PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT 1

Personal Philosophy Statement

Ruochen Shen
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Inclusive education means that students with severe disabilities are full-time members of

general education. In other words, the general education classroom is the classroom for the

students with severe disabilities. Dr. Kurth and Ms. Gross indicated that the students have the

right to access all school settings with the necessary supports and services, such as the

playground, cafeteria, and extracurricular activities. Moreover, through inclusive education,

students with severe disabilities can make progress based on their individualized goals, make

gains in personal development, feel welcomed by teachers, staff and peers, and feel comfortable,

happy and part of the group setting (2015).

In the general education settings, students with disabilities will succeed with assistance

from general education teachers, special education teachers, special therapists, paraprofessionals,

and other support staff. These personnel are also the key players who are involved in

collaboration in special education. On page 5 of the book written by Friend & Cook (2017), the

authors indicated that collaboration is an interpersonal style where school professionals

voluntarily interact with colleagues, parents, and others directly in order to work toward a mutual

goal. In my opinion, collaboration in special education is important because it combines various

supports from individual professionals in order to provide meaningful instructions and

appropriate modifications or adaptations for the students with disabilities. Also, collaboration

between professionals and parents helps the students educational team make decisions about

Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals.

I think that there are two factors that must be in place to make sure successful

collaboration in special education happens. First, I would like to build healthy relationships with

each students family members and other professionals. I believe that the relationship between a

student and family members is important. However, I need to partner with multiple family
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members who are interested in supporting the students. I will make sure that they are in the

decision-making process and each IEP meeting because their words can affect the students

educational goals and decisions. They have a legal right to be part of the meeting. I will schedule

a time with each students family members to do a home visit each semester because it can be a

positive experience, and it also can improve the relationship between school professionals and

family members (Brown, McDonnell, & Snell, 2016). Second, educational team members need

to have clear roles and responsibilities for students instruction in each goal area. In my opinion,

the special education teacher helps the general education teacher make adaptations based on the

lesson, and the general education teacher and paraprofessionals implement those adaptations for

the student. Educational professional should have different jobs to make sure students have a

well-rounded education (Brown et al., 2016).

In my opinion, there are two potential barriers to successful collaboration in special

education. First, the school schedule does not provide much common planning time for general

education teachers and special education teachers to collaborate together. Thus, the lack of

communication may create problems that could decease the learning opportunities for the student

because the learning outcomes, adaptations, and modifications may not be clear when giving

instructions. Second, school professionals do not have the opportunity to determine main

decisions. However, these main decisions should be addressed and discussed in the collaborative

meetings in order to provide a successful learning environment (Friend & Cook, 2017).

There are two ways that I would use to collaborate in special education. First, I will

develop a community resource file that helps families address special challenges. Social workers,

nurses, therapists, and psychologists may be needed for providing responses to each familys

support needs. Moreover, the resources will be organized by topical area so it is easier for family
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members to decide whether the resource will be useful. In order to build a system of supports

that meets the individualized needs, teamwork becomes important. However, more resources do

not mean better support because that confuses quantity with value (Brown et al., 2016).

Therefore, I will help the team find a happy medium by communicating regularly. Second, I will

set up a communication log with other professionals, so we are able to exchange thoughts about

scheduling, lesson plans, behavior management skills, and classroom management skills. In this

way, we can save some time. Also, other teachers will have the chance to get to know my

students more. I will go back to read all the comments weekly and highlight the most important

information, and then I will try to use this information in daily teaching.

In my opinion, collaboration should occur before a students IEP is coming up, in the

middle of the semester, and at the end of the semester. When collaboration happens before the

annual IEP evaluation, the educational team and parents are able to get to know the students

current performance in the classroom and also their functional skills. The information will help

educational team make better decisions in the IEP evaluation. When collaboration occurs in the

middle of the semester, it helps educational team adjust the short-term goals that they made at

the beginning of the semester. Last, the educational team is able to summarize the performance

of the student throughout the whole semester in order to make a better plan for the next semester.

School culture and power affect collaboration in special education. I believe that the

general education teachers, special therapists, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals

need to participate and contribute when making decisions about curricula adoption, schedules,

educational goals, and professional development priorities. Their complete participation will

positively affect students education (Friend & Cook, 2017). Collaboration is based on parity that

is contributed by each participant. Moreover, a balance of power from each educator is important
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because it increases the possibility of true collaboration (Friend & Cook, 2017). In addition, the

true collaboration provides positive communication between school professionals, and the

students will be benefit from it.

In conclusion, a collaborative educational environment increases students positive

outcomes. Also, it builds toward to the common goals. In order to have successful collaborations,

school professionals need to build healthy relationships between each other and parents, and

make clear roles and responsibilities. Providing more common planning time and collaboration

opportunities are the two barriers that some schools need to work on. Moreover, a community

resource file and a communication log are the two ways that I would like to utilize often when

collaborating in special education. Collaborating before IEP evaluation, during the semester, and

at the end of the semester are three points that I would like to use collaboration. Lastly, the

participation of school professionals and a balance of power from each educator will affect

students education.
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References

Brown, F., McDonnell, J., & Snell, M. E. (2016). Instruction of Students with Severe

Disabilities. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Friend, M., & Cook, L. (2017). Interactions: Collaboration Skills For School Professionals.

Boston, MA: Pearson.

Kurth, J. A., & Gross, M. (2015). The Inclusion Toolbox. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.