1. I learned that there is a divide in the field of special education. People are clustered into two groups based on their views of special education; either incrementalist or reconceptualist. Incrementalist believe that special education is a set system that needs little to no modification, while reconceptualist sees special education as something that is broken and needs a lot of repair. 

2. What was eye-opening? 

One thing that I found eye opening is that the definition for disabilities can change and as a result they are in fact judgements. There's no clear cut definition for any of of the classification for disabilities. So schools in a district different from the one we are in can classify the same student with a different disability or even no disability. 

3. How will it impact your instruction? 

This will impact my instruction because it makes us as teachers see student for themselves rather than their classification. We as teachers can instruct student based on individual needs rather than what they are classified as having. Instruction becomes less generalized and more individualised. 

What was eye-opening? 
For me was both side were making  really great arguments and I dont know If I could choose one of the other. One example is how Incrementalists continue to support traditional research, understood to mean scientifically proven
practices to be used by teachers, whose work is construed as the technical application of interventions and strategies specific to types of educational deficiencies. While Reconceptualists seek substantial change, calling for more self-reflective, ethical decision-making
responsibilities for teachers.Both sides made great points and it seems that it can be both and not either/or.

How will it impact your instruction? 

This study has impacted my instruction because I fall in the middle of these two ideas. I want to try to meld both into one this school year because I believe in both of them

I learned that there is a divide, in terms of school of thought, within special education. There are two groups, the incrementalists and reconceptualists. The incrementalists think that the special education system generally works and needs little to no improvement. Conversely, the reconceptualists believe that the special education system is not working and should be overhauled.

What was eye-opening? 

It is good to know that the “Disability Studies Quarterly” (DSQ) journal created in the United States in 1982, and the “Disability & Society” journal established in the United Kingdom in 1985, are the top journals in the field of Disability Studies.

Last year, I worked with students primarily on a one-on-one basis and in small groups. When I did whole class instruction, I co-designed a lesson that involved a UDL (Universal Design for Learning) approach building in scaffolds for the lower performing students that can benefit all. In my new school in September, I intend to engage my students in the same way.

 

1. I learned that there is a separation in the field of Special Education; there are the “incrementalists” who are traditional people who have researched that concepts and strategies will work out for students, and there are the “reconceptualists” who sees that it’s not about the research, it’s about the social and emotional challenges that are going on with students. Even though there are two sides to the thought of Special Education, both share a side of self-respect towards students and what is right for them. 

 

2.  What was eye opening that the definition of disability is caused by judgment. This can mean the definition of disability can change throughout time and scientific research. 

 

3.  The article will impact my instruction because the idea of Universal Design of Learning (UDL) will be used in the classroom. Understanding that this can be planned group, such as co-teaching and team-teaching and not as an individual, not only we learn as educators on how we can deliver information to all students, but also how students can learn and give information back to the educator by various activities and implementations. 

I learned that there are different schools of thought when it comes to disability and special education; they are complicated. We have the Incrementalists that sees disability as a deficit that exist within the individual. They see this deficit as requiring a cure, and in the case of an educational disability, an educational cure is needed. Then on the other side we have the Reconceptualists that sees disability as a social construct, and while they do not deny that there are compromised functions that come with disability, they focus on changing environmental limitations rather than changing or “curing” the student.

One important issue that the article addresses is illustrated when the writer writes, “educators’ sincere, though frustrated, attempts to distinguish a child’s cultural and linguistic diversity from a disability is a further source of confusion that reveals the judgmental nature of disability.” 

This will impact my instructions greatly because I want to be able to design lesson for students regardless of where they are in their learning. I know the impact that great teachers had on me as a kid, and I want to replicate that. The more I read about education policy, the more evident it becomes that teachers alone cannot be the solution.  

3. How will it impact your instruction? 
I have now become aware of the biases that people without a disability possess including myself. This will allow me to approach instruction in a way that is empathetic to all students. Also, the high school that I worked at during my first year made it a point to not single out students with disabilities. Teachers did this by fusing differentiated materials into the lesson and all students had access. Through proving supports to the entire class and not just a selected few, students with IEPs and disabilities did not feel singled out in the classroom during instruction.