Characteristics of Excellent Teachers of Students with Severe and Sensory Disabilities
From Teach SSD
Contents |
Characteristics from the Perspective of Teachers
Do you think you want to become a teacher of students with severe and/or sensory disabilities? Becoming a teacher of students who are visually impaired deaf or hard of hearing, or who have severe cognitive disabilities is a very rewarding career choice. Do you want to know what characteristics about yourself might make you a good fit for a teacher in this field? Or are you already a special education teacher and want to learn more about yourself? We have compiled information about what characteristics make excellent teachers of students with severe and sensory disabilities. The first set of characteristics comes from interviews of teachers who were recipients of the National Center on Low-Incidence Disabilities’ (now the National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities) Excellence in Education Awards between 2002 and 2004. These teachers self-described the characteristics that they believe are important for success in the field of special education, and in particular, the fields of severe and sensory disabilities. The information is summarized here from Howell and Gengel (2005). Additionally, characteristics from the perspective of parents of children with disabilities are discussed.
The following, represents themes that were identified through interviews with excellent special education teachers (Howell & Gengel, 2005):
Expectations
Having high expectations for students is a key characteristic of excellent special educators of children with severe and sensory disabilities. High expectations can assist students to continue to grow and learn. Teachers in this study felt that it was very important to hold high expectations for themselves and other colleagues as well. They felt that if you can influence parents and other teachers to have high expectations, that you can also positively influence the life of a child. One teacher described her high expectations as the source of her success:
“A lot of my success was from having my high expectations for him (student), and then showing the parents that he can make progress, you can expect him to learn. Then I held the same expectations for the teachers; they need to expect him to learn and I expect them to be involved in that process.”
Another teacher extended her high expectations for learning to herself in the following compelling statement:
"We need to ponder our own demonstrations of the qualities we want to see in our students. Are we hard-working? Do we show that we’re reflecting on our profession and improving with regularity?"
Communication
Teachers of students with severe and sensory disabilities rated communication as a very important characteristic of excellent teaching. Many students face challenges with communication. An effective teacher uses many strategies to overcome these challenges, such as:
- Listen actively by repeating back what the speaker says, express interest, ask questions, and take notes.
- Find out what sort of information somebody needs and what format they want to receive that information, such as phone calls, email, etc. Then follow through. One teacher says the biggest key to effective communication is “being able to change your style of communication to match who you are communicating with.”
- Use a calendar to make sure you are communicating with others in a timely fashion. Some people require more communication than others. A calendar will help you keep track of how often you’ve communicated with someone. One teacher put it this way, “If you have some way to control the frequency [of communication] then people won’t feel either pestered or abandoned.”
- Be respectful of everyone. You may know a lot about the student you are working with, but other people may know different aspects of the student. Successful communication means you collaborate well with others and realize that everyone has something to contribute.
- Be flexible. If one way of communicating doesn’t work with your student, keep trying until you find out the best way of communicating.
Respect
One characteristic of excellent teachers of students with severe and sensory disabilities is maintaining respect for everyone, including the child, the parents, and other teachers. Teachers see that students with disabilities sometimes aren’t treated with respect as an individual. One teacher suggests,
“Try to get to know the student! Don’t belittle them; try to figure out what it is that turns them on. Watch their habits, watch what they do and find what turns their switch on then gear material toward that.”
Excellent teachers also thought it was very important to try to get the parents involved. Don’t treat parents like they don’t have the credentials to understand how to educate their child. Parents know their children best, and excellent teachers thought it was important to learn from the parents and get the parents involved in the process of educating their child. One teacher put it this way,
“Everything just breaks down if you don’t treat the family well. They get upset and hostile towards the school, and you wonder why the student acts out in your class. The family cares about their child, you have to respect that their point of view is equally important to your professional perspective.”
Professionalism
Many excellent teachers of students with severe and sensory disabilities thought it was very important to stay updated in their field. They realize that the field changes fast. In order to provide the best education with the latest technology to their students, they need to seek out opportunities for professional development. One teacher was particularly concerned about the importance of technological skills:
“You have to know how to use all these devices, and—more important—how to learn how to use the next one that comes along. There are new things coming out all the time that are supposed to make learning easier for our students but if we can’t get it to them, how will it help?”
Relationships
Excellent teachers of students with severe and sensory disabilities thought it was important to maintain positive relationships with their students, and especially with the general education teacher. They felt that if they connected well with the general educator, then that teacher would feel more skilled including the student with a low-incidence disability in their classes. One teacher expressed her feelings in the following statement:
“If people feel good about working with you, they’ll feel good about including the student as well.”
Parents’ Perspective
Parents are the ones who are closest to their child. Parents understand that the success of their child depends on the excellence of their child’s teacher. Therefore, the parents’ perspectives about the characteristics of excellent special education teachers are an important viewpoint to consider. Davern (1999) conducted in-depth interviews of parents of special education children with various disabilities who attended a variety of schools in urban, suburban, and rural settings. The children represented a variety of disabilities and all children were in inclusive settings. The parents were asked about the attitudes they saw in the teachers and other personnel who worked with their children and the qualities they most appreciated about these teachers and personnel. The following sets of characteristics are summarized from the report of parents’ views of these individuals (Davern, 1999):
Honesty and Openness
Parents want to be open and candid about their child’s needs. Parents may feel that educators withhold opinions or concerns about their children. Educators who are willing to disagree openly and discuss disagreements with other team members is meaningful for parents.
Accessibility
Educators who are available to parents and willing to call them with concerns and provide them with information is highly appreciated.
Showing Friendliness and Interest
Parents feel good about teachers who are friendly and show interest in getting to know them and their children. Something as simple as greeting parents in the hall can make a real difference.
Willingness to Go the Extra Mile
Parents appreciate teachers who show extra enthusiasm and energy, get involved and make things happen. Here is a specific list of suggested activities:
- Take the time to fully explain and share information with parents that has been gathered about each of their children.
- Show an interest in developing a positive and close relationship with children.
- Encourage and assist families in getting children involved in typical summer programs or weekend/holiday activities.
- Ensure that children participate in school activities outside the classroom (e.g., plays, summer camps).
- Tactfully, offer ideas related to problems at home.
- Connect parents to other resource people in the community, such as transition specialist at a local community college or university, successful adults with severe and sensory disabilities, or babysitters who have specialized training (e.g., fluent in sign language).
Willingness to Cross Over Expertise Boundaries
No matter what your job description, parents feel better if they see their child’s teachers go beyond their role and help problem-solve for their child in areas that might be outside their expertise. One example given was a physical therapist that jumped right in with everyone else to try to problem-solve an issue with behavior even though it was not directly related to her role as a physical therapist.
Willingness to Ally with Parents
Parents need school advocates. Teachers’ must encourage parents’ beliefs in their children, as well as, encourage their participation in their children’s’ education. Here are some examples that parents have appreciated:
- Stopping rumors about inordinate expenditures made by a school for a particular child's equipment,
- Encouraging parents to demand services from particular teachers or administrators, and
- Advocating what is in the best interest of a particular child.
Interest and Capability in Challenging Students
Parents appreciate when educators view their children as individuals with unique interests, talents and abilities versus being a product of their disability. It is important that educators are willing to get to know their student’s strengths and interests. This is an excellent trait. Educators who know their students are able to continually raise their expectations and challenging students to do more than anybody else thought possible. No one knows what students are capable of accomplishing unless they are provided opportunity to try new things. Opportunity for success and the chance to learn from failure are both important experiences for children with disabilities.
Use of Adaptations and Accommodations
Once again, making attempts to get to know students allows special educators to assess situations and determine students’ needs for accommodations. Something as simple as how educators implement accommodations can make a world of difference to parents:
“Some parents were very pleased with the adaptations in curriculum and goals made for their children such as reducing the length or difficulty level of an activity, or finding ways for a student to participate in parts of an activity. Teachers who were viewed as skillful in making adaptations did so in ways that did not bring a lot of extra attention to the child. These teachers were also reported as careful to use materials that were similar to what other children were using."
In conclusion, the characteristics of excellent special education teachers of students with severe and sensory disabilities are very similar from the perspective of general educators and parents. Both teachers and parents emphasize the importance of having high expectations for students, and working hard to positively impact the life of the student. Other characteristics; such as being accessible, friendly and open are also highly regarded by both teachers and parents. If you think these characteristics fit your personality, then the field of severe and sensory disabilities might be the right place for you! These teachers report a sense of satisfaction from collaborating with other teachers, fostering positive relationships with parents, and challenging their students. If you are already a special education teacher, we encourage you to keep striving for excellence. If you are thinking about becoming a special education teacher of students with severe and sensory disabilities, we encourage you to join other excellent educators. You can make a special impact on students who need teachers that will treat them as unique individuals and go out of their way to help them achieve their best.
References
- Davern, L. (1999). Parents’ perspectives on personnel attitudes and characteristics in inclusive school settings: Implications for teacher preparation programs. Teacher Education and Special Education, 22, 165-182.
- Howell, J. J., & Gengel, S. (2005). Perspectives of effective teachers of students with low-incidence disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus, 1, Article 6. Retrieved from http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol1/iss4/art6/.
