Reflections on my studies thus far
A deep dive into what I have learnt during my course so far
Introduction
Where to begin? Always a difficult question to think about as we tend to overthink it. My approach was to start from the beginning, methodically reviewing each entry and the contents thereof. I dare say it is not the most efficient course of action, but it has provided me with excellent insight into information processed up until now.
This course has been incredible. I entered the program confident that I would manage my time and resources to complete tasks efficiently. Nevertheless, the scope of how much I did not know has been tremendous. The resources I have had access to have given me so much new insight and changed my teaching practice. I know that I have only touched the surface with my research, which excited me about what I have yet to explore.
Now for a more structured approach. From here, I will break the reflections down into the different areas we covered through this course up to now. Hopefully creating a summary of my experiences that I can reference back to in my career as I continue to grow.
Special Education Testing
In this assignment, I enjoyed working with my fellow cohorts to look into a contentious topic for me. Before beginning the project, I was already standing with a negative view of the testing process for special education and the implications that came with it. So naturally, I leaned in to deal with the cons in our presentation.
This approach proved incredibly effective for me. I went into our discussion a blank slate to the pros and objectives as a whole. This allowed me to engage in real-time learning during our discussion as my peers unravelled the concepts I had not considered.
I still find myself lost behind the red tape that surrounds me, but I have learnt solid concepts that can help me persuade those that might be on the fence.
Most importantly, I had my view on testing adjusted. I had always worried about my children and the implications of them not meeting development markers. Which meant I could relate to the same parents whose children I have worked with who could not perceive a potential problem. The sheer empathy this brings me is something that I believe will help me as I continue to try to provide my students with the best possible instruction for their success. However, it also helps me understand how important data is when starting this conversation.
The Evolution of Special Education
This had to be my favourite task to complete. As with all things when we start, I had my idea of how things worked. Oh boy, was I wrong about so many things. I initially thought that special education in china was nearly all but ignored, yet I found it mentioned in Confucius teachings. There is a common expression in china that you will frequently hear, which goes, "china has 5000 years of history, we have done it all", and that is because they invented paper, so they began to write things down. I learnt that special care has always been a focus in the traditional Chinese family and community structure, with the first direct educational concepts being brought in by foreign missionaries. This information was so much fun to read that I decided to take my timeline back to the first mention I could find creditable. This topic introduced me to new friends in the education system where I live as I reached out to other teachers to source journals I could not find or did not realize existed at the time. I got to see the milestones that china has achieved in special education, and the leaps in progress are far beyond what I initially assumed they were. It gave me a great sense of hope that change and progress are closer than I ever considered.
Most importantly, it introduced me to the special education schools and programs scattered around me right now. Reaching out to these schools has been my first deep dive into what is happening here beyond the papers I have read. Although the initial start was behind most of the west, I think it is accelerating down the right direction now as the world grows into a global community.
Special Education and English Language Learners
This was the first topic we covered that I felt super confident in, and it was the first to help me realize how little I knew. It immediately hooked me into the concepts we would cover with it just feeling completely on-brand with the reasons I chose this specialization, to begin with. I went into my research, looking directly for comparisons between special education and English language learners, stumbling into the first few specific learning disabilities I would still begin to learn about as the course progressed.
I had not realized the sheer amount of ELL students who found themselves in SPED programs not for having an SLD but rather language-related issues.
I always work with ELL students in my daily class environment, so my training and knowledge here are quite honed even though I continue to grow. I had not previously considered that some of my students who struggled could have other underlying conditions beyond what I previously knew. This created a fantastic area for me to try some new ideas in class. I cannot say if the changes are working as yet since it has not been a long enough period, but it has increased engagement in class for the students I have adjusted towards.
This topic was something I found very easy to research, with many resources and case studies to review. The greatest challenge for me will be addressing testing in a culturally sensitive manner in china and gearing testing towards Chinese students. The education system is primarily focused on standardized testing, repetition and the authority method of teaching. This becomes a question for me. How does this teaching style affect learners with disabilities, and is there a practical way to use these methods for those same learners?
I have still left this topic with the opinion that the training teachers receive is vital to student success. As comparatively, my co-workers have no training in SLDs of any form but often mention students they believe might have issues. I can imagine that even the most basic training for teachers here could drastically improve the academic potential of these students.
Speech and Language Disorders
I spent over 20 hours reading papers for this activity. It was such an umbrella of a topic that I kept finding more papers with interesting information. I had written it several times, scrapped it and began again. I tried to find the best way to condense the information into something readable and engaging, unlike this total reflection (reflecting mid reflecting). This activity became the turning point for me into understanding what a learning disability was. It was mentioned before that classifications had been broadened since the days of "dyslexia" and terms like it. I had not quite realized how much. Every category I found lead to another paper—yet another list of lists with more information. The greatest challenge now was getting those evaluation criteria nailed down.
This activity was the most informative, I had not commented on all of my peers initially, but I took the time to read through their work. In every post, I found something I skipped over or missed, more detail to take in. The title of the post I went for was "Understanding Speech and Language Disorders", and I believe I understand them. However, I am confident I do not understand them enough to tell parents what their child's potential issues are. It has provided me with the tools and understanding to better direct my evaluations, to collect the data I need to start putting the pieces together for students. Building a portfolio on my students and playing a game of connect the dots and then expanding each dot to find specifics. One area I am thankful my peers covered in more depth was expressive and receptive language skills. Having learnt this in detail during my TEFL, TESOL and TEYL courses, but as is normal still managed to gain a greater insight into it. A few mentions of the concepts we use in the classroom, such as TPR (total physical response), made me feel I dropped the ball, as it is such a pivotal factor to language learning in receptive and expressive skills. I cast my net wide on this project at the start and found I wasted time refining it into something workable, but I regret nothing as I had so much fun learning what I did.
Learning from a Psychologist
Officially the second most informative psychologist I have ever had the pleasure of listening to, Dr Edwards provided me with excellent information with his experience on the subject. The key feature was confirming what had been said a few times. The scope of what a learning disability is has become incredibly broad and varied. I found myself asking many questions during his interview, running through my thoughts while processing information. I look back at the annotation, and it is like seeing my inner monologue. The difficulties in identifying an SLD and getting to a specific diagnosis seems incredibly daunting to me. With so many variables, all before even discussing potential co-morbidities and the impacts that go hand in hand.
The biggest question answered in this activity was the concept of a student being twice-exceptional. I had not encountered this term before but now have a solid understanding of a student who has a learning disability but is also gifted. I also had fun looking up the tests mentioned, taking an online version of the Wechsler test that scored me a 121, which was fun but probably a bit inaccurate. The introduction to the response to intervention model was fantastic, and something I had yet to realize would impact my future research as I listened to Dr Edwards.
Evidence-Based Practices
Fundamentals to effective teaching are what I would call this. Going into the topic felt like something that should be obvious, yet the scope in which it is in practice was beyond what I imagined. I assume that more knowledgeable or experienced teachers have handed down everything we do as teachers, everything we are trained for, and all the guidance. What I never thought of was the sheer amount of research that went into nearly all these concepts. A topic I found in my research that drew me into understand EBPs was universal design. Something as simple as the way we decorate, layout and incorporate our student's abilities into the physical classroom. I learned that some things fell into the category of "is everyone not doing this?" with me. Things like putting up class schedules or class rules. Little did I know that the impacts and usefulness of this had been researched, documented and proven. This topic had the most significant impact on my daily teaching thus far from all those done to this point. I found myself assessing my lesson plans and their goals and fact-checking my techniques. Actively finding resources that justify the approach, I am taking more than my own experience or training—trying to find those fundamental reasons why things work and improve them further. I found exciting assessment sheets, or rather progress trackers, that could help gather data and build student profiles. This in-depth data is something I now understand the potential of, and I regret not having implemented this type of tracker for my students earlier! I am proud of their progress, but I am left wondering how much further they could have come as my class gets closer to graduating this July. As I am writing my reflection here, I am still awaiting evaluation on my assignment, so I am curious about what aspects I got wrong or could improve on.
Central Auditory Processing Disorder
I will be a bit briefer here. This topic created another fun research project. I worked alongside two fellow cohorts on understanding CAPD; Donna's personal experience with a topic she added "cluttering" definitely piqued additional interest in the topic at hand. The first paper I opened was an editorial for Ear and Hearing by David Moore. This immediately opened the idea that CAPD might be a term that is still not accurately and effectively understood. Which immediately made me wonder if the topic was going to be more difficult than anticipated. Thankfully my cohorts came through in the clutch and provided information that helped me gain even further clarity. I still am confident that other learning disorders commonly characterize CAPD cases, but there is certainly something to it in itself. I think the initial process to researching this topic was kept within the brief criteria expected, but even more, research will be needed to understand it fully. So I am looking forward to the evaluation and feedback provided as this should answer the questions I have or give my research a direction.
Case Study
I honestly did not enjoy this activity. This was entirely due to my overthinking of it. I had been doing so much data gathering and research with my class that getting presented with a case study that felt a bit barebones left me stumped. I did not know how even to begin when I read through the case studies. In the end, I took a step back and addressed it in the same manner, I would with an ELL lesson plan. This got me going, and I went to work on what I hoped was an effective lesson plan. I applied the knowledge learnt to this point and checked methods for their EBP equivalent to make sure they would be effective.
What I have learnt, though, is that I need to work on my lesson plans. They make sense to me, but after reviewing a few by my cohorts, I doubt a substitute would be able to walk in and do the lesson as effectively as I would have planned it.
Conclusion
Over this past month, I have learned a vast array of different topics. My favourite thus far has been researching into EBPs. The immediate improvements this has given me in my classroom is fantastic. Understanding SLDs is something that I feel every teaching course should cover; besides just being helpful, it would benefit many students with mild disabilities by just giving teachers better tools to deal with these situations.
This course has been far more challenging than I initially expected, the subject matter is complex, and the expectations are high, rightfully so. I have enjoyed working with my cohorts and being able to experience the collective knowledge being shared, and it has been incredible.
On that note, I have this overwhelming feeling that it will only get more complicated from this point on. So I need to pull up my socks and learn something.
