Interrogating the Intersections Between General and Special Education in the History of Teacher Education Reform

Abstract

This article provides an historical analysis of major reforms in teacher education, beginning in the 1970s, specifically focusing on the opportunities each reform presented to build a shared agenda across pre-service general and special education, and the constraints that operated on them. The analysis revealed the existence of several such intersections, each of which created substantive occasions for joint action across general and special education at every stage of teacher education reform. However, four factors— policy, funding, timing, and norms of separation—appear to have operated as constraints upon mining the capacity of these potential intersections. If the promise of a cohesive system of education capable of and committed to supporting struggling students across multiple and intersecting diversities is to be realized, it will be critical to coalesce around a comprehensive equity agenda that builds on the intersections that continue to exist between general and special education.

Navigating Barriers as Special Education Teacher Educators

“…It is critical that teacher educators are not mirroring the isolation of special education that occurs in many K–12 schools. Blanton and colleagues (2018) suggested that to advance a collective equity agenda, teacher educators must start by modeling this collaborative work for teacher candidates by engaging in shared learning across disciplines. To transform systems and advance access to the general curriculum for students with significant disabilities, all teacher educators should engage in conversations that challenge their assumptions about teaching and learning and provide opportunities to reflect critically on their own identities.…”

Building Collaborative Teacher Education: Integrating UDL through a Faculty Learning Community

“…Early attempts at merging general and special education programs have had limited success due to differing understandings of collaborative teacher education, the need to respond to discipline-specific professional standards, and integration of programs in name only . A historical analysis of teacher education reform that focused on collaboration across general and special education described factors that limited an intersection of the two disciplines (Blanton et al, 2018). These included policy and funding that sustained the historical separation, differences in the timing of policy-driven initiatives for general and special education, and norms of separation (e.g., discipline-specific standards).…”

“…This pattern of narrowly focused efforts indicates that our current attempts to increase collaboration in teacher education programs are still insufficient (Blanton et al, 2016). Blanton et al (2018) advocated for the use of teacher educator learning communities that provide a mechanism for shared discourse in order to overcome the structural and historical divide that has existed between general and special education and to prepare all graduates to teach diverse students in pre-K-12 classrooms.…”

An Empty Seat at the Table: Examining General and Special Education Teacher Collaboration in Response to Intervention

“…This can include developing dual certification programs; designing common foundational courses, offered to general and special education candidates, that all reflect a commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion; or creating workshops that provide general and special education opportunities to collaborate on projects that target the intersection of exceptionality and diversity. The persistent fissures across general and special education (Cochran-Smith & Dudley-Marling, 2012), which potentially begin within teacher education spaces (Blanton, Pugach, & Boveda, 2018), indicate that contemporary school structures may reinforce the perpetuation of silos, meaning candidates need explicit preparation on how to recognize and interrupt such patterns (Da Fonte & Barton-Arwood, 2017). This is a lot to ask of notice teachers, particularly recognizing the high rates of teacher burnout in underresourced schools often serving large populations of students from historically marginalized social groups (Abel & Sewell, 1999).…”