Critical Reflection In Special Education

Critical Reflection – Special Education
In the field of special education, there are many individuals managing, leading and overseeing a teacher. Often times, special education is referred to as a place or location, however, in reality, it is a service that is provided to a child based on their needs, free of charge to families. In other words, Special education is instruction that is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of children who have disabilities and are often provided in schools at no cost to the parents and can include special instruction in the classroom, at home, in the hospital, in institutions, or in other settings classroom (Wasburn-Moses, 2005, p. 36).
While the teacher is the main driving force behind managing the

There are so many critical areas that need to be micromanaged efficiently and properly such as daily schedules for students and staff, documentation of progression and daily behavior and management and implementation of individual lesson plans. Also, in a multiply impaired special education room such as the one I find myself teaching within, the teacher is not only responsible for the academic needs of students but the management of medical needs as well. There are often a couple of medically fragile students learning along side higher functioning special needs students, and as a result, the teacher can become faced with the challenge of implementing a curriculum that can be easily modified to accommodate to the needs of every student while still meeting state standards. These daily tasks can become quite overwhelming for teachers, and as Hallowell (2011) an employee can become overloaded in the busyness of daily work tasks. There always seems to be another urgent demand that needs to be completed by the end of the day, or another complaint from a parent that needs to be

This is essential to my work environment. While I need to micromanage many aspects of my job, organization can only go so far in a work hour day. Therefore, simple goal outlines and effective management of the aides within my classroom is the key to achieving success. I am constantly assessing the abilities and skills of my staff, in an attempt to allow their inner spark to shine through within the classroom. This allows creativity to shine through at its finest. I not only want my staff to feel happy confident about their work, but also want my team to work hard and strive for success as well. As Hallowell (2011) notes, the ultimate goal of a manager should be to match an individual to a position that best fits their needs and abilities where they will ultimately shine - This is expressed several times by Czikszentmihalyi (2004) and Seligman (2004) as well. Otherwise, staff will become overwhelmed and burned out. This is especially true in the field of special education, for the “ “burn-out rate for special education teachers is extremely high compared to most other professions as 50% of special education teachers leave their jobs within 5 years. Half of those who make it past 5 years will leave within 10 years. This equates to a 75% turnover rate every 10 years (Wasburn-Moses, 2005, p.