From Sweden to South Africa: 14,500 km of Diversity in Special Education Teacher Preparation Programs
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1
Western Washington University, United States
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2
Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates
Background
Special education teacher preparation programs vary widely across the world. This research highlights the commonalities, differences and innovative practices of special education preparation programs from a variety of selected universities from North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Goals of the Study
The purpose of the comparison is to identify and share effective practices and pioneering ideas about how best to prepare special education teachers to serve students with disabilities. Our ultimate goal is to stimulate and facilitate an international conversation about how the field prepares teachers for students with special needs so that we can learn from each other.
Method
This study included three types of data collection: 1.) Review of 115 College and University Websites, 2.) a 9 question survey and 3.) 48 selected in-depth e-mail conversations. Results included 48 personal responses representing 26 programs across Asia, Australia, North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Summary of Results
Of the 48 responses, 20 of them were consistent across all dimensions. Consistent responses were from programs undergraduate/post baccalaureate and Master’s degree. Major differences between programs and countries included the fact that in more programs than not, any teacher can teach any child—including a child with disabilities. More programs were delivered in a hybrid fashion than a face-to-face model. Slightly more programs offered an Inclusive focus rather than a Generalist or Specialist focus. Sadly, in many programs, no practicum opportunities are offered. Although there are similarities across programs and across the world in SPED teacher preparation, some of the differences in training, such as no practicum offers and a license to teach any child regardless of disability, can mean that teachers walk into the classroom woefully underprepared to work with children who have disabilities.
Conclusions
Approximately 93 million children in the world have a disability but the prevalence could be even higher (UNICEF, 2018). The specialized training of their teachers varies across program, across countries and across continents. This study is an initial attempt to document the state of Special Education Teacher Training across multiple countries. Through the establishment of connections we hope to lay the foundation for future collaborations and research.
References
UNICEF (2017). Disabilities in programmes. UNICEF. Retrieved from:
https://www.unicef.org/disabilities/index_65304.html
Keywords:
international special education,
Training for Inclusive Education,
Special Education Teacher Training Programs,
International Teacher Training,
Special education teacher training
Conference:
4th International Conference on Educational Neuroscience, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 10 Mar - 11 Mar, 2019.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Educational Neuroscience
Citation:
Coulter
G,
Lambert
MC and
Woolsey
M
(2019). From Sweden to South Africa: 14,500 km of Diversity in Special Education Teacher Preparation Programs.
Conference Abstract:
4th International Conference on Educational Neuroscience.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2019.229.00029
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Received:
05 Mar 2019;
Published Online:
27 Sep 2019.
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Correspondence:
Dr. M. Lynn Woolsey, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, drmarylynnwoolsey@gmail.com