|
The philosophy which underlies the Special Education Program's curriculum and the activities of the program's faculty includes the following elements:
1. All students with disabilities have the right to the same life-enhancing opportunities and experiences as non-disabled students.
2. Educational services should be provided in settings which are culturally normative and in ways which minimize prejudice, stereotyping, stigmatization, and discrimination.
3. Education focuses not only on culturally-valued individual competencies, but also on attitudes, images, and barriers which may prevent students with disabilities from achieving full educational, social, vocational, political, and economic integration.
Mission
The following mission statement gives direction to the basic and advanced programs in special education.
The Special Education program at the University of New Hampshire seeks to prepare highly qualified educators who possess the knowledge, dispositions, and skills necessary to take the lead in establishing effective teaching and learning environments for a diverse population of learners, who are capable of collaborating with classroom teachers as team teachers or consultants, and who utilize these skills within their school communities, and within the profession itself. "Leader" to us means someone who is knowledgeable in subject matter and educational theory and research, who can make well reasoned judgments in complex situations with competing viewpoints, who is exemplary in his or her own practice and who both takes initiative for planned change, and collaborates effectively with others in the improvement of education.
Program Theme: Leadership within the School Community and Profession
Students will receive the Master of Education degree in Special Education, and will be certified in general special education. The program includes a certification option in general special education for students enrolled in the M.Ed. or M.A.T. in teacher education. (For more information about this option please contact the program coordinator.)
|
Goals and Outcomes
Program Theme: Excellence in Practice
Goal One. Our graduates will be knowledgeable in the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.
Outcomes. Our graduates are able to:
♦ demonstrate depth of knowledge and recognize how knowledge in their subjects is created, organized, and linked to other disciplines.
♦ demonstrate specialized knowledge of how to teach subject matter to a diverse population of students.
♦ use multiple approaches and materials to facilitate student learning.
Goal Two. Our graduates will be committed to students and their learning.
Outcomes. Our graduates will be able to:
♦ value all students and treat them accordingly.
♦ have an understanding of how all students develop and learn.
♦ evaluate and identify diversity among their students and determine effective practice accordingly.
♦ utilize current research and theory to determine appropriate professional practice.
Goal Three. Our graduates will be responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.
Outcomes. Our graduates will be able to:
♦ employ multiple methods to assure student learning.
♦ facilitate learning in one-to-one, small group and large group settings.
♦ utilize formal and informal assessments to evaluate student progress and determine appropriate instructional supports.
♦ collaborate with professionals and parents in facilitating student learning.
♦ utilize multiple strategies to motivate a diverse population of student learners
♦ facilitate student engagement in the learning process.
♦ document student assessment and learning to meet legal requirements.
Goal Four. Our graduates will be effective organizers of the learning environment.
Outcomes. Our graduates will be able to:
♦ create and maintain an atmosphere conducive to learning.
♦ create and contribute to a community of learners; facilitating the integration of all learners.
♦ create and maintain an atmosphere fostering mutual respect and caring; facilitating an environment that encourages self-advocacy and interdependence.
♦ cultivate within their own students a recognition and a valuing of diversity.
♦ foster a learning atmosphere that enhances the self-awareness, self-control, self-reliance, and self-esteem of all students.
Goal Five. Our graduates will be thoughtful and reflective practitioners who learn from experience.
Outcomes. Our graduates are able to:
♦ make well reasoned judgments in complex situations.
♦ request, analyze and act on constructive feed-back.
♦ consider moral, philosophical, and social implications of educational decisions.
♦ utilize educational research in facilitating their own professional development.
Goal Six. Our graduates will be committed to collaboration which facilitates student growth and learning.
Outcomes. Our graduates will be able to:
♦ describe the importance and benefits of communication and collaboration which promotes student learning.
♦ utilize collaborative strategies.
♦ encourage and assist other professionals, parents and students to participate in collaboration.
Goal Seven. Our graduates will be informed decision-makers and agents of change.
Outcomes. Our graduates are able to:
♦ evaluate the relative merits of educational reform efforts and theoretical perspectives to determine their appropriateness to each child, the classroom, institutional, and broader societal contexts in which the reform is implemented.
♦ articulate their own conceptual and philosophical perspective on teaching and learning based on current theories and research including its relationship to/with regular education.
♦ develop an understanding of how leadership is informed by varied perspectives on the structure of public education, the nature of educational change, and the teacher's role in the change process.
Goal Eight. Our graduates will be active members of learning and professional communities.
Outcomes. Our graduates will be able to:
♦ collaborate with colleagues to enhance their own teaching, learning and professional development.
♦ demonstrate a commitment to developing the highest education and quality of life potential for all individuals.
♦ work collaboratively with students, peers, parents and community members to develop and enhance effective learning environments.
♦ participate in professional organizations and continue professional growth and develpment.
♦ promote ethical practices for sharing confidential information and communication to others about individuals with exceptional learning needs.
♦ consider the moral and ethical implications of educational practice within the classroom, the school, the community and the family when interacting with individuals with exceptional learning needs.
|
