Philosophy of Special Education

My personal philosophy of special education comes from the classes I've taken, observations I have made, and reading book after book. I have only worked with a few special needs students. My favorite was a little kindergarten boy. He taught me a lot about what it takes to meet the needs of a special needs student. Number one is patients and the rest just comes along as you go. He taught me that each individual student desires different attention. To me special education is the educating of children with special needs, which tends to interfere with their learning abilities. As teachers we need to make general education and a special education come together as one. They say that "children who learn together, learn to live together." I have one problem with special education the labeling of the student. This label follows then through out their lives. Sure they benefit from being labeled, by getting extra individualized assistance, which is beneficial in the long run. The key to making these students successful is meeting each individuals students needs. We must find out what most benefits them in academically and install this in their everyday learn patterns. I want to leave you with this quote-"There is a brilliant child locked inside every student." Marva Collins We as educators have to unlock that brilliance.