Rewards and Challenges of Teaching
From Teach SSD
Rewards and Challenges of Teaching Students with Severe and Sensory Disabilities
Teaching students with severe and sensory disabilities is a very rewarding experience that can also be extremely challenging. A literature review was conducted to uncover teachers’ views about some of these rewards and challenges. We were particularly interested about how teachers in different roles, would view the rewards and challenges of teaching. We begin with the views of special educators that have been teaching students with disabilities for a number of years, compared to those who have left the field for various reasons, including job-related stress. Next, we discuss the concerns of general education teachers about the inclusion of students with disabilities in their general education classrooms. For these teachers, often their initial concerns about having students with disabilities in their classrooms become outweighed by the benefits. We provide examples of such a positive transformation that instructors at one university underwent after making accommodations for a nursing student who was profoundly deaf. Another example will be provided about the transformation preservice teachers underwent while teaching science to students with significant support needs. Finally, we will examine the perspectives of parents regarding their children with disabilities and show how their lives have been positively impacted by their children.
The Views of Special Educators: Rewards, Challenges, and Requirements for Success
The field of special education can be rewarding, while at the same time, it can pose many challenges. Many special educators remain in the field of special education despite the stress. Browness, Smith, McNellis, and Lenk (1994-95) asked special educators to explain reasons they have stayed in the field or reasons for why they had left. They discovered four characteristics that seemed to differentiate between educators who have stayed and those who have left. These characteristics are:
- Initial commitment to teach in special education;
- View of student success;
- Personal teaching efficacy, and
- Coping strategies.
A more recent study being conducted by the National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities has found similar results. Year three of a five year study indicates that teachers in one western state choose to stay in the field of special education because administrative and collegial support is present, they feel they are making a difference in the lives of their students, and because they have a manageable workloads (Sebald, Jackson, Pearon, & Birjulin, 2006).
Initial Commitment to Teach in Special Education
In terms of initial commitment, those educators who have stayed expressed more altruistic reasons for teaching children with special needs and had a stronger conviction that sustained their desire to help children. Ruth, a special educator, expressed that "to see a human being progress is enough for special education teachers. We see changes in life and that is so important. That is what we are on this earth for--to make changes" (Browness, Smith, McNellis, & Lenk, 1994-95, pp. 89).
Tracy also feels rewarded by her work, especially when she sees a class of special education students graduate (Browness, Smith, McNellis, & Lenk, 1994-95, pp. 89):
“June comes along and you see the kids graduate. Last year we had 23 graduates and that was a large special education class. And my boys were coming up to me and hugging me. And I said to myself, yeah, but you know, those boys wouldn’t have made it if you hadn’t been there."
Cheryl agrees that even though the challenges are difficult to overcome, the rewards of seeing her students again after many years far outweigh the challenges (Browness, Smith, McNellis, & Lenk, 1994-95, pp. 89-90): “I become really discouraged working in a high school…but years later some of your students come back…they’ll come up to you…they’ll hug you…and they’ll thank you…oh, it touches your heart."
View of Student Success
Those who stay in the field were also more confident that their students could succeed, while holding realistic expectations for student progress. Julia explained, “I always looked at their progress in small steps. Any small step was great progress to me and…whatever progress they made was rewarding” (Browness, Smith, McNellis, & Lenk, 1994-95, pp. 89).
Shawn felt that “sometimes I am the only one who can reach the student. If I can reach just one out of ten students, then I feel I have accomplished something” (Browness, Smith, McNellis, & Lenk, 1994-95, pp. 89).
Other teachers describe the thrill of seeing a child develop greater independence and self-esteem after achieving success in their classes (Howell & Gengel, 2005, pp. 7): “A lot of times they come from backgrounds where people tell them they can’t do something. And then, once they can, you can just watch the self-esteem grow. And once it starts, it just keeps growing and growing and suddenly they can do lots of things they couldn’t before.”
“I guess if I could get every teacher to make the students be as independent physically and emotionally as possible, then I think we would see a tremendous difference. They would leave knowing that they could succeed.”
Another teacher reiterates the rewarding aspect of seeing students prosper after leaving her care (Howell & Gengel, 2005, pp. 11): “For me, a rewarding experience is to watch these kids who entered in preschool leave my classroom three years later, walking into first grade with the ability to be mainstreamed into a regular first grade class."
Personal Teaching Efficacy
Special education teachers who stay teaching in the field, appear to show greater personal teaching efficacy than those who leave. They appear confident in their ability to teach and to make positive changes in the lives of their students. However, those who leave tend to be bogged down by the challenges of working in the field (Browness, Smith, McNellis, & Lenk, 1994-95, pp. 91): "You are very limited in what you can do because of parental pressure and because of the way the school is designed. In the school that I was in last year, there really was not place to isolate a child who was being disruptive…I really didn’t feel that I was doing the job that I wanted to do. There are a lot of students who wanted to learn and were not able to because I spent all of my time with the kids who really had very bad behavior."
But, the teachers who stayed tried to overcome the challenges of the school environment and behavior problems. Ruth felt rewarded when she made a difference for one of her students (Browness, Smith, McNellis, & Lenk, 1994-95, pp. 90): "I had a child that started at the school in the Educable Mentally Handicapped (EMH) program and we felt like that was wrong. We fought and fought to get her reclassified as severely learning disabled. I had her for three years and by the end of three years, had her totally mainstreamed. And I’ve been keeping up with her and she is doing wonderfully. It could have been another set of circumstance, another teacher who didn’t really care, and she may still have been in the EMH program for three years."
Another teacher shows that even though it is important to be confident about teaching, it is also important to have a realistic attitude about your abilities to teach (Howell & Gengel, 2005, pp. 7): “Never assume you have all the answers. Especially if you’ve been teaching for a while, teachers get this attitude, ‘I’ve seen it all, I’ve done it all, I’ve heard it all.’ It’s never true! This is important to keep in mind always, you need to keep learning.”
Stress Management and Coping with the Challenges
When the stress becomes too much, those who stay in the field choose an active coping strategy by trying many avenues of change. But, Julia reminds us that, “it really boils down to the fact that there are certain things I cannot change. Why bang my head against the wall because I’m not going to change that. When I realize that, the stress is reduced” (Browness, Smith, McNellis, & Lenk, 1994-95, pp. 93).
Another teacher demonstrates good stress reduction strategies by separating work and home: “I work hard at school and I stay late at school, but I don’t take anything home and I don’t have to work or think about work. This really helps me in creating that separation” (Howell & Gengel, 2005, pp. 12).
Finally, special educators have identified many working conditions that contribute to a teacher’s likelihood of staying in the field of special education, such as integration into the workplace, decision-making power, building-level and district support, and professional growth opportunities (Browness, Smith, McNellis, & Lenk, 1994-95). Another study has yielded a more comprehensive list of needs (see table below) for success in educating students with disabilities (Sebald, Jackson, Pearson, & Birjulin, 2006).
Needs for Success
- Administration understands issues of special education
- Administration supportive of special education
- Improved changes in legislation
- Strong leadership
- Smaller classroom size/caseloads
- Truly love job/calling
- Higher pay, better benefits
- Adequate planning time
- Knowledgeable of resources
- Small budget available
- Adequate number of co-workers
- Help with diverse students
- Time for collaboration with team
- More teaching, less emphasis on testing
- Less case management, less duties
The Views of General Educators: Thoughts about Inclusion
Most surveys of general educators’ attitudes about inclusion indicate that they are in favor of inclusion (Avramidis, & Norwich, 2002; Lambe, & Bones, 2007; Scruggs, & Mastropieri, 1996). However, the picture becomes more complicated when it comes down to actually including a student with disabilities in their classes. Research has shown that general educators have a variety of reactions to learning that they will have a student with disabilities in their classroom (Engelbrecht, Oswald, Swart, & Eloff, 2003; Soodak, Podell, & Lehamn, 1998). These reactions vary and depend on a number of factors such as, teacher’s feelings of efficacy and level of training, positive or negative past experiences, and perceptions of support from the school and special educators (Forlin, 1998; Soodak, Podell, & Lehamn, 1998). Teachers of students with severe and sensory disabilities are available to provide support to general educators. Types of concerns and challenges experienced by general educators are listed below.
Personal Concerns
Forlin (1998) asked general educators about their personal concerns regarding inclusion and found five major types relating to the following:
- Personal emotions and affective response;
- Acceptance of the policy of inclusion;
- Expectations about their role;
- Perceived teaching efficacy and ineffective training, and
- Issues of cooperation and collaboration.
The emotional reactions that teachers felt included: guilt, anxiety, apprehension, uncertainty, helplessness, inadequacy, and a general fear of failure (Forlin, 1998). Teachers who were more accepting of inclusion experienced less distress. In addition, most teachers were conscientious and placed high expectations upon themselves to help students with disabilities. However, the high expectations coupled with feelings of poor teaching efficacy lead to greater stress and anxiety on the part of teachers. Many teachers were concerned that they would have little support in the classroom and felt that greater collaboration with special education teachers would ease their mind. Those that sought this support experienced greater feelings of success.
Factors Leading to Stress
Engelbrecht, Oswald, Swart, and Eloff (2003) identified a similar set of factors that lead to greater teacher stress when including students with intellectual disabilities:
- Administrative issues;
- Lack of support;
- Learner behavior;
- Personal competency, and
- Parents
The majority of teachers found it stressful to be held responsible for the educational outcomes of students with intellectual disabilities in their classroom. The two main aspects of teaching students with intellectual disabilities that concerned teachers included adapting the curriculum and adjusting unit plans. Other concerns that teachers noted were their perceived inability to teach other students in the class while providing additional assistance to a student with intellectual disabilities. In addition, some teachers felt that low support was a source of stress. Teachers also found the behavior of learners with intellectual disabilities to be stressful, particularly short attention span, poor communication, and aggressive behaviors. Many teachers felt that their training was inadequate to address the learning needs of this population of students. Finally, many teachers felt that limited contact with parents leads to stress because of the need to get parents involved in the education of their child. Again, knowing the concerns of general educators in working with students with disabilities can help you become a more informed, proactive, and impactful special educator.
Type of Disability Affects Teacher Response
Although Engelbrecht, Oswald, Swart, and Eloff (2003) have examined teachers’ responses to intellectual disabilities, others have found that teachers’ responses depended on the type of disability (Avramidis, Bayliss, & Burden, 2000a; Soodak, Podell, & Lehamn, 1998). Scruggs and Mastropieri (1996) found that across a number of studies the most support for inclusion was held for students with learning disabilities, mild physical, sensory, and medical disabilities. The least support was offered for students with emotional disturbance, mental retardation, and more severe forms of behavioral, intellectual, or physical disabilities. Thus, as level of severity of disability increases, the teachers’ concerns increase, which could be related to the increased responsibilities, the increased need for support, and decreased sense of personal efficacy.
Thus, as a teacher of students with severe and sensory disabilities, it will be your job to provide support and feelings of competence to the general educators with whom you work. Ways in which to empower these teachers is to share with them the research stating that inclusion does not have detrimental effects on students without disabilities, supply them with suggestions for making adjustments to lessons, show them how adjustments made to lessons will benefit all students in the classroom, and let them know that they will not be abandoned. It will be your job to verbally and with action show your support to general educators who are mainstreaming students with special needs. You may want to provide after school training to staff regarding new students or particular students with unique needs, co-teach with a general educator, or you may decide to model teaching strategies while the general educator observes. There is much that you and your training can offer teachers in the mainstream. Additionally, there is much that you can learn from general educators that will help you work with students on your caseload.
Implications for Inclusive Practice
Villa and colleagues (1996) have identified administrative support, collaboration among general and special education personnel, and appropriate teacher training as factors that decrease teacher apprehension and increase perceptions of effectiveness for inclusive practice. Research has found that as teachers gain experience and training, their attitudes toward inclusion become more positive (Avramidis, Bayliss, & Burden, 2000b; Van Rousen, Shoho, & Barker, 2001). It would also be beneficial to educate teachers about the positive academic and social impact of inclusion on students with special needs (D’Alonzo, Giordano, & Vanleeuwen, 1997; Hammond & Ingalls, 2003). Additionally, Scruggs and Mastropieri (1996) have made the following recommendations for success with inclusion:
- Time—more than an hour per day for planning;
- Training—certification programs, in-services, consultants;
- Personnel resources—aides, daily contact with special education teachers;
- Materials resources—curriculum materials and other classroom equipment that students with disabilities need;
- Class size—less than 20 students if including a student with disabilities, and
- Consideration of severity of disability—greater support for students with more severe needs.
Rewarding Aspects of Inclusion
Finally, general and special education teachers alike have found that the experience of teaching students with special needs in the general classroom can be very rewarding. A general educator exclaimed that children with special needs, their classmates, and teachers can grow from inclusive experiences and that students with disabilities have a lot to offer the general education classroom (Forlin, 1998; Howell & Gengel, 2005). In particular, the collaboration between general educators and special educators can result in an enhanced sense of efficacy for both professionals (Villa, Thousand, Meyers, & Nevin, 1996). Collaboration can also be a positive experience for all students when support is given to the general education teachers. For example, special educators provide suggestions that work with all students, including students with special needs, (Howell & Gengel, 2005). Additionally, it is important to note that special educators will learn much from general educators that will also inform their practices.
In conclusion, Villa, Thousand, Meyers, and Nevin, (1996, pp. 40) have reinforced the positive aspects of inclusion by stating the following:
“Our data clearly indicate that the general and special education professionals surveyed generally believed that educating students with disabilities in general education classrooms results in positive changes in educators’ attitudes and job responsibilities.”
Transformational Experience of Preservice General Education Teachers: Teaching Science to Students with Significant Support Needs
People often undergo what is called a transformational experience after working with students with disabilities. Prior to their experience, people may be apprehensive or hold negative expectations of what it would be like to work with students with disabilities. Oftentimes however, the experience is so positive that educators express that the experience has transformed their views about working with students with disabilities.
A transformational experience of student teachers is highlighted in a study by Bishop and Jones (2003) as they examined the attitudes and perceptions of teachers in training. The prospective general education teachers were given the opportunity to teach science concepts to elementary age students with significant support needs under the guidance of their university instructors. The findings indicate a significant change in attitudes before and after teaching students with significant support needs.
Examples of Attitudes Prior to Teaching Science to Students with Significant Support Needs
- “Quite nervous before the children came as I didn’t know how to speak /act with them.”
- “We were very worried before hand about what to expect and how the children would be.”
- “With regard to planning the task, I also found this difficult because I was not sure of the levels that the children like this worked at.”
- “Can we really teach any science with children who have such severe special needs?”
- “How can you teach science if they can’t talk?”
- “I am worried about how to give children choice in science if they can’t communicate.”
Examples of Attitudes After Teaching Science to Students with Significant Support Needs:
- “ I got more back from the children than I have in any classroom so far.”
- “ I gained so much from this experience. I was apprehensive about approaching this type of teaching and now feel I would like to do more.”
- “When the children arrived I got over being nervous and realized that the children, although they had special educational needs, were just children.”
- “ I quickly realized that this group were not “disabled’-they were a group of children with a few disabilities.”
- “The children didn’t always need to be prompted by an adult on what to do. They enjoyed exploring the different materials and took it upon themselves to learn.”
- “I did have concerns about communication with the children prior to the afternoon but was overwhelmed with the number of ways to communicate; speech, body language, sign language and visual representation were all appropriate and the children responded well to them.”
Transformational Experience of University Faculty and Administrators: Real Life Example of Educating A Nursing Student who is Deaf
Rhodes, Davis, and Odom (1999) documented the efforts of one college to accommodate the needs of a nursing student who is deaf. The university administrators and faculty were initially reluctant and had many concerns regarding the education of a student who is deaf. Over time however, they quickly learned that many of their concerns were unfounded and in the end considered their experience to be highly rewarding.
In the beginning, Brenda (pseudonym) and her family approached the college about her gaining admission to the nursing program. The office of admissions and advising was concerned that there would be too many obstacles for a student with profound deafness to overcome to become a nurse. Their greatest concern was that Brenda would experience rejection from her peers, the faculty, hospital staff, and patients. Despite concern, Brenda held firm and believed she could be successful. As a result of her advocacy, the office of admissions explored how to proceed. The Disabled Student Services Office was contacted to determine the responsibilities the college held in educating Brenda. The director of admissions and other faculty involved in the admissions committee sought out information from other colleges that had admitted students with hearing loss into their nursing programs. They also attended workshops regarding compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
After admitting Brenda, the director of admissions met with the faculty in the college of nursing and informed them that a student who was deaf had been admitted. The faculty had the following concerns:
- “Would patients be safe under her care?”
- ”Where would a deaf person work?”
- “How can she do assessments?”
- “How can she answer patients’ lights?”
The director of admissions reminded the faculty that educational opportunities should be available regardless of job placement opportunities and determined that the faculty needed more education about how to accommodate Brenda’s learning needs. The director of disabled student services was invited to meet with the faculty. Information was provided regarding the ADA, appropriate accommodations, and case studies of successful nurses and physicians who are deaf. After several planning meetings, the faculty became more confident about educating Brenda.
The clinical agencies involved in Brenda’s education were informed that she would be attending their clinical sites. They were also provided training on how to accommodate Brenda’s needs. Initially, the agencies were reluctant, but in the end they made the necessary accommodations. One of the accommodations was that an interpreter accompanied Brenda as needed. During her clinicals, Brenda would conduct an entire physical exam except for listening through the stethoscope. When needed, the interpreter would listen through the stethoscope for Brenda and describe the sounds to her. Brenda would deduce the meaning of the sounds without advice from the interpreter. Additionally, Brenda compensated for her hearing loss by paying close attention to other signs of patient distress. For example, vision was used to detect patient color and respiration, while the tactile senses were used to detect patient heart rate. Brenda also made frequent eye contact with patients. Soon the clinical agencies moved beyond their initial reservations. Towards the end, every clinical site, from community health agencies to the acute care areas, faculty, staff, and patients transformed into Brenda’s strongest supporters (Rhodes, Davis, & Odom, 1999).
Brenda’s presence in the clinical rounds had a great impact on patients and others who worked with her. The following are notable statements about her work (Rhodes, Davis, & Odom, 1999):
- She won the respect and the heart of them all in every clinical site, and they accepted her as the caregiver without regard for her deafness.
- Patients were in awe over how much she had overcome to become competent at the bedside.
- She was a motivator and positive role model for her patients.
- One patient stated that, “If she can do all of this without being able to hear, I can try harder to take better care of myself.”
In the classroom setting, Brenda’s peers quickly accepted her and she was included in group projects. Teachers made sure to face her as much as possible while lecturing and to slow down their pace of speaking. They also repeated other students’ questions in order to make sure Brenda was included in all aspects of the classroom environment. Brenda was also given longer time to finish written assessments and it was found that this accommodation allowed her to show what she knew. Finally, the faculty and disability center put together information to petition that she be allowed extra time on her licensure exam. Brenda was granted the accommodation. After successfully passing her exam, the faculty and staff rejoiced with her. More celebrations occurred when she obtained employment in a primary care physician’s office.
In conclusion, the faculty, staff, and administrators of the college felt that the experience of educating Brenda had been very rewarding (Rhodes, Davis, & Odom, 1999).
Rewards of Parenting Children with Disabilities
As a special educator, it is very important to seek and respect the perspectives of parents of children with disabilities. It is not accurate to assume that parents' lives are filled with negative experiences and the constant stress of caretaking. Hastings and Taunt (2002, pp. 118) compiled research on the positive aspects of parenting children with disabilities and identified the following rewards. Parents:
- Experience pleasure/satisfaction in providing care for their child;
- Express their child is a source of joy/happiness;
- Feel accomplishment over doing what is best for their child;
- Appreciate the love they share with their child;
- Appreciate the challenge or opportunity for continual learning and development;
- Believe their child has strengthened their family and/or marriage;
- Feel their child has provided a new or increased sense of purpose in life;
- Feel they have developed new skills, abilities, and/or new career opportunities;
- Believe they have become a better person (more compassionate, less selfish, more tolerant);
- Feel increased personal strength or confidence;
- Feel their social and community networks have been expanded;
- Feel increased spirituality;
- Believe their child has changed their perspective on life (e.g., clarified what is important in life, more aware of the future);
- Express making the most of each day, as well as, living life at a slower pace.
Furthermore, Hastings and Taunt (2002) found that parents arrived at a more positive state through three processes:
- The need to form new identities (e.g., a new parent identity that included an emphasis on competence in parenting a child with a disability);
- Attempts to derive meaning from the situation; and
- The development of a sense of personal control.
Conclusion
In conclusion, teaching students with disabilities can be a rewarding experience regardless if you are a special education teacher, a general education teacher, university staff and faculty, administrators, or parents. The statements from teachers and others who work with students with disabilities illustrates that teaching students with disabilities can be both challenging and rewarding. We hope these real life examples will give you a better idea of what it may be like to work with students with severe and sensory disabilities.
References
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- Bishop, A. & Jones, P. (2003). ‘I never thought they would enjoy the fun of science just like ordinary children do’- Exploring science experiences with early years teacher training students and children with severe and profound learning difficulties. British Journal of Special Education, 30, 34-43.
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- Rhodes, R. S., Davis, D. C., & Odom, B. C. (1999). Challenges and rewards of educating a profoundly deaf student. Nurse Educator, 24(3), 48-51.
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