Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Community, Spirituality, And The Writing Classroom, W. Keith Duffy

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

From a spiritual perspective, this article critiques the concept of community as defined by scholars of rhetoric and composition; the author suggests that our experience of community in the writing classroom cab be enhanced if we strike a balance between doing and being.

Spiritual Identities, Teacher Identities, And The Teaching Of Writing, Kilian Mccurrie

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Through a case study, this article examines the ways teacher identity and spiritual identity intersect in the teaching of writing. By showing that a teacher's pedagogy is prodoundly informed by a basic spiritual disposition, the author offers a view of teaching that is often neglected in studies of teacher identity.

Engaged Buddhism & Women In Black: Our Grief Is Not A Cry For War, Candace Walworth

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This paper explores principles, practices, and manifestations of engaged Busshism in the United States. It includes a personal narrative based on the author's participation in Women in Black (a silent, symbolic protest against war) and classroom stories based on the author's experience teaching at a Buddhist-inspired university.

Back Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes Toward Inclusion In A Non-Traditional Classroom, Julie K. Ivey Ph.D., Kathryn Reinke Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 52 pre-service teachers’ participation in an outdoor education program, for sixth grade students, on their attitudes toward inclusion of students with special needs. A survey was administered before and after the three-day event. After the experience the subjects felt more familiar with the concept of inclusion and realized possible conflicts between expectations of regular classroom teachers and special education teachers. This suggests that experiences in outdoor settings, a learning environment not usually explored, can influence pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion of students with special needs as well as make …

What Are Teachers Doing To Accommodate For Special Needs Students In The Classroom?, Brenda Stevens, Caroline Everington, Stacy Kozar-Kocsis

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Elementary teachers (N=42) from a district implementing inclusive practice were surveyed to determine: a) if the frequency of curricular modifications made differ by type of student disability, b) if there is a difference in the frequency of curricular modifications made for special and typical students, and c) if a relationship exists between modifications made for special needs students and for typical students. Results indicate the frequency of teachers' curricular modifications does not differ by type of disability; that they make significantly more frequent modifications for special needs students; and that there is a significant relationship between the frequency of modifications …

A Three Dimensional Model For The Inclusion Of Children With Disabilities, Kimberly G. Griffith Ph.D., Mark J. Cooper Ph.D., Ravic P. Ringlaben

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

The main thrust of preparation for inclusion has been to prepare the general education teacher as well as the student with exceptionalities for this educational initiative. Students without disabilities are often not the prevailing focus in these efforts. This model is an archetype that enables peers to understand, accept, and care for their classmates with exceptionalities. Students acquire knowledge about disabilities, skills are developed that help them interact appropriately, and activities are provided that influence more positive thoughts and behaviors among all students. A circle is used as a metaphor to explain the relationship of individuals in the class. The …

Welcome, Patricia R. Renick Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Welcome to the 6th edition of the Electronic Journal of Inclusive Education.

Providing insight into changing the attitudes of regular educators concerning inclusive practice and knowledge concerning accommodating students with special learning needs is the focus of this edition. We also have an article addressing concerns about the use of behavior modification in public school classrooms. As the conversation continues concerning including students with special needs in regular education classrooms, the need for greater awareness and acceptance of the diversity inherent in the human condition becomes clearer in light of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. One …

Identifying Accommodations For Inclusion Settings: A Strategy For Special And General Educators, Karen A. Verbeke Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Identifying accommodations for students with disabilities is an important part of the collaboration that must take place between special and general educators as a result of the regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1997). The law has placed more emphasis on having students with disabilities receive the majority of their instruction in “regular” classes with the use of supplementary aids and services. Identifying these accommodations can be a daunting task for new as well as veteran teachers because there are so many possible accommodations. One strategy, PRESS, has been effective in the training of new teachers and …

Behavior Analysis: No Defense Required, James D. Dunne Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Many people, professional educators and others, criticize what they call behavior modification because they believe it applies only to animals or people with disabilities and represents little more than the application of good common sense. This paper argues that behavior modification, more accurately called behavior analysis, has produced many procedures that apply to the behavior of people with and without disabilities across a variety of settings. This paper examines 4 behavior analytic teaching strategies (Personalized System of Instruction, Programmed Instruction, Direct Instruction, and Precision Teaching) to illustrate the sophistication and wide application of behavior analysis. It concludes that such behavior …

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editors' Message

In his essay Two Kinds of Thinking Carl Jung describes direct and indirect thinking. Associated with language, direct thinking’s premier ability is parsing and defining reality so that we might work on that reality and act in the world. Associated with imagery, dreaming, and story telling, indirect thinking taps the realm of mythos where we dwell in fantasies and paradoxes. Indirect thinking is neither a contradiction nor denial of rationality. Rather, it is thinking that operates by a different logic, one capable of offering different insights, different versions of possible realities.

Jung’s two kinds of thinking reflect a …

Reviews, Nathaniel Teich, Hepzibah Roskelly, Emily Nye, Dennis Young

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

The Rhetoric Of Recovery: Can Twelve Step Programs Inform The Teaching Of Writing?, Christopher C. Weaver

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

The article examines the spiritual dimensions of recovery programs and explores some of the ways the rhetoric of these programs as well as the structure of twelve step meetings may illuminate the nature of composition classes and particularly of peer writing groups.

Successful Blunders: Reflection, Deflection, Teaching, Devan Cook

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Often we expect students' experience with assignments to reflect our own or those of previous students, but we may blunder when we base our teaching on past successes. By deflecting such assignments and constructing unexpected identities, students and instructors alike learn and teach.

The Landscape Listens— Hearing The Voice Of The Soul, Robbie Clifton Pinter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This essay offers a view of Mary Rose O'Reilley's "radical listening," applying it to the classroom as a way for teachers and students to "learn to their lives."

The Accidental Curriculum, Terrance Riley

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

True learning—learning which results in some permanent cognitive change—is far too unpredictable to be controlled by format curricular designs. The formal curriculum of English studies is valuable largely as a stage setting for educational accidents.

Back Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

Something To Have At Heart: Another Look At Memorization, Gina Briefs-Elgin

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

After tracing the history of learning by heart, this essay explores its advantages and suggest that we restore this time-honored practice which can enrich our students' relationships with words and books and empower their personal lives.

Connecting, Helen Walker, Lisa Ruddick, Kathleen Mccolley Foster, Chauna Craig, Steven Vanderstaay, Meg Peterson, Linda K. Parkyn

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

Jaepl, Vol. 8, Winter 2002-2003, Katie S. Fleckenstein, Linda T. Calendrillo

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Charles Suhor. James Moffett's Lit Crit and Holy Writ. In one of Moffett's final presentations, he traced parallels between literary criticism and the study of scripture from various traditions. He explained the development of his Points of View spectrum as a response to his high school teaching experiences and presented an updated version of the spectrum.

Gina Briefs-Elgin. Something to Have at Heart: Another Look at Memorization. After tracing the history of learning by heart, this essay explores its advantages and suggest that we restore this time-honored practice which can enrich our students' relationships with words and …

Stories Of Re-Reading: Inviting Students To Reflect On Their Emotional Responses To Fiction, Brenda Daly

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Although most literature courses teach students to focus on textual analysis, this essay argues that students should be given opportunities for exploring their emotional responses to the text.

James Moffett’S Lit Crit And Holy Writ, Charles Suhor

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

In one of Moffett's final presentations, he traced parallels between literary criticism and the study of scripture from various traditions. He explained the development of his Points of View spectrum as a response to his high school teaching experiences and presented an updated version of the spectrum.

Jaepl, Vol. 7, Winter 2001-2002, Linda T. Calendrillo, Editor, Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Editor

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Morris Berman tells the story of his maternal grandfather, who, when he was five years old in 1883 or 1884, was sent to a Jewish elementary school in Belorussia. On the first day of class, the teacher startled the young boy by taking each child's slate and smearing the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet—aleph and beys—on it in honey. His grandfather's first lesson consisted of eating the letters off the slate. The symbolism of this act is complex, Berman muses, but central to the ritual is the belief that what is real must be taken into oneself, ingested: …

Lessons Learned From Special Education Leadership Development Knowledge Diffusion And Schools As Organization, Jason Earle Ph.D., Susan G. Clark Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Foundations and Leadership, recognized that to facilitate the successful implementation of IDEA provisions in local schools, educators need a sound conceptual understanding of congressional intent and best practice and opportunities to collaborate in new ways with school organization colleagues. To this end, the State Superintendent's Task Force for the Preparation of Special Education Personnel awarded UA a $25,000 grant to provide school teams, rather than individuals, with the needed skills to implement the IDEA in their organization. Six area school/districts were invited to send a four-person team to attend a series of four weekend workshops centered on the law and …

Inclusion: What Are Teachers Doing To Accommodate For Special Needs Students In The Classroom, Brenda Stevens Ph.D., Caroline Everington Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Elementary teachers (N=42) from a district implementing inclusive practice were surveyed to determine: a) if the frequency of curricular modifications made differ by type of student disability, b) if there is a difference in the frequency of curricular modifications made for special and typical students, and c) if a relationship exists between modifications made for special needs students and for typical students. Results indicate the frequency of teachers’ curricular modifications does not differ by type of disability; that they make significantly more frequent modifications for special needs students; and that there is a significant relationship between the frequency of modifications …

Preclusion: The Solution To The Inclusion Confusion, Terry L. Shepherd Ed.D., Randel D. Brown Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Many public schools in the United States are implementing inclusion programs; however, some research has shown that students with disabilities are not benefiting from inclusion. Part of the difficulty with inclusion lies with the implementation practices of the schools. Stigmatizing by labeling a child is another concern; even through inclusion, ownership of the child is questionable. It is also illogical to take children from the general education classroom, label them as having a disability, and then return them to the same classroom with modifications and support. Modification and support could easily be provided without referring children for special education services. …

Stages Of Preservice Development In A Professional Development School For Teachers Of Students With Emotional Disturbance, Suzanne Tochterman

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

This study was designed to identify and describe the stages of preservice development in a Professional Development School (PDS) for teachers of students with emotional disturbance. This study investigated two questions: (a) How does a preservice teacher for students with serious emotional disturbance in a one year full time PDS progress through a series of developmental stages, and (b) what are the opportunities that contribute to the learning of the preservice teacher in a PDS?

This was a qualitative study in which seven data sources from preservice teachers were collected over a nine-month period. These included videotaped teaching episodes, informal …

Reframing Educational Psychology For The New Millennium, Jill Lindsey North Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

The role of education psychology in the 21st century must be to provide a research-based pedagogical foundation upon which preservice and practicing teachers can draw to develop the habits of mind necessary to ensure all students learn. Historically, the field of educational psychology is the study of how people learn (Crowel, Podell, & Kaminsky, 1997). However, the work most associated with the field of educational psychology during the 20th century has been the development of tests and measurements to identify learners' capacities and abilities. Much of the work by educational psychologists has been focused on identifying extremes of performance in …

Including A Student With An Attention Problem: Strategies For Including A Student With An Attention Problem In The General Education Classroom, Mark S. Brown Ed.D., Patricia Ilderton

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

A student with an attention problem may meet with academic problems when she is placed in the general education classroom. The general education teacher with assistance from the special education intervention specialist should collaboratively develop curriculum and environmental adaptations that will allow the included student to meet with greater academic and social success. This observational study offers strategies for working with a child with an attention problem for both the general education teacher and the special education intervention specialist. Academic and curriculum strategies are presented to proactively address the social and academic strengths of a student with attention problems who …

Life And Times Of Individuals With Mental Retardation: 40 Years Of History, Rhonda S. Black Ph.D., Beverly A. Salas

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

If we look to the not so distant past, we see a history of lost opportunities for employment and the chance to meaningfully contribute to society for individuals with mental retardation (Murphy & Rogan, 1995). Many issues surround why these individuals have not been more included within our society, particularly in the employment sector. Fears, questions, and concerns abound when looking at these issues. Such questions are: Why would I want to hire an individual with mental retardation? How much cost is associated with various accommodations that may be required? What unknowns are involved in hiring a person with mental …