I know I promised you all the steps I took to get my daughter to where she is today in her communication and overall education, but I want to step back into the blog world with a different type of post. I don't know how familiar you all are with Native American history, but I see a parallel with a particular aspect of it with current practices in the special education system. The parallel I see is the act of conformity. I don't feel it is purposeful; however, we must be cognizant of the damage it does to our loved ones even if it is inadvertently.
Conformity happens through expectations placed upon students with differences to act more neuro-typical. We, as adults, like to control what we expose our students to. As adults, we like to assume what students with disabilities are capable of.
Instead, I envision a day when we can accept these differences, learn from them, and change the way we approach educating them. Our current system needs a paradigm shift in which students with differences are embraced and considered to be life-long learners just as we all are. Why do we focus so much of our efforts on expecting our students to be passive and compliant?
It is not our job as educators to impart our own knowledge into the minds we teach, but rather empower them to be thinkers, doers, and active participants in their own education and lives. How do we do this, you ask? By making their education limitless and meaningful!
I write this to encourage you to find authentic education for your students and scrap those canned practices in which the underlying pedagogies are not even comprehended by the ones implementing them. We need to erase the ideas of what things should "look" like. Most importantly, find your own way that works and find what intrinsically motivates your students to be life-long learners!
