Strategies for teaching students with special needs : methods and techniques for classroom instruction.

El objetivo de este manual es que orientar a los maestros de primaria en centros de integración que tienen en su clase niños con necesidades especiales. Las estrategias presentadas intencionadamente borran la distinción entre y dentro de las categorías de niños con necesidades especiales y hacen hincapié en el acto de aprender de todos los niños. Tanto las estrategias como las prácticas educativas son reales, con énfasis sobre las orientaciones de lo que se debe hacer para satisfacer las necesidades de veinticinco estudiantes muy distintos. La atención se centra en la evaluación de lectura y métodos de lectura, el lenguaje, las matemáticas y las ideas de los aspectos sociales de integración.

Social skills activities for secondary students with special needs.

Recurso práctico diseñado como un programa autónomo para los profesionales y familiares que trabajan con estudiantes con necesidades especiales en los grados 6-12. Ofrece a los maestros y padres más de doscientas hojas de trabajo para ayudar a estos adolescentes a construir las habilidades que necesitan para lograr la independencia y tener éxito en la vida cotidiana. Las veintisiete unidades están centradas en las competencias básicas de la vida real tales como el manejo de dinero, éxito en la escuela, uso seguro de Internet, conseguir y mantener un trabajo.

Social skills activities for secondary students with special needs.

Recurso práctico diseñado como un programa autónomo para los maestros que trabajan con estudiantes con necesidades especiales en los grados 6-12. Ofrece una colección de doscientas hojas de trabajo para ayudar a los adolescentes a construir las habilidades sociales necesarias para interactuar eficazmente con los demás y aprender a aplicar estas habilidades a diferentes situaciones para la vida real en cinco escenarios diferentes: hogar, escuela, trabajo, entre colegas, y en la comunidad. También les ayudará a aprender a controlar las situaciones mediante la participación activa y contribuir a mejorar los resultados sociales.

A teacher's handbook on career development for students with special needs, grades K-12.

Includes bibliograhies.

'I never imagined I'd have to teach these children': Providing authentic learning experiences for secondary pre-service teachers in teaching students with special needs

This article describes a collaborative and cross-curricula initiative undertaken in the School of Education at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. The project involved developing an integrated approach to providing professional year pre-service secondary teacher education students with experiences that would assist them to develop their knowledge and skills to teach students with special needs in their classrooms. These experiences were undertaken in the authentic teaching and learning context of a post-school literacy program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. In preliminary interviews pre-service teachers revealed that they lacked experience, knowledge and understanding related to teaching students with special needs, and felt that their teacher education program lacked focus in this field. This project was developed in response to these expressed needs. Through participating in the project, pre-service teachers' knowledge and understanding about working with students with diverse learning needs were developed as they undertook real and purposeful tasks in an authentic context.

The perspectives of secondary school students with special needs in Spain during the crisis

This paper presents an overview of a situational analysis of inclusive schooling in Spain from the perspective of students with special educational needs. The purpose of this work was to learn how young people collectively considered their experiences of school inclusion. The participants—aged 12–19 years who attended six different settings—highlighted the school community, resources, teacher pedagogy, support and social cohesion as germane aspects of their inclusion. Through a presentation of these characteristics, this analysis demonstrates how schools can effectively fulfil the core requirement of teaching and supporting diversity and, in so doing, how they can incite included subjectivities of differently abled students. This analysis is positioned within the climate of economic instability in Spain, which threatens to derail the headway made towards inclusive schooling via the introduction of severe austerity measures.

Relationships with special needs students: exploring primary teachers' descriptions

Positive teacher-student relationships play an established role in the developmental outcomes of students. Ongoing research suggests that positive teacher-student relationships may be particularly beneficial for students with special educational needs [Baker, J. A. 2006. "Contributions of Teacher-Child Relationships to Positive School Adjustment During Elementary School."Journal of School Psychology 44 (3): 211-229]. However, particular learning and behavioural characteristics are known to pose certain challenges when developing these relationships. For instance, teachers may have difficulty in forming close relationships with students who behave in a hostile way. Likewise, they might feel stressed with students who take longer to learn material [Baker 2006; Yoon, J. S. 2002. "Teacher Characteristics as Predictors of Teacher-Student Relationships: Stress, Negative Affect and Self Efficacy." Social Behaviour and Personality 30: 485-494]. This study conducted a focus group with six mainstream teachers from a primary school in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne to investigate the following questions: (1) How do primary school teachers describe their relationships with special needs students? (2) Are these descriptions substantively different from the way in which relationships with non-special needs students are described? And (3) what, if any, are teachers' reported concerns with inclusive education practice? Thematic analysis provided three primary themes and nine secondary themes, indicating that in the context of inclusive practices, the quality of teacher-student relationships is affected by a combination of psychosocial factors. In concurrence with previous literature, the use of qualitative methodology was considered optimal for exploring teachers' descriptions.

Special Needs Education, eLearning and the Reflective ePortfolio: Implications for Developing and Assessing Competence in Pre-Service Education.

This paper reports on the use of an eportfolio for assessing aspects of a Post-Graduate pre-service teacher education programme specifically in the context of special needs education in Northern Ireland. Participants were challenged to develop their individual eportfolios by selecting and presenting evidence for assessment drawn from diverse sources. The rationale for using eportfolios for assessment purposes was to offer students the opportunity to demonstrate competencies by documenting and reflecting upon academic and pedagogical learning during a one year Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) programme.

Drug education with special needs populations : identifying and understanding the challenges

Students with special developmental needs (e.g. learning disabilities, attentional disorders, intellectual disability, conduct disorders, sensory deficits, acquired brain injury) face particular challenges with respect to academic achievement and psychosocial development, whether they are educated in mainstream settings, special settings, or a combination of these. These groups are typically poorly researched with respect to drug and alcohol use and education, however there is some evidence to indicate that they face an elevated risk of experiencing drug-related harms. The aim of the present paper is to highlight the particular challenges facing this heterogeneous population with respect to access to school-based drug education. Special learning challenges facing such students are described, and some suggestions are provided for researchers and practitioners in the drug education field.

School inclusion: analyzing the establishment and organization of a special needs education service in a brazilian municipality

The present research integrates a network of studies called National Monitoring Center for Special Education (NMCSE) which studies the Multi-purpose Feature Rooms (MFRs) in regular schools. We aim to investigate whether the service offered by such rooms, maintained by the Department of Education of the Municipality of Araraquara, in São Paulo State, Brazil, is being successful at supporting the education of children and youth with special needs, pervasive developmental disorders and high skilled/gifted individuals. We have also investigated the limits and possibilities of such rooms concerning the set of services offered to their participants. In order to conduct the present research, we have performed: an interview with the Special Education Program manager from the abovementioned Department of Education; and the analysis of a Training Program that MFRs teachers must take. The training program consists of ten morning and afternoon shift meetings. The analyzed data leads us to conclude that the policy of implementation of MFRs, even in this relatively restricted universe is seen from different perspectives. Some interpretations are still permeated by the clinical model, considering individual action. The challenges observed in the classrooms show that the cooperation among teachers still occur randomly and, among other difficulties raised by them, is the selection of the right placement methods to identify eligible students who will benefit from the Specialized Educational Service (SES). In addition, teaching evaluation was considered fragile, as well as the training and the general requirements demanded in order to achieve the expected results.

Strengthening Social and Emotional Learning in Children with Special Needs

Locally and globally, guiding children’s social and emotional development is no longer optional for educators. Research undertaken over the last 20 years provides compelling evidence that early and ongoing development of socio-emotional skills contributes to an individual’s overall health, wellbeing and competence throughout life. Moreover, competence in this domain is now recognised as fundamental to school readiness, school adjustment and academic achievement. As a consequence, social and emotional learning (SEL) is an important theme in current educational policy, curriculum frameworks and classroom practice. This chapter focuses on a particular group of vulnerable learners – children with special needs – and highlights key strategies for educators to use in their everyday classroom practices to strengthen SEL in children from early years through to the end of primary school.