Hyperlink:
This video is an example of our culture and stereotypes. We create a label for students with special needs. As a result, the labeling leads to segregation. That is what Christopher Kliewer mentioned in his article. When the segregation occurs students with special needs are restricted in their education. They can not attend schools or classes as the other students who are not labeled as disabled. This creates the need to filter students by intellectual capability level. Our culture creates these levels and because a student does not fit in a high intellectual level, they are considered as incapable of doing many things. Because of the existence of the stereotypes of mentally disabled people created by society, an event like the video I posted occurs where those students are ridiculed and bullied because of a stereotype. Often times, the definitions of a particular stereotype are conclusions of any action made by a person that had been labeled into a stereotype even though it's untrue like the situation in the video. In the article, Kliewer talks about how Shayne undoes this separation by connecting her students as a community where each student is valued and differences is normal. The experiences with Shayne and her students is a great example of how accepting students who are handicapped can benefit in regular classes in school, but the only way that it can happen is if the teacher allows it to happen. The teacher must help create the collective atmosphere in the classrooms while honoring differences and recognize what a student can be capable of by listening and not what they are incapable of.
Sharing Ideas:
After reading this article and coming across videos of unjust treatment to students with special needs, I thought of myself as a future teacher and how I can come up with ideas to make students feel that they belong in the community and that they are an important person even with differences. It would be interesting to share ideas on that.
"I thought of myself as a future teacher and how I can come up with ideas to make students feel that they belong in the community and that they are an important person even with differences."
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more! I had the same thoughts while reading this weeks article. I don't understand what a person must be thinking when they do or say some of the terrible things that they do to their students. It doesn't matter how much a kid acts up or how much you dislike having to put more effort into a particular student - it's your job to make your students confident and competent human beings.
i agree, everyone should feel like they belong.
ReplyDelete