Teachers in the Special Education Field
Special education, says James Kaufmann, has ten problems today. It is considered to be: (a) ignorant of history, (b) apologetic for existing, (c) preoccupied with image, (d) lost in space, (e) unrealistic in expectations, (f) unprepared to focus on teaching and learning, (g) unaware of sociopolitical drift, h) mesmerized by postmodernist/deconstructionist inanities, (i) an easy target for scam artists, and (j) immobilized by anticipation of systemic transformation. James M. Kauffman, Commentary: Today's Special Education and Its Messages for Tomorrow. Vol. 32 no, Journal of Special Education, 01-15-1999.
James Kauffman writes for the Journal of Special Education, and he most definitely has a true trend here. Special education is a diminishing program, at least it is in Ontario. The constant government cuts to education have saw its budget being slashed in every area, resulting in a system with more troubles than the students it serves.
Special education used to involved small remedial classes with extensive help for troubled students. My daughter once attended a session because her Rs sounded like Ws. Now, however, these classes are a part of history. Students who are behind or in need of extra help are simply sent to the basement, where one, or at most two special ed teachers serve a school of 700 people. It is rather daunting.
This new program is not just hurting the students who need extra help, nor just the teachers who have lost their jobs; it is hurting the entire system of education. Stronger students must wait in boredom as classroom teachers spend significant amounts of time with the struggling students. Less material can be taught and students fall behind their peers at other schools.
Obviously Kauffman’s ten points are the result of a lack of funding. It is extremely difficult to correct any of there things if the money isn’t there. Teachers need to speak to their boards, talk to the trustees, and even send letters to education officials. We need to let our governments see how much our special education systems are suffering as a result of their funding cuts. Obviously a poorly funded education system can not provide students with a rich and sufficient education. It should be part of a teacher’s goal to reverse these funding cuts. Until then, teachers must do as much as they can for their struggling students, including giving them extra help even after school and during lunch break. In this way, students will not become disillusioned and behind.

It is a well established fact that white teachers are a dominating majority in America. This is all very well, but is the lack of colored teachers due to racism or simply a lack of interest in the profession?
There has been a trend where as the student body continues to rise, the colored teacher population continues to decline. This may not seem terribly problematic at the moment, but it takes something out of education. America is a multi-cultural place and children need exposure to new cultures. As well, students of different races and religions should have the chance to learn with teachers of various races.
The truth is, people of color have more trouble becoming teachers. The privileged white society tends to dominate the classrooms with their own ideas and procedures. These include such things as admitting fewer students of color to college because the admissions committee favors whites. People with unusual names ( commonly racial minorities) have less chances of success in school. A study on this saw teachers marking papers with names of various students. The students with normal names fared much better than the ones with unusual ones. White teacher have a significant impact on whether other races succeed or fail in school. The sad part is that of all migrants to the country, 40-50% never finish highschool.
To effectively teach students of different races and cultures requires creativity, adaptability, and of course no racism on behalf of the teacher. One of the most successful approaches is creating lessons that incorporate unique cultures into the daily lessons. If you have someone from Pakistan in your class, ask them to talk about their life there, and the difference in their new country. Ask them about their schooling and see if you can come up with something that will be a little bit more suitable for them. And, if you typically study a story about racism against a Chinese person, perhaps you could find something different if you have a Chinese student in your class- these types of things make students very uncomfortable.
The goal of education is to teach children and to develop a desire for lifelong learning (among other things). This cannot possibly be achieved if the student is unhappy, uncomfortable, or confused. Teachers must do everything they can to make sure each and every student has the best possible education, and must individualize the lessons as much as possible for each unique individual.