We have talked a lot about teaching as a profession. Education does not fit perfectly into the parameters of a usual profession, but it does have a hierarchy. This hierarchy is responsible for keeping the whole system accountable. This is important for education because the profession is under constant scrutiny. Within this system, I would like to talk a bit about the role of the administrator. An administrator is a principal, superintendent, board member, etc. who work more on the legal side of things. They deal with things like hiring, contracts, salary, working conditions, and firing of teachers.
This weeks reading talked about the position of principals in schools and the effects of their method of leadership can have on a school. The difference between a manager and a leader, for example, can change how a school looks. The type of authority that the principal holds is another factor. Is the principle a traditional leader who gained power from the social position they hold from being principal? Do they have a legal/rational authority, enforcing rules and law within schools? Or do they have the charismatic authority that is naturally given to people with a personality and charisma that people want to follow? I am not saying that these three types of authority are exclusive either. In fact, I believe that the principal of my own high school had a combination of all three. She was always aware of the position she held, but at the same time made an effort to have positive relationships to all of the staff and students. She was always giving teachers feedback and advice. One thing I did not know, is that the principal does not do the hiring. They can suggest certain people and play a role in choosing who they think would fit well in their school, but the actual hiring is one by the school board.
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Back in elementary and high school, I never had anybody with a visible disability amongst my peers in the classroom. Students who struggled in class were taken out of the classroom to take lessons from educational assistants who could work with them in smaller groups or individually. I noticed this, but never gave it much thought until high school where all students who had some form of disability that made academics challenging had been set aside in their own wing of the building. We had very few interactions with these students unless they came around to the classrooms to collect attendance or take the recycling for their work experience. I did have the good fortune to get to know one of the girls during an afterschool program called “Cooking Club” where we were taught how to make different recipes. She was slower to respond to questions, but if given enough time to answer questions, she always had something interesting to say. She is an extremely kind and compassionate girl and I was happy to get to know her. I came to understand that she often had trouble in conversations because some people didn’t like to wait for her responses or became uncomfortable around her due to minor differences.
In Dan Habib’s talk, he discussed the positives of having inclusive classrooms and the downsides of segregation. When a youth feels included- like they belong- their self esteem increases along with their social skills and academic performance. This is true for all students; able bodied or not. Those who are differently abled are aloud to find purpose for themselves and the students around them also benefit from the collaborations and friendships that occur. Inclusive Education classrooms are effective because all students have more motivation to help each other and be engaged in the learning. On the other hand, youth who find themselves cut off from social interaction get no benefits from being alone. If they are unable to communicate their thoughts and feelings, they become trapped in their own minds. This can also be related to how expectation can affect the achievements of an individual. For example, if the expectation for a student is higher, they will try to rise to meet that challenge. However, if the expectation is lower, the student isn’t given room to grow. This is an issue that can be easily fixed in most cases if the knowledge of this factor exists. Why do we find dealing with disability so difficult? People often fear what they do not know. I feel like this is a large factor in why there is still such large percentage of youth who are segregated from the classrooms. Guest speaker Kelsey Culbert stressed this knowledge that humans avoid what they don’t understand, she also tells us that having a disability does not make them any less human. I agree with her. I found in my own experiences that I did not always know how to talk to somebody with impaired sight, hearing, mobility, etc. for fear of offending them in some way. For this reason, I really enjoyed reading Kelsey’s blog because she details a few of her own struggles and then details what she called “Disability Etiquette” which reminds the world that they are human too and gives tips for minor changes in conversation that will help everybody to engage in conversation more fully. My Question: What are we waiting for? Inclusivity is a benefit to everybody involved. Volunteering at William booth most weekends has allowed me to get to know some of the residents who participate regularly. This meant that have been able to identify a few patterns within the workings of the home and adapt what I did in small ways to be more helpful. For example, I have been able to confirm that, yes, we do tend to make decisions for people if we do not think they are capable of making those decisions themselves. This is becoming a noticeable theme within caring professions that work with vulnerable sectors: children, elders, and people with disability. There are times where taking the initiative to help the residents is necessary, but if they are able to speak for themselves, I found it was better to ask what they needed first such as the bingo situation I mentioned in my last CBSL blog.
“I noticed how we will, at times, judge others incapable of doing a task. When this happens, we tend to overcompensate for their perceived inability. I had been told that to help these women, it was my job to place the pieces for the lady on my left and place the chips in the hands of the lady on my right. Not two rounds into the game, they both proved this information wrong.” (CBSL blog 1) The severity of our assumptions is different with every person as well as how strongly they react to it, so the line between helping and stepping on pride can be difficult to distinguish. I surprised myself with how quickly I came to learn who the regular participants were for the bingo and church services. I began to learn some of there names and where their rooms where. I knew that some of the players preferred certain types of bingo cards and I learned who liked to attend which service. Some would only attend the first service run by the salvation army, some would only attend the catholic service that was held later, and some would attend both just to do something. By the end of my volunteering there, I also knew which rooms to avoid because they didn’t play bingo or were not religious. I feel like this volunteer placement gave me an opportunity to reflect on how I interact with others and taught be how to adapt to the needs of different people. |
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