Managing Change in a Research University Special Education Program

Abstract

In the following case study, we describe the discourse and external events preceding a change in the culture of the University of Washington Special Education program. Activities that followed were typical of a paradigm shift as described in the literature. The study concludes with evidence of intense collaborative activity followed by significant programmatic and curricular modification. We end with a vision of future program directions and descriptions of the type of personnel needed to implement our vision.

Critical Features of Special Education Teacher Preparation

“…Other programs attended to integration across courses by teaching courses in integrated blocks, using weekly seminars, or both. Furthermore, many programs used case-based approaches, portfolios, and weekly seminars to help students reflect on their learning across courses and practicum experiences (Affleck & Lowenbraun, 1995;Bay & Lopez-Reyna, 1997;Burstein & Sears, 1998;Emond, 1995;Epanchin & Wooley-Brown, 1993;Lovingfoss et al, 2001;May et al, 1989;Otis-Wilborn & Winn, 2000;Sobel, French, & Filbin, 1998).…”

“…Thirty-five (55%) of the descriptions suggested that program faculty viewed learning to teach from a different epistemological stance (Affleck & Lowenbraun, 1995;Anderson & Baker, 1999;Epanchin & Wooley-Brown, 1993;Hall et al, 1997). These teacher educators viewed teacher learning as the collective examination of multiple knowledge bases, including, but not limited to, knowledge generated by experts.…”

“…Exemplary programs in general teacher education also placed heavy emphasis on subject matter pedagogy, whereas special education programs tended to focus on more generic pedagogy (e.g., instructional methods, assessment, individualized education plans). Only in the case of unified programs (see Affleck & Lowenbraun, 1995;Meyer, Mager,Yarger-Kane, Sarno, & Hex-Conteras, 1997;Norlander, Case, Reagan, Campbell, & Strauch, 1997;Ryan et al, 1997) and a few special education programs (Epanchin & Wooley-Brown, 1993;Giovani, Zide, & Banahan, 1974;Lovingfoss et al, 2001) did faculty focus on the integration of subject-matter pedagogy with special education and classroom practice. Many of the programs accomplished this integration by infusing special education competencies into subject-specific pedagogical coursework or teaching courses in integrated blocks.…”

“…There were difficulties in identifying field placements that modeled inclusive practices, in securing the necessary financial resources to support collaboration, and in determining how to share tasks associated with running and monitoring the program collaboratively. At the University of Washington, faculty encountered cultural barriers as they developed a unified teacher education program across separate special and general education programs (Affleck & Lowenbraun, 1995). Development of their unified program was particularly challenging due to their practices of offering categorical special education programs and rewarding faculty members exclusively for the accumulation of grants, doctoral student production, and scholarship.…”