Special Education Philosophy

A Philosophy of Special Education The profession of teaching can be challenging at times. It is a constant juggling act of ongoing responsibilities; including classroom management, engagement, and curriculum. Add in the prospect of teaching multiple students with special needs and it is downright overwhelming. Still, special education is one responsibility that we cannot afford to get wrong. Instruction can play a significant part in their prospective outcomes. Therefore we need to develop a well-defined philosophy regarding special education that considers the laws, your beliefs, and feelings related to working with students with exceptionalities. To become a better educator, I have developed my own personal philosophy with those considerations

That adage, “it takes a village...”, perfectly sums up special education. It takes the combined efforts of many educators to provide the most optimal education for the student. So be open to advice and really listen. Together, we can provide the best suited education for the child (Hallahan et al., 2012).
My Classroom Environment Ideally, my classroom would be a strong community of interactive learners. I would like to use cooperative learning to engage students at various academic levels. This would also give me the opportunity to employ direct teaching for those students that need it while others work in groups. Groups also allows me to use peer tutoring and help build an inclusive classroom by integrating groups (Hallahan et al., 2012). I would also like to provide continuous progress monitoring. Assessments like the Response to Intervention model (RTI) will better inform me of the student’s strengths and weaknesses. Then with this knowledge I can better adapt my instruction to continually meet the student’s needs (Hallahan et al.,

I feel comfortable with my knowledge of disabilities and their educational considerations, but I worry about my ability to implement, especially in a general classroom. I fear having to severely differentiate instruction for students with special needs while still providing a lesson fitting the educational needs of the general classroom. I also worry about my ability to identify students with special needs. I know identification is a multi-layered, multi-person procedure, but I worry that I will mix up struggling students with students with special needs. So with these fears in mind, my goals are to practice creating lesson plans that include differentiation for students with special needs and to learn more about the identification process through observation and interviews.
Conclusion
In conclusion, after determining my own philosophy of special education I am better equipped to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Informed by this course, laws related to special education, and own beliefs, I have created an ideal classroom plan. I am also more aware of comfort level and fears in regard to special education. My goals for the future are to improve my ability to differentiate lessons and my ability identify students with special needs. I look forward to improving as a teacher of students with