So What Is Special Education?

Special education is inclusive education. It is education that says all children should have full access to the classroom, all children should be able to fully participate in all activities, and all children should receive the support they need to feel successful and thrive. Special inclusive education accepts, respects, and honors each child’s unique gifts, strengths, and, yes, challenges.

Special education begins with an attitude - a value and a belief that each child belongs in our classroom. It cultivates the open mind-set that we can prepare ourselves to serve and support every child in our classroom. It is making the commitment to learn, expand our skills, and really ‘see’ each of our students.

Regularly, I hear Montessori teachers say, “I can’t work with children with special needs. I wasn’t trained to do that.” And yes, that is true; most Montessori teacher education programs are not explicitly preparing educators to work with the full range of children we have in our classrooms. The number of children who have been put into label categories is larger than in the past; the number of children who seem to experience the world differently than we expect is larger than in the past. It’s also true, though, that our society is different than it was in the past, and we are all absorbing those changes. We are all different than we were in the past. So, might it be time to let go of clinging to the way it used to be and move on to what can be?

Many of Dr. Montessori’s observations of children are now verified by current research. She deeply understood what all children need to learn to become their own best selves. Are we practicing what she taught (e.g., children learn what interests them and motivates them; and children learn at their own pace and in their own way)? She knew the importance of guiding the whole child: the physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and the cultural self. Ask yourself: Am I teaching to my agenda, to my expectations, to my set of should, would, could, and ought, or am I willing to reflect and transform myself to guide each and every child? That is special education!

Easier said than done, right? Some students challenge us in ways that make us uncomfortable, who leave us feeling incompetent, who just confuse us, and “keep the classroom from being normalized.” And this is where that open mindset that is willing to learn comes in. We can gain knowledge of the characteristics associated with categories of diversity to better understand an individual child’s learning and behavior needs.

We can learn some strategies as a starting point to support an individual child’s learning and behavior differences. We can learn and practice how to observe with curiosity and inquiry to uncover what a child’s behavior might be trying to communicate. We can expand the way we use a material or give a presentation to better reach that child who is struggling.

We can begin with knowledge, understanding, and strategies not only to fill our toolbox but to have confidence that we know just what tool to choose to teach that individual child and guide her to success. We can all learn a framework for managing an inclusive classroom rooted in our Montessori foundations to work with all children in our schools. And this is, in part, what Montessori and special needs is all about.

Here is a place for you to learn, to practice, to learn from mistakes (yes, you’ll make some along the way) and to become a member of the Montessori community who says yes to diversity, to educating all kinds of learners in our classrooms and schools. And one day, maybe we won’t talk about special education, because all education will be special, just as each child is special and ready to grow with a true sense of belonging. I look forward to having you join me on this journey.

Christine Lowry With an M.Ed. and M.A. in special education, and a Montessori credential, Christine Lowry has taught students, toddlers to adolescents, with diverse behavior and learning needs in a variety of settings. She has founded, directed, and taught in two Inclusive Montessori schools. Christine shares her knowledge and experience with the Montessori community with workshops, customized professional development, online courses, presentations, and consultation and coaching that supports school leaders, educators, and families as they serve children with special behavior and learning needs. She has developed the Montessoribased Multi-tiered System of Support ® and provides guidance for implementation in classrooms and Montessori schools. Follow her at Montessori and Special Needs and Montessori-Now on Facebook and Montessori-Now.com She can be reached at christine@montessori-now.com

by Christine Lowry, MEd

Question:

We are seeing more and more children in our classrooms at every level with learning and behavior challenges. Our teachers really want to help these kids, but we just don’t know where to begin or how to support them.

Answer:

First, you are not alone. Many Montessori schools, private and public, are sharing the same concerns. The number of students with a range of disabilities and need for additional and new kinds of support is growing- and not just in the Montessori community. Inclusion classrooms, where children with identified disabilities and challenges in learning and behavior are welcomed with acceptance and belonging in the same classroom with children’s whose learning and behavior are more in the “expected” range is the dominant model in the broader world of education and has been growing over the past 10-15 years. By default, many Montessori schools are becoming ‘inclusive schools’ without having the knowledge in how to manage it all. One of the most important starting points, then, for our Montessori community is to acknowledge the need for more knowledge, and strategies, techniques, and tools for working with “today’s children” and the wide range of challenges we are observing. Understanding the ways that children learn differently, the ways children’s sensory systems can result in challenging behaviors, and the impacts of the “collective trauma” from the last 18 months on children’s social-emotional development and mental health well-being is key to providing the kind of classroom that can offer the relationships and support children need for positive learning and behavior. Ideally, school leadership and staff can be open to this learning. Professional development, on-line course offerings, and ongoing consultation/coaching with a “guide” who has experience with Montessori education and current research and evidenced-based practices for inclusive education can be of crucial support in working with these challenges. One first step, though, and especially as we begin a new school year, is reflection on our “prepared environments.” As Montessorians, we are thoughtful about the way we arrange the furniture and the activities on our shelves but are we as thoughtful about the temporal environment and the classroom “tone”? This can be even more important in providing the structure that provides the much-needed sense of emotional safety that our children need now. A daily schedule that doesn’t change, the well-thought-out routines, transitions, and expectations for behavior, specific attention to social-emotional development are the consistency and predictability that is needed right now, and not just for children but for adults as well. As a school, or ideally by level, meet as a team to create a daily schedule that includes at least an hour of outside time. Discuss all the daily routines and transitions for success in your classroom- from toileting practice in toddlers, to hand washing, sitting a circle, putting away clothing and “work,” all the routines of lunch time, going outside, ending the day, and on and on from early childhood through adolescent classrooms. Decide on just what your expectations for behavior and interaction in the classroom community are beyond Grace and Courtesy. Then comes the trickier part - how are each of these to be explicitly taught, practiced, and used as “embedded” opportunities for guiding your students in developmentally appropriate ways for your group. Learning the specific supports that can be used to support the children who need them can be part of your “new” learning. This “new normal” demands a lot from us. But, hey, we are up to the task! As Montessorians, we know how to observe, we know a thing or two about reflection, we know that mistakes are opportunities to learn, and we know that learning is a life-long “task.”