Life in the IEP Tribe

Education and Empathy in Action

• Jared & Laura Curtis

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American cheese: love it or hate it, there's no denying its famous melting prowess. But what does cheese have to do with education? Join us as we navigate from the world of cheese to the complex challenges of academic inclusion. We'll tackle the demanding life of scholarly pursuits and the pressing need for genuine inclusion in education. Our conversation hinges on minimizing discrimination and ensuring equitable learning opportunities for every student, especially those in special education. Through this journey, we unveil the realities of inclusive education, spotlighting the integration of students with disabilities into mainstream classrooms.

While the special education population continues to grow, over 15% of public school students receive services under IDEA, yet educators often find themselves without the necessary support and training. We explore this critical issue, highlighting the importance of adapting teaching methods to meet diverse needs. This is a call to action for systemic support, as we address communication barriers, cultural differences, and the necessity for comprehensive teacher education. By advocating for better-prepared educators, we aim to balance the educational needs of all students, fostering an inclusive environment for various learning abilities.

Let's not forget the vital role of compassionate collaboration between educators and parents. Personal anecdotes bring to life the significance of open communication and mutual support, encouraging active parental involvement. We urge teachers to acknowledge their limitations and seek help when necessary, creating a supportive network for both educators and families. Together, we'll explore how strengthening the parent-teacher relationship is key to enhancing the student's educational journey. And before you go, find out how you can connect with us through social media, where your questions and insights are always welcome.

Speaker 1:

so what was that cheese called again? Yeah it's got this like weird flavor in my mouth. You know like not that I need to scratch my tongue off or anything, but it's interesting. So anyway, let's go ahead and start another episode. What do you think, laura? Should we start another? Ahead and start another episode? What do you think, laura? Should we start another episode? Sure. Let's start another episode On that note of cheese. So yeah, well, cheese is good, like that's one of those things that, across the board, everybody can agree with.

Speaker 2:

Most people.

Speaker 1:

Maybe not types of cheese Like those ridiculously demented people that call American cheese cheese. That stuff's just disgusting Like. Why would anybody want to eat that on purpose? With all the cheeses in the world, they will eat those that, that one, whatever.

Speaker 2:

I think some people like its melting capabilities.

Speaker 1:

Okay, yeah, people like its melting capabilities. Okay, yeah, that, yeah, so anyway, um, we often have conversations about this stuff because we're both still in school and having to read all kinds of stuff all the time, and it's not that I enjoy reading it, it's just that I have to. But sometimes the content of the papers that we have to read or the journal articles that we have to read are pretty interesting. So what I would like to do, uh, for this particular episode is I would like to discuss one of the journal let's try that again Journal, the journal article and the Hand sanitizer.

Speaker 2:

Right Hand sanitizer.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so we just start making up words. That's the way that real teachers do it. It's like you just kind of wing it, put together some words like some possible, and I don't have any more. Like. That's all I have. That's what happens when we record after working all day.

Speaker 2:

I'm lucky.

Speaker 1:

I can still say cheese balls and Chromebooks.

Speaker 2:

Better than me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, struggle with the words.

Speaker 1:

So I read this article, this journal article that had to do with so. One of the big topics and you and I talk about this all the time and there's tons of research on it is the whole idea behind inclusion, right? So the past couple episodes we've talked about law, We've talked about IDEA, We've talked about FAPE, we talked some about LRE, and if you don't know what any of those are, go check out the other episodes but at the very top of these conversations is the conversation of inclusion. But across the world there's this kind of consensus that we need to minimize discrimination as much as possible and, when it comes to the world of education and special education, that we need to give our students the best opportunity we can to receive an education that's going to help them as they move forward, and so a lot of this falls under inclusion.

Speaker 2:

Well, what are some of the issues with inclusion? Some of the issues are providing support in the classroom. You get outside of kindergarten and there are no Right. And then the paras in kindergarten they have enough, you know, trying to keep up with the students that are typically developing and doing the extra work that they have to do. So then you know, you add in excuse me a student that may need some more extra support and it makes extremely difficult for them to focus on both and do it well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, think about this is why I'll never be like a superintendent. But somebody thought it was a great idea to put 20 something kids in a classroom with two adults and have them learn. I mean, that's severely outnumbered. Yes, very tiny humans.

Speaker 1:

Some of them never been in a school setting before, right, not all of them have gone to preschool and so that to me that, yeah, that, and God bless those people that do that. I'm telling you. I mean it was fun when I was subbing, but I don't know that I could handle. I'd be afraid, I'd be very afraid, because there's so many of them and they can surround you, but anyway, let's move on. So, talking about inclusion but anyway, let's move on. So, talking about inclusion. So there are yeah, there's a lot of hurdles, but one of the ones that you'll find when doing any kind of research on it is that we have more and more teachers put in positions to do so. Right, so? So inclusion has been a big deal like. So we can go all the way back to like 19, 1905, I think it was.

Speaker 1:

I think that's what we were saying yeah, over the weekend or 1910, that's what it was the white house conference of children, right, and this was all about education and providing the best, again, education that we can. And of course, as we progress as a society, more things become evident to us and we adjust and address and so on and so forth. But in this whole process, the, the special education population has just exploded. So looking at the 22, 23 school year, according to the Center for Educational Statistics I think I said that right 15, I think like 15.2% of the public school population is being served under IDEA. That turns out to be somewhere in the area of like seven, seven, just over seven million students that fall under under IDEA but it's pretty expansive fall under IDEA but it's pretty expansive. So kids getting special education services aren't just kids that are in like classrooms, like we teach the self-contained classrooms, but most of them. So of that 7 million I think it's somewhere like four and a half, close to 5 million are in the general education classroom.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

And so what are some of the supports? Right? So you talked about that. One of the big issues is not a big issue, but a truth is that there's not consistent support, constant support in the classrooms all day, and so talk a little bit about that, like what happens in the inclusion classroom.

Speaker 2:

In the inclusion classroom we have typically students of varying disabilities and they're doing their academics and they also have the social aspect of it, and so the teacher has to make sure that they are ensuring that their materials are on the right level for their learners, whether that be on target or if they're above average or if they're struggling a little bit. So the teachers try to make sure that they have something for all of their students that will be beneficial. And then there's oftentimes, when you have students that have an IEP typically, that there are also some undesired behaviors that follow those students for various reasons. Some of them could be that they're immature, because they're not developmentally ready to be where they are. Some of it could be their diagnosis itself or their disability itself. Excuse me, communication barriers. We also have cultural barriers. There's just a slew of things that come along with these students, and so when they're in inclusion so when they're in inclusion you know that teacher is trying to support all of these students.

Speaker 1:

And typically, as you said, by themselves. So, reading up on all of this, what I found is that there are common themes in every bit of research that I've seen and the themes are like these barriers that, like I said, are identified across the board article I was reading. It's talking about how teachers feel underprepared to teach students with disabilities, and that makes sense, because you talk to most teachers and if you were to ask them about the amount of special education study that they did during their pre-service program, let's just think about the traditional, the teachers that go the traditional route right. They go to college for four years. They do student teaching. We've had the privilege of meeting some really great young teachers over the years and I think there's only ever been a few that had intentionally taken some classes to have it added to their certificate as far as to be able to work with students with disabilities. But it's not necessarily the norm.

Speaker 2:

Right, and even I think those courses are not necessarily in depth. So, even though I think you're talking about the ones that get duly certified and it's an extra couple of classes and um yeah, and from what we've been told, it doesn't accurately or effectively prepare them either, even though they're taking these classes.

Speaker 1:

And so what happens is we have all these kids with varying degrees of ability entering the classroom of a teacher that hasn't been trained on how to teach the spectrum of children in their classroom. And I don't know about you, but I know, when I step into something that I'm going to be held responsible for and I have no idea how to do it, that drives me crazy, like it makes me think back. So when I was it was around 19, I had went and applied for a job at a super eight motel in Brunswick, georgia. I walked in like and I was weird looking. I mean, I'm weird looking now, but I was weird looking when I was 19, like my black hair, and I just yeah.

Speaker 1:

So anyway, I walked in and I asked them if they were hiring. It just so happens I was up there with a buddy of mine and they said, yeah sure. So I got hired. They said, can you start tonight? I said, absolutely. I came back to work the night audit. I got trained for one night and they're like all right, here you go. To say that I was terrified would be an understatement, right? I'm a 19 year old kid that has no idea how to do his job and you just said, hey, go ahead. So now let's think not to minimize people that work in the hospitality industry, but put somebody in a classroom with a bunch of kids and not have them trained specifically to deal with as many of those disabilities as possible. How would you not become overwhelmed?

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

I mean again, that's another one of those things to me that's terrifying. So, as I'm reading through this journal article, it talks about how this lack of understanding leads to a real poor self-efficacy or a belief in what they can accomplish, and from that stems a poor attitude. From the poor attitude it leaks out into everybody else in the classroom and really prohibits the academic gains that one might be looking for. And so my question is and I'm just kind of, I'm throwing this one at you, even discussed it is for the parent of a, a student that is in inclusion, that's receiving special education services through a co-teach model or, um, maybe they're just, I don't know, but we're. The majority of their day is in the general education classroom. What is something that we can share with parents that might help them be a little more understanding or compassionate when there's things that they don't understand going on in the classroom? Does that make sense?

Speaker 2:

Like, if they're getting a lot of calls from the teacher or there's a lot of concern from the teacher about the student, what is something that we can tell parents to kind of keep in mind, or maybe even something to view the whole situation through that will allow them to be more compassionate and supportive? I think one thing that they should consider is asking questions, ask the teacher for clarification. For clarification, I think a lot of times we go into things and I'm guilty, too, with thinking that, okay, so can you tell me why this is like this? Or was you know this an issue? Or was there something going on in the classroom when this? You had this struggle and then, I think, along with that too, is that the the parent.

Speaker 2:

So asking questions, asking for some clarification, um, I ask you know what? What do you need from me? Is there something I can do at home? Is there you know something that, uh, I can send in, or is there something that you need? Uh, ask the teacher those questions I can send in, or is there something that you need?

Speaker 2:

Ask the teacher those questions and then also, not just trying to understand, but also help that teacher understand your child, share with them some of the struggles and some of the needs, but also some of the strengths, because I think we found that when we focus on the strengths of our children and our students, that they will kind of rise to that and they, when they know that they're doing something right. So if you can as a parent, let your child's teacher know that. Okay, listen. So, yeah, I understand that you know he struggles or she struggles at this, but she's really good at this and maybe if you give her, like if someone likes to lead, if you give her a job or a task to do, she'll follow through that and then that will help that child feel good about themselves. So I'm really coming along besides that teacher, because parent-teacher relationships I think are becoming more and more thin. I guess you would say Fractured.

Speaker 2:

These days. Yes, and because I think that, like you were saying, that sometimes the teachers, they don't know what to do and then the parents feel, well, they just don't care about my child. And I think, always looking at it, I think teachers and parents both need to take that view of maybe I misunderstood something and not blame Maybe it's me. I think that's one of your, one of the things that you've always said Well, okay, so if I assume that I've I've got it wrong, then yeah, it's not on me, if, if I'm not coming off being rude or disrespectful. I hope that made sense.

Speaker 1:

I don't know, I think it's owned out a little bit, but I know most of what I was listening to was really good. No, no, I agree, and I agree with what you're saying as far as that going both ways. I think one of the hardest things for teachers to do, especially when you're sitting in that IEP meeting and the conversation is is a little tense or there really is a major issue that you're you're discussing it's very hard sometimes to to say yeah, I don't know Right Like and to, and to look at another teacher in the meeting and say I don't know what he, what do you got? I don't know how, what do you got? I don't know how to answer this question or I don't know how to address this.

Speaker 1:

And I think that when we are willing to be open and honest with each other as human beings, it helps everybody in the process, everybody in the process. And so what I would say to the parent is keep in mind that this teacher probably did not have a whole lot of exposure to students with disabilities. Now, you can blame whoever you want to for it, you can blame the pre-service program, you can blame the district, you can blame the governor, whatever but the fact right in front of you is at this moment in time, there's probably some things that are lacking, and so what's necessary is to see parents come alongside and have some compassion, but then, at the same time, you hold each other up.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

So let's not make it about the parent versus the teacher and actually be that that IEP team. There is absolutely nothing that suggests that our special education population is going to shrink Right. It's just becoming more and more and there's more and more students in our general Oops I hit the table In our general education classrooms that need more support, and I think that's something that, as educators, as parents, it needs to be at the forefront of our conversations. I think, when it comes to our kids with special needs, that there's a lot of students that have an IEP that will go on to live full lives. They'll go, they'll get jobs, they'll have families. It's not because they have an IEP that they're on the severe side, and a lot of it is just again needing a little bit extra support.

Speaker 1:

And so, as I was saying, we're talking about this article and the teachers not being positioned, or feeling that they're not positioned, to be as effective as they can be. Again, it's another one of those things that you look at here. So it's here in front of us. We can talk about how to minimize that moving forward, but what do we do right now and I would challenge anybody listening to this if you're a parent that has a child that is receiving special education services in the inclusion setting, special education services in the inclusion setting that go into it with the idea that you want to support that teacher.

Speaker 1:

Teachers be willing to ask each other questions. You know, if you're a gen ed teacher that is doing the inclusion thing, spend some time and have a conversation with this special education co-teach teacher that's coming in with you, with this special education co-teach teacher that's coming in with you. Bounce ideas off of each other. Reach out to other special education teachers, see what they're doing Like. One of the best things you can do Is keep communication open and serve each other, because when we start serving each other, then the weight of feeling inept or the weight of feeling I have no idea what I'm doing the weight of it lessens, because not that you automatically know more, but you got somebody walking it with you.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

And so the winner in that scenario are the students. And so, anyway, this whole article went on to say and I think I already said this, but I'll button it up is that not only are the special education students missing out, the general education students, the typical developing, are missing out. The general education students, the typical developing, are missing out. Teacher burnout is at an all-time high. What we can't change is we can't change pre-service programs, we can't change what these colleges teach.

Speaker 1:

We can't, you know, do the whole? I dream a genie blink thing and make people just know stuff.

Speaker 2:

That'd be cool if we could.

Speaker 1:

Wouldn't it? But instead, here's what we get to do Be compassionate, walk side by side with teachers and parents Doesn't mean that every conversation is going to be a happy one, doesn't mean that they always turn out well, but nothing, nothing can be better than a room full of people that genuinely care for this particular student, and I think that if you really care about them and you want to see them do their best, you're going to ask questions.

Speaker 2:

Right, I agree.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and so that's where it always starts is asking questions. So parents love your teachers, ask them questions, be supportive Teachers, be willing to say I don't but I'll find out. Right, we can't take it all personal. We can't get flustered because we don't know, because we're always going to have things that we don't know. I've never met I've met, some great teachers. I my first handful of years I got, I got to work with some fantastic teachers and I learned a ton from them. But they didn't get everything right all the time, and neither do the parents. So we have to keep that in mind when we're talking about a situation, when we're talking about a setting that could be very volatile. Compassion smushes all that down. People don't get to see what I'm doing with my hands, laura Only you. You're so lucky.

Speaker 2:

Yes, you're fanning, you're trying to fan me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm like flapping like a bird. So anything else that you would like to add to this, mrs Curtis?

Speaker 2:

No, I just like what you said about that two-way street of communication and mutual respect and understanding. Do your best to try to understand what the teacher's saying, do your best to try to understand what the parent is saying and, like you said, the child's going to benefit and that's what we're supposed to be here for.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the stinking kids. All right. Well, if you don't have anything else, I'm going to go ahead and turn this off, you good?

Speaker 2:

I'm good.

Speaker 1:

All right, so you can check us out on social medias A few of them, the Facebooks and the Instagrams and if you have any questions, comments, concerns, you can shoot them to us through those avenues. Or you can email us at lifeinthieptribe at gmailcom. Did I say it right? Life in the IEP tribe. It's probably a lot easier just to go to the Facebook thing, click a button and send us a message Instead of remembering that super long.

Speaker 2:

I mean, it's just the name, plus, that's true.

Speaker 1:

Okay, well, and so until next time I'm Jared with my wife Laura and we're saying goodbye, goodbye.