Opinion, Special Education

A New State of Normal in Education

After another failed attempt to make inroads for his daughter at school, the father commented in frustration, "I want her to have a normal life."  I read these words over and over.  A normal life.  That doesn't seem like much to ask  for any parent. The article was on the front page of The Wall  Street Journal , it was entitled, "Wave of New Disabilities Swamps School Budgets". I was initially drawn to the article by the title - but found myself fixated on the picture of the young girl who looked emotionally worn, yet anything but disabled.

Hidden Disabilities

Always a fixture in school politics, the complexity of special education is highlighted once again in this article, explaining the obstacles many schools are facing to provide services to students who posses hidden disabilities. Included in this group are forms of disabilities which have yet to be diagnosed or those which are difficult for the school to evaluate and determine student need. One of the more commonly known disabilities in this group is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. As I continued to read the lengthy article, I could not help but feel for this family and their daughter.  The 15-yr old  has yet to complete an entire day of  high school due to extreme fatigue and has racked up over five months of absences in the process. She struggles to remember class assignments and has long ago given up the notion of getting out of bed in time to make the first bell. School administrators and her parents have clashed over her circumstances but overall have worked tirelessly in an attempt to find solutions so their daughter may experience a normal high school education.  So far - no luck.

What Is Normal?

But the longer I thought about it, the more I began to wonder that perhaps the problem stems from society's definition of normal. For starters, who ever said that our current public educational model was normal?  My goodness, it was developed in the 1700's I think, maybe earlier.  We still continue to make kids congregate in one building, with identical-aged children grouped together regardless of ability.  We then force our kids to listen to a lecture where we then ask them to regurgitate what they have learned through the means of a test.  Ironically, when we witness a child fail in this outdated learning environment, we somehow draw the conclusion the child is at fault.  Perhaps what we need to do is question the method our country uses to educate our children.

Different Ways To Learn

So I did a little research on Google and found that in general: 5% of students are tactile learners (they learn through experience) 30% are auditory learners (they learn from hearing information) 65% are visual learners (they learn from seeing information). Interesting.  This might explain why some children are able to perform quite nicely in elementary school but begin to struggle more and more as the auditory teaching style (lecturing) begins to take precedence.

Time To Change

I want you to think about this observation.  When you look at the above percentages, why does our public school system follow an auditory learning style when 70% of kids prefer other teaching styles? Why is the only normal out there consist of  having to congregate with every same-aged child in town for 180 days a year in one building?  We think it is normal because it is the only thing we know and as parents of children with disabilities, we desire more than anything for our children to experience what all the other kids in town are experiencing.  However, those same kids would probably benefit from a new normal too.  Which leads me to believe our society is pushing an overwhelming number of square pegs into round holes. So let's change our normal. With the increase in technology and new learning formats, the sky is the limit for our kids. In fact, U.S Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, had a nice editorial in The Wall Street Journal entitled, "A Digital Promise to Our Nation's Children".  In a nut shell, he announced the federal government's public/private initiative to help schools take advantage of technology to transform our classrooms and make it easier for schools to meet the different learning styles of all children.  I am very optimistic to see this kind of progress in our schools, because let's face it, not all of us have the resources to opt out of a public education.

Are You Ready To Adapt?

But be prepared, an actual school building may be a thing of the past in the next few decades when public education begins to fully embrace technology.  For example, the young girl highlighted in this article may find her school day to consist of meeting with several students who have similar obstacles during the school day.  They become a close knit group which supports and helps each other learn.  Tutors and technology are integrated to move these students forward in their academics.  Socially, they form strong bonds with the peers who understand them best. We all know there is good and bad in all progress so we would be wise to prepare for the future of education. But overall, we are going to have more flexibility when it comes to the structure of our child's school day, and in the end, there will be no normal but your own. What would your child's normal look like? For a little inspiration take a look at this video and learn about a new concept in education: The Studio School