Rachael Beles

MUMS-411

Dr. Beth Bauer

4 May 2022

Final Project

Teaching Philosophy
This class has opened my eyes to a new world of students that sadly I have not had very
much exposure to and have unfortunately neglected to learn about in previous years. Before this
class I was extremely unaware of the types of students I very may well end up teaching one day,
and it has prepared me to deal with a number of different disabilities. While it is true that the
student with special needs and/or disabilities can be more difficult to teach, the reward of seeing
that child succeed will make the effort put into that child worth it. We have learned in this class
that some children with special needs have so many therapies to go through in a day that music is
really something that brings joy into their lives and as a teacher one of the most important things
I can do is help a child have joy through music. If there is anything I have learned from this
class, it is that when it comes to teaching a child with special needs is that a teacher needs
patience and the ability to deal with high-pressure situations in case something happens to the
students. It is important that while a teacher understands that students with special needs also
have the same potential for music that a typical student has, this does not mean that the teacher
should be oblivious or unaware of the needs of the student and the risks that come with teaching
them. A teacher must be able to adapt their studio and sometimes their style of teaching to
accommodate the needs of the students. This is my teaching philosophy regarding students with
special needs: when taking on a student with disabilities, a teacher must be prepared to adapt
their lessons and/or studio, communicate honestly with the parents, and always have patience
when you are dealing with a child who has behavioral issues.

The first portion of my teaching philosophy has to do with adapting my studio and/or
lesson plans to accommodate the child’s needs. Throughout this course we have covered many
different disabilities ranging from mental to physical and have learned what we need to do to
help make lessons more suitable for students who have these disabilities. The first step to
achieving this starts with the studio. In your studio should be little to no distractions; everything
that is in the studio must have a purpose. It would also be wise to have an area in your studio
where the student can go to have a short break, so they do not become overwhelmed. I also need
to set boundaries right away on the first day with the students and not change things; a steady
routine is best for students with special needs. There should be a clear schedule to the lesson, and
it is a good idea to have it posted in a spot that is clearly visible somewhere within the studio.
There are also plenty of teachers’ resources such as social stories that also can help with teaching
behavior.

I also believe that communication with the parents of my student is key. With good
communication with the parents I can be forewarned of any triggers that may set off the student.
While the parents may want you to continue to teach their child, it is your responsibility to also
keep them informed about the progress of the student. At some point the lessons may feel like
they are unproductive, and the honest thing to do is to ask the parent if they really want to
continue lessons if the student seems to not be making progress. The parent might not even be
aware of how much money they are spending monthly on lessons. They may not want to
continue with music lessons, but sometimes the parent will ask that you continue because it is the
only thing the student looks forward to after all the therapies and doctors’ appointments they
have throughout their day. With a case like this the point of lessons is not to push a student to
virtuosity, but to offer a child something that will lift their spirits and be something that the child
enjoys as relief from their busy schedules.

The last part of my teaching philosophy serves as a reminder that teaching students with
special needs requires an immense amount of patience. The job requires a special kind of teacher
that has tough skin and will not get too discouraged after a bad lesson. To teach students with
special needs you need to be especially observant and keen to what the student’s habits and
scripts are. Also remember that students with special needs are people with real emotions:
whenever you can, be encouraging (sending monthly encouraging notes, writing thank you
letters for gifts, treats for being good students, etc.) and work to build a real relationship with
your student. Teaching is not just a job, but as you interact with the people you teach remember
that you are having a significant impact on the rest of their lives. Many people are able to recall
the type of person their teachers were, for better or worse. When teaching anyone, especially a
child with special needs, keep in mind the influence you have on their lives.
Professional Development
Learning Disabilities Online https://www.ldonline.org/educators

Learning Disabilities Online is a great online resource that contains articles,

interviews, videos, and more that seek to inform readers about learning
disabilities. It also offers guidance for adolescents and adults with learning
disabilities by providing resources to help the student feel more comfortable in the
transitions from school to college to the workplace.

The National Education Association

https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/action-center/our-issues/special-education

The National Education Association (NEA) is an organization dedicated to

advancing justice and excellence in public education. On their website they have a
page dedicated to the issue of special education and appeal to readers to take up
the cause and act to help students to get the support and tools they need for
learning. There is even a button to email congress about fully funding IDEA and
Title I.

National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) https://www.naset.org/

The National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) is a national

membership organization that is dedicated to preparing special education teachers
for the classroom and meeting their needs. Their website has sections dedicated to
professional development resources, a weekly emailed newsletter to members,
and links to different publications. They also provide Professional Development
courses for members.

TeacherVision https://www.teachervision.com/teaching-strategies/special-needs

TeacherVision is a website that gives teachers access to 20,000+ Special

Education Resources, including articles dealing with topics ranging from IEP
Meeting tips to guides to creating opportunities for appropriate social behavior.

The Education Commission of the States https://www.ecs.org/

The Education Commission of the States serves as a partner to state policymakers

by providing personalized support. It’s essentially a program for policymakers to
gain the insight and experience needed to create effective education policies.
Their website contains research for key issues, including a section on workforce
development.
Do2Learn https://do2learn.com/

Do2Learn is a website that provides essential information about different topics in

special education: disabilities, academics, social skills, and behavior management.
In addition to being an informational website, Do2Learn also has a portion similar
to Teachers Pay Teachers where teachers can purchase different resources such as
picture cards and printable worksheets.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities https://www.ncld.org/

The National Center for Learning Disabilities is working to research and put into
place initiatives to benefit students with learning and attention issues. They also
provide scholarships and awards for advocates and leaders with learning and
attention issues.

Leko, Melinda M., and Mary T. Brownell. “Crafting Quality Professional Development for
Special Educators: What School Leaders Should Know.” TEACHING Exceptional
Children, vol. 42, no. 1, Sept. 2009, pp. 64–70, doi:10.1177/004005990904200106.

In this article, the authors go into great detail on how to effectively train special
educators for the classroom for students with special needs. This article is for
school leaders who seek to better their programs for special education,
emphasizing the importance of collaborative problem solving between both
special education teachers and general education teachers. They also mention the
need for continual follow up with teachers and providing feedback on their
instruction and incorporating technology for smooth communication. A teacher
can do all they want with their curriculum, but the student will be the most
benefited when the teacher has a good support network with others such as district
experts and other teachers and school leaders.

Vector Solutions https://www.vectorsolutions.com/solutions/vector-lms/k12-training-

management/special-education/

Vector Solutions (formerly Exceptional Child) is an online resource that provides

evidence-based courses help prepare teachers to meet the needs of special
education students. Their resources include a newsletter and different webinars
that are included in their online course training.

Vector Solutions https://www.vectorsolutions.com/solutions/vector-lms/k12-training-

management/special-education/

Vector Solutions (formerly Exceptional Child) is an online resource that provides

evidence-based courses help prepare teachers to meet the needs of special
education students. Their resources include a newsletter and different webinars
that are included in their online course training.
Wagner-Yeung, Brian. “Teaching Lessons to Children with Special Needs.” NAfME, 16 Dec.
2019, https://nafme.org/teaching-lessons-children-special-needs/.

This article was written by a member of the National Association for Music
Education, detailing steps a teacher can take to prepare to teach a student with
special needs. He has a lot of great advice including tips to make the musical
environment more suitable for the student and also has methods for adapting
instruments for a student with special needs.
 Special education is a sensitive topic that has long been debated: what is the best situation

for our special needs students and what steps do we need to take in order to give them the best

and most efficient learning experience? One of the methods that schools used to practice is the

exclusion method. Schools that practiced exclusion placed students with special education needs

(SEN) in separate classrooms. Exclusion is still looked down upon due to the fact that it

completely segregated students with disabilities, no matter the severity of their disabilities, with

little regard to whether it was the best environment for them. Presently, the exclusion method is

used in moderation: depending on the student’s place on the spectrum, they may join the regular

classroom in certain subjects (perhaps music, art, or gym), while being moved to a classroom

with an environment that caters better to the needs of the student for more academic subjects.

Depending on the student, this method of special education could greatly benefit the student, or

hinder their learning experience.

We have learned in this class about the least-restrictive environment. Sometimes the

specialized classroom will be the most restrictive environment, and sometimes the normal

classroom will be most restrictive to the student. This paper will provide a history of how the

United States has tackled the issue of special education, then a critical analysis of the exclusion

method alongside different classroom models and conclude that this method of learning (used

correctly) has the potential to offer a better educational experience to both students with and

without special needs. It will give insight into the evolution of exclusion in special education,

turning from a method used by the education system to alienate an entire group of students to
something that would later be used to provide certain students the most comfortable learning

environment possible.

Historically, we see exclusion as a negative method. Surveying the past two hundred

years of special education policies has shown that the education system has grown progressively,

even though it is not where it needs to be even now. Education policies used to reject students

with learning, physical, and behavioral disabilities, reserving the right to learn for students within

whom the greatest potential (Sorrels 277). In the early 1900s there were few programs in the

public school systems for special education. They had no government funding and even in the

later 1900s (50s and 60s) special needs students were still being institutionalized. There were

two milestones in the history of education in the United States that contributed significantly to

changing the way school systems dealt with special needs students: Brown v. Board of Education

and IDEA. While there are many other court cases such as Hobsen v Hansen (1969) or

Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v. Pennsylvania (1971) Brown v. Board of

Education remains as one of the most significant court cases that challenged segregation in

schools.

The case was focused mainly on the issue of racial segregation, however one of the main

points of the plaintiffwas that a child could not be expected to “succed in life if he is denied the

opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is

a right which must be made available to all on equal terms. (Warren 483)” According to the U.S.

report of this court case segration in public schools could not provide the minorities equal

educational opportunities and generates an inferiority complex in the students. The court
ultimately ruled that in the field of public education, “separate educational facilities are

inherently unequal. (Warren 483)”

The mid-70s were when things started to shift in the world of special education:

institutions were starting to be closed and those with special needs were considered unique

individuals who should be treated with respect (Bauer 2022). Parents of students with SEN

wanted their students to be mainstreamed. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

(formerly known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) was enacted in 1975. The

purpose of this public law was to meet the needs of children with disabilities. Before this law

many children were simply denied access to education due to limited staff and teachers who

were not trained to handle students who had disabilities. According to the IDEA website, only

one in five children with disabilities were educated in U.S. schools in 1970, and many states had

laws that excluded students with disabilities.

This new law that was enacted had four sections and 6 principles. The first purpose of

this law was to ensure that public education was available to students with disabilities and

adapted to meet their needs. It also protects families and the children with disabilities and assists

States and localities to provide this education for these students with disabilities. The final

purpose of the law was to make sure that these efforts were effective and that the childrens’

needs were continuously being met. This law continues to be reauthorized and updated every few

years to strengthen the support for families with children with special needs.

There are many different types of classroom models that are utilized in special education,

and each one caters to the needs of different students’ disabilities. Each type of classroom style
has a certain amount of restrictivity: ranging from the A+ Model, one of the least restrictive

where the SEN student is fully included in the regular education initiative with an aid present, to

the self-contained model, one of the most restrictive models with some students completing their

entire education in a hospital or home-bound setting. Each model has their benefits and

disadvantages, but more and more public school systems are trying to be as inclusive as possible

while still giving their students the most comfortable learning environment possible.

Today, the reasoning behind exclusion is that students who exhibit certain kinds of

behavioral and academic learning disorders are limited in certain skills that would enable them to

keep up with the curriculum presented to a typical student (Lane 363). P.L. 94-142 (a.k.a. IDEA)

was passed in 1975, guaranteeing a “free, appropriate public education (Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act). Within IDEA is a requirement called the Least Restrictive

Environment (LRE). This statute requires that children with disabilities be educated along with

children who are nondisabled, unless their disability is severe to the extent that separate

schooling or removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment is

required (IDEA § 300.114) Moving students with disabilities to a different classroom is now a

benefit, as the curriculum is altered and the classroom atmosphere is adapted to suit a child’s

needs, and is reserved for the most extreme cases on the spectrum. There are some students who

spend their entire educational career in hospital settings or at home learning.

References

“A History of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.” Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, 18 Mar. 2022, https://sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History.

Bauer, S 2022, Seminar 1: Historical Background of Special Education, lecture notes, Music in
Special Education MUMS411, Wheaton College, delivered 16 March 2022.

Hammel, Alice, and Ryan M. Hourigan. Teaching Music to Students with Autism. Second
edition., Oxford University Press, 2020.

Lane, Kathleen L., et al. “Academic, Social, and Behavioral Profiles of Students With Emotional
and Behavioral Disorders Educated in Self-Contained Classrooms and Self-Contained
Schools: Part I—Are They More Alike Than Different?” Behavioral Disorders, vol. 30,
no. 4, Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, 2005, pp. 349–61,
https://doi.org/10.1177/019874290503000407.

Lane, Kathleen L., et al. “Students Educated in Self-Contained Classrooms and Self-Contained
Schools: Part II—How Do They Progress Over Time?” Behavioral Disorders, vol. 30, no.
4, Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, 2005, pp. 363–74,
https://doi.org/10.1177/019874290503000408.

Warren, Earl. "U.S. Reports: Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)." Library of
Congress, 1953, www.loc.gov/item/usrep347483/. Accessed 4 May 2022.