scholarly journals Ethics and the Special Education Assistant

Paideusis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-65
Author(s):  
Lise Birkeland

The need for and responsibilities of Special Education Assistants (also known as Teacher Assistants, Teacher Aides, and Education Assistants) in British Columbia are increasing; yet time to consult, plan and receive direction is decreasing due to teachers’ burgeoning workloads and time constraints. Coupled with the fact that SEA’s often have more specific knowledge of the student’s label and educational interventions, these dynamics sometimes create a climate of misunderstanding and confusion of the roles and responsibilities of teachers and their assistants. At times, SEA’s feel unsupported and forced to take on responsibility without authority as they navigate through the ethics of what is the best inclusive practice for the student with special needs. By using an ethical approach to analyze an example of a) the Special Education Assistant’s working life and b) one extreme experience of that life, insight into the varied nature of this world is illuminated.

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 69-88
Author(s):  
Claire Jackson ◽  
◽  
Umesh Sharma ◽  
Delphine Odier-Guedj ◽  
Joanne Deppeler ◽  
...  

With the number of teacher assistants (TAs) employed in schools steadily increasing, most teachers are likely to work with a TA at various times throughout their career. International research indicates there is scope for teachers to enhance their work with TAs. This systematic review examines teachers’ perceptions of their work with TAs. Twenty-six studies were reviewed to gain insight into teachers’ thoughts, beliefs and/or impressions of their work with TAs. Ten perceptions of teachers relating to the manner in which they work with TAs were identified and further categorised into four key themes of roles and responsibilities, planning and pedagogy, leadership, and interpersonal relationships. Implications from the review highlight a need for schools and universities to reconsider teacher preparation and ongoing training with respect to teachers’ work with TAs.


2021 ◽  
pp. 074193252110172
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Maggin

Interest in transparent and open science is increasing in special education, school psychology, and related disciplines. Proponents for open science reforms provide evidence that researchers in special education, and the broader social sciences, engage in practices that mitigates its credibility and reduces the validity of information disseminated to practitioners and policymakers. In light of these issues, this article reports on a survey of journal editors-in-chief and associate editors to gain insight into concerns regarding research reproducibility, and the familiarity and viability of open science for improving research credibility. Results indicate that respondents were concerned about research reproducibility, were moderately familiar with open science practices, and viewed many as effective for improving research credibility. Finally, respondents supported the use of journals to encourage open science practices though there was little support for requiring their use. Findings are discussed in relation to open science and implications for research and practice.


Author(s):  
Hannah Morris Mathews

In general education, researchers find candidates’ pre-service experiences are a tool for socialization into the knowledge, norms, and values of the profession. An important aspect of this process is program vision—the collective understanding of teaching put forth by a preparation program. Yet, few investigations in special education examine program vision. Using interviews with candidates across six teacher preparation programs, the author generates theory to understand the role of vision in special education teacher candidates’ professional socialization and how experiences of program vision are associated with their conceptions of their future roles and responsibilities. Candidates’ conception of special educators’ roles reflected three characterizations consistent within, but distinct across programs: Direct Instructor, Supportive Differentiator, and General Responder. Each profile was associated with unique roles and responsibilities for special educators. Findings draw attention to the importance of examining vision as a tool for professional socialization in special education teacher preparation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 1272-1297
Author(s):  
Lauren Beck

AbstractHijuelasfurnish scholars with more than account balances and bills paid: ledgers such as the ones that detailed the expenses of Seville’s sixteenth-century Alcázar also yield important insight into the facility’s work environment. These hardly studied ledgers describe the workers’ backgrounds, including their wages and any special accommodations they required, as well as the transaction of material goods, which in this period included slaves. The following examination ofhijuelasuncovers the racial and labor realities of a royal property. These documents also challenge established scholarly observations about working life in early modern Seville in important ways.


Author(s):  
Genevieve Marie Johnson

Twelve special education teachers and teacher assistants who have instructional experience using iPads with children with special needs completed a survey that queried their practices and perceptions. In general, teachers and assistants were extremely positive about the value of iPads for children with special needs, particularly for children with autism, attention deficits and limitations of fine motor control. Special education teachers and teacher assistants reported most frequently using iPads to promote student language and literacy skills, although mathematics learning activities were also commonly reported. Enhanced student motivation was the most frequently reported benefit of using tablet computers in school followed by instructional planning advantages. Tablet computers appear to have the potential to be an essential aspect of individual program plans. Teaching tasks might reasonably include downloading and organizing specific applications on specific children’s tablets and professional development might increasingly focus of evaluation of tablet applications. Douze professeurs en éducation spéciale et aides-enseignants utilisant les iPads dans leur enseignement avec des enfants à besoins spéciaux ont rempli un questionnaire relatif à leurs pratiques et à leurs perceptions. En général, les enseignants et les aides-enseignants se sont révélés extrêmement positifs quant à la valeur des iPads pour les enfants à besoins spéciaux, en particulier pour les enfants avec autisme, avec un déficit d’attention et avec un contrôle limité de la motricité fine. Le plus souvent, les enseignants en éducation spéciale et les aides-enseignants ont indiqué avoir utilisé les iPads pour améliorer les compétences linguistiques et de littératie des élèves, bien que des activités d'apprentissage des mathématiques aient aussi été mentionnées fréquemment. Le renforcement de la motivation des élèves constituait l'avantage le plus souvent associé à l’utilisation des tablettes à l'école, suivi par des avantages liés à la planification de l’enseignement. Les tablettes pourraient devenir un élément essentiel des plans de programme individuel. Les tâches d'enseignement pourraient inclure le téléchargement et l'organisation d’applications spécifiques sur les tablettes particulières des enfants, et le perfectionnement professionnel pourrait de plus en plus être consacré à l'évaluation des applications pour tablettes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-63
Author(s):  
Sylvia Bagley ◽  
Kimmie Tang

Special Education teachers frequently assume formal or informal leadership roles and responsibilities across disciplines (Council for Exceptional Children, 2015a, 2015b). However, despite the increasing attention paid to teacher leadership on an international scale (Wenner & Campbell, 2016), little research exists on the experiences and needs of teacher leaders within the diverse field of Special Education. In this descriptive phenomenological study, we addressed the following questions: 1) What does teacher leadership within the landscape of Special Education look like? 2) How does this work relate to the roles and dispositions laid out in both the Teacher Leader Model Standards (2011) and the Council for Exceptional Children’s Special Education Specialist Preparation Standards (2015a, 2015b)? We found that Special Education teacher leaders primarily demonstrate leadership via support, specifically through the skills of advocacy, facilitating, innovating, and ‘administrating’.


Author(s):  
Ann M. Mickelson ◽  
Vivian I. Correa ◽  
Vicki D. Stayton

The movement toward collaborative models of preservice early childhood preparation, those that attempt to “blend” preparation for both early childhood education (ECE) and early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE), is entering its fourth decade. This position paper presents a historical analysis of the blended movement through a conceptual framework based on a social foundations perspective that highlights how sociopolitical and foundational influences have affected blended preparation over time. Although blended models were first explored as a means to reconceptualize early childhood preservice preparation for inclusion, the recommendations shared in this article center on the need to reconceptualize blended preparation itself. A call to action is proposed for the development of a robust research agenda and the strategic coordination of advocacy to ensure current and future blended preparation meets the needs of the increasingly diverse contexts, roles, and responsibilities of ECE and EI/ECSE practitioners.


Author(s):  
Annie Nguyen Tran

This chapter addresses the impact of the traditional hierarchical system of organizational leadership on K-12 schools, particularly in special education. This model of leadership distinguishes leaders, such as school principals, from non-leaders, such as teachers and school staff. For special education teachers, this passé model of leadership becomes a barrier for professional growth by limiting the opportunities for teacher leadership in special education. In order for special education teachers to pursue leadership positions in the K-12 education system, teachers likely have to give up their teaching identities in exchange for new roles and responsibilities. With a limitation of research in the area of teacher leadership in special education, there is a need for discussion on how special education teachers can use their expertise to influence school administrators and staff towards equitable and inclusive organizational change.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Setty

Abstract Educational interventions on youth sexting often focus on individual sexters or would-be sexters, and are driven by the aim of encouraging young people to abstain from producing and sharing personal sexual images. This approach has been criticised for failing to engage with the complex sociocultural context to youth sexting. Drawing upon qualitative group and one-to-one interviews with 41 young people aged 14 to 18 living in a county in south-east England, I explore young people’s perceptions and practices surrounding sexting. By taking a grounded theory approach to the research, I reveal how young people’s shaming of digitally mediated sexual self-expression shaped and was shaped by a denial of rights to bodily and sexual autonomy and integrity. This denial of rights underpinned harmful sexting practices, including violations of privacy and consent, victim blaming, and bullying. I conclude that responses to youth sexting should attend to this broader youth cultural context, emphasise the roles and responsibilities of bystanders, and encourage a collectivist digital sexual ethics based upon rights to one’s body and freedom from harm (Albury, New Media and Society 19(5):713–725, 2017; Dobson and Ringrose, Sex Education 16(1):8–21, 2015).


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin M. Stewart

One-on-one and program-based special education paraprofessionals are often used to support students with disabilities across school settings. While paraprofessionals may have the best of intentions, their proximity and the support they provide may prevent students with disabilities from fully accessing educational and social opportunities. To prevent unintentional yet negative student outcomes, it is necessary to define and communicate job responsibilities to paraprofessionals before they begin working with students with disabilities. This article outlines several flexible tools and strategies that teachers and administrators can use to efficiently and effectively communicate this information. The article includes (a) a description of how teachers and administrators can define and deliver job-related information to paraprofessionals, (b) reproducible templates for developing a written or digital job responsibilities notebook for paraprofessionals, and (c) recommendations for using these tools effectively.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document