is important to guide them properly, so that they do not face suspension for reasons they are not consciously responsible.

It is the responsibility of the teachers to understand and cope better with behavior problems of the students in classrooms. They must help them improve in academics and other activities. They must also refer the students to mental health services outside the school, if necessary. Each student will have different behavioral problems. The teacher should be able to identify the needs of individual students and use different methods for each case. RTI or Response to Intervention is an approach is SIED program to promote the general, compensatory, gifted education in students with high-standard instruction methods matching the children’s behavioral and emotional needs. Extra support is given by the educators, including the teachers and special educators in academics and extra activities. Intensive support teams help the children in improving their academic results which also improves their behavioral problems to an extent. Counselors and special educators play an important role in understanding the requirements of the children, since they spend most of their time with students.

Emotional disturbances must be carefully treated, because very often the cases are complex. Every student must be taught to trust others, feel worthy enough of oneself to take responsibilities. They must be taught to control their impulses and behaviors according to the different environments. They should understand how to interact successfully with their peers and politely with their teachers. The students must learn to cope with stress, which is very important once they are in high school, universities or jobs. Teachers must also create an environment encouraging for the students, by explaining to the other students, the need the accommodate the requirements of disabled students. Predictable environments help the students to an extend in controlling their impulses, because generally unexpected happenings frighten them. “Environmental management refers to thesystematic use of resources, physical factors, and organizational andcommunication schema to structure the students total environment for the of providing necessary support and control.” (Skalski, 2000).

Apart from this, SIED researchers also study more cases of emotional disturbances in order to innovate new techniques which will greatly help the students in a better way. This program is very helpful and of great relevance because emotional development is as important as physical and mental development in leading a successful career and life.

References

Griffin, Marissa. (2008). After school and students with special needs. After School Alert Issue Brief. Web.

Services for students transitioning from school to work. (2009). DES. Web.

Skalski, Anastasia Kalamaros. (2000). Guidebook for determining the eligibility of students with a significant identifiable emotional disability (SIED). Colorado Department of Education. Web.

Special education. (2009). Academy District 20. Web.