Deaf Education and other things

Well, here I am in Vancouver!! Thanks to sponsors. Just completed first day which was the leaders' forum. This is the first time that I have been at a conference which had a dialogue opportunity. I didn't open my mouth which is unusual for me but I thought that the opportunity was great! It did occur to me that what I am going to propose in my presentation around Ka Hikitia has close ties to Deaf Ed in general. Of course when you think about it although it is a stategy aimed specifically at improving outcomes for Maori the thinking applies directly across to the Deaf community and further to all students!!!!

NZEI Te Riu Roa National Executive

It is twelve months since my first executive meeting, and most of all I have learnt much and grown lots (in my thinking that is although my waist-line is certainly no slimmer!) Our union is engaged in a process of change and review which has been both challenging and exciting. I am looking forward to the next twelve months as we develop the roles of governance and how it will look. What will it mean when we come together around the table? I firmly believe that we will need to maintain participation in various levels of the institute and that this involvement does not mean stifling the leadership of the union but enhancing and enabling that to happen.

The debates around inclusive education

There continues to be ongoing debates around inclusiveness in education. The link http://www.parrotpublishing.com will take you to a great on-line text book that covers the philosophies and ideologies around the differing points of views within the debates.

We do, I believe, have to be wary in our own musings that we do not disenfranchise, or belittle the professional status of, any particular group working within the area of special education. This can be done quite innocently and unintentionally. Here is a hypothetical but entirely possible situation:

A Specialist Educational Centre employs both unit class teachers and itinerating teachers. The school holds the belief and is seen to overtly state that:

"Students who are in the unit classes make better progress in the curriculum than those who are in the mainstream." As employers of teachers in both situations this could be seen by implication to suggest that the role of the itinerating staff therefore are of less importance. If indeed this was the view then one would need to question the validity of that centre employing the itinerating staff. By virtue of the stated pedagogical view point it could be extrapolated that the centre would view resources as better directed towards unit classes. What I am getting at is that there exists in this scenario an implied conflict of interests. To be truly effective and inclusive the Centre should hold more of a philosophy that students will do well in which ever placement and the centre is critical to making that happen within a continuum of service and placement options and that decisions around these placements will be made with the collaboration of the parents and specialists.

What if there was no such thing as special needs? Think about it........ all students have special needs don't they? All students have a right to education. Lets forget about looking at the barriers and begin to search for the potential. Here's another thing, If we have a student who requires assistance to access curriculum, we need to begin to take ownership of that student as a school. It's not just up to each single pod class teacher to teach that child, it's the responsibility of us all. How about we do away with the term SENCO? They could become Advocates for the Rights of Students' Education........ Or maybe not! That would make them ARSE!!! But you get my drift. It really is time for a re-think of the models we work under.

It makes you wonder?

Turangi has had it's coldest winter in 2 years!! Makes me wonder about all the families in town who live on he bread-line. They would not have enough resources to have stock piled dry wood, they may not even be able to buy a decent load. I see them every day, kids who are cold, who have not enough warm clothing, kids who have no breakfast in their tummies. It's not rare here, it's quite common. How can they participate in a curriculum that continues to narrow to suit the priveleged few? How can they concentrate on basic learning when even a warm cuddle is a rare thing for some of them? Geoffery Palmer had no idea what Courtney Place was like! Hello! He lives in another world and so do many of hte priveleged among us they also have no idea!

NZEI National Exec

There are dark forces at work! Be wary of an administration that places millions of dollars into private education whilst families and schools around NZ continue to struggle. It is a curious thing that the prisons are full of illiterate, hearing impaired educational dropouts, yet to cure the problem we give millions to the already privileged! Go figure. Then there's national standards, let's keep Anne Tolley honest on this one. Honest and clear reporting to parents is a great thing comparing schools on the basis of achievement levels on National standards is not and is most certainly not backed buy research. Then there is the suggestion that we suggest how the government can trim $95 million dollars off staffing! Get real! We don't have enough now, plus we have support staff paid less than our cleaners!

A sad day for Deaf Education in NZ

What a day of mixed emotions for me. Saying farewell to one of my most respected colleagues whilst at the same time catching up with some of my first students within Deaf Ed. Wow some of them are 42!!! Very emotionally draining day. Tomorrow I head to Wellington for NZEI National Exec Meeting. I look forward to these immensely but they are intensive hard work!