In my SPED class, we are discussing learning strategies and how they are used to help children with disabilities. We recently read an article about watering-up the curriculum. This idea emphasises that although students may lack certain skills, they may be able to think on higher levels. The article stresses that schools need to teach students how to "be smart" by exposing them to core ideas and relations rather than a vast amount of unrelated facts.
There are mixed feelings about the inclusion of disabled children in content classes. Some teachers find them as a distraction, like the child in the Mainstream or Not case, and others feel that they are incapable of keeping up like the Separate but Equal case.
I feel that a great deal of what is taught in secondary education is irrelevant to us as adults unless there is a connection between the ideas in the curriculum and life in general. But how is it possible to elaborate on ideas when the standards require us to move on?
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It's not just a SPED issue, but any sort of heterogeneous classroom will have students who "get it" faster than others. But do we need all students to get to the same place at the same time? It seems to me a lot of the issues with inclusion and the like come from issues about what the purpose of schooling is or ought to be.
Good post.
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