tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316884372249589308.post2914720984569745935..comments2024-02-28T02:21:20.040-08:00Comments on Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher's blog: Time to take off the cotton wool gloves on special needs in school Xris32http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204550583061791755noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316884372249589308.post-3690739345584866842017-04-04T05:28:00.561-07:002017-04-04T05:28:00.561-07:00I can not imagine how difficult it must be to have...I can not imagine how difficult it must be to have a child with a disability, that kind of an experience would probably break me completely. I admire your strength and your dedication to treat this child equally as your other child and as you say, not support her, but push her harder. I'm not sure If I would have been able to do act like that. Maybe it is because I'm a woman, not sure... maybe fathers have more strength. Anyway I support your views and I do believe your are correct and you will do a better job enabling your daughter to have a normal life, then if you support her and treat her as a disabled person. Bibihttp://www.westendinschools.org.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316884372249589308.post-855819853463184402017-03-21T01:16:46.912-07:002017-03-21T01:16:46.912-07:00You have given very nice post it is very knowledge...You have given very nice post it is very knowledgeable and result oriented.<br /><a href="http://www.goteflthailand.com/" rel="nofollow">Tefl Course Chiang Mai<br /><a href="http://www.goteflthailand.com/jobs/" rel="nofollow">Paid English Teaching Jobs Abroad<br /></a></a><br />Guillaume Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09517738297228803009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316884372249589308.post-1740891674177847142017-03-19T12:41:40.633-07:002017-03-19T12:41:40.633-07:00Thank you for your comment, Beefo. I agree with yo...Thank you for your comment, Beefo. I agree with your point. There comes a point when you have to ask when the pushing should turn into support. We deal with people and people don't behave in the same way and respond to the same things. The teacher, for me, is the most important cog in the system. They need to know the child. I know the students I can push and the students that I support first and then push. My starting point will always be to push them and then if there is a problem I will then see what support is needed. <br /><br />It will always be about balance and finding the right balance. The post was highlighting that we were probably too far on the support side. Our automatic response is to support and not push.<br /><br />Xris <br />Xris32https://www.blogger.com/profile/12204550583061791755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316884372249589308.post-42058906171377082622017-03-19T11:48:08.062-07:002017-03-19T11:48:08.062-07:00Thanks for this. I found myself nodding vigorously...Thanks for this. I found myself nodding vigorously, right up until here:<br /><br />"They don’t need extra support. They need extra pushing."<br /><br />This approach works for me at home when I support my kids, and it works for the teachers at my kids' special school. <br /><br />But this approach only works for them at school and at home because a) we all know exactly what all their SEN are, b) because we all know exactly what it takes to meet all these SEN, c) because communication between home and school is very good, and d) - crucially - because both parents and staff know the kids inside out. <br /><br />Because of all these things, we know exactly the right time and place to push harder - and we know exactly the point at which further pushing becomes counter-productive; the point at which more support is required, even if only temporarily. <br /><br />My kids haven't always had this level of quality provision - particularly at school. And in the hands of the unconsciously incompetent and/or ideologically driven, "they don’t need extra support, they need extra pushing" can be a recipe for complete disaster.<br /><br />That's pretty much what happened to my eldest. The school refused to accept that he had a particular type of SEN; they believed that extra pushing, not extra support, was what was needed.<br /><br />So they pushed. And kept pushing. It didn't work, because there wasn't the right blend of support. My determined, hard-working kid's confidence just crumbled. And when it became clear that teachers were starting to blame him for his lack of progress, we ran for the hills - figuratively and literally.<br /><br />I completely agree with you that pushing children with SEND is vital. But in clumsy hands, it's a tool that doesn't always work. And in malevolent hands, it's a tool that can be used as a pretext to deny provision.beefohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07465906273327584583noreply@blogger.com