EDU3420 Foundations of Special Education
This course addresses the evolution of the field of special education, its philosophical and theoretical foundations, legal underpinnings and current trends and controversies. Emphasis is on acquiring a broad knowledge base regarding the characteristics of students with exceptional learning needs and the process and procedures for providing special education. Consideration is given to how issues of human diversity impact families, cultures and schools and how these issues affect delivery of special education services. An integrated field experience enables students to analyze and interpret how some of the topics under study are enacted in practice.
Course Outcomes
- After completing this course, students should be able to answer the following questions: How have societal attitudes and historical forces affected the treatment and education of individuals with disabilities? How do they still affect these individuals today?
- How does “disability” relate to issues of compassion, justice, diversity, and inclusion? How have federal, state, and local laws and the outcomes of important court cases affected the way in which exceptional students are educated?
- What are the characteristics, causes, and developmental courses of disabilities?
- How do we decide whether a student needs special education services?
- Why do schools create Individual Educational Programs (IEP’s) for students with disabilities? How are IEPs constructed?
- What issues need to be considered when working with children from diverse ethnic, racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds?
- What do schools need to do to prepare students with disabilities for adult life and work?
- How does having a child with a disability affect the family (and vice versa)?
- What has research contributed to the field of special education?
- What do educators need to be able to consider when planning and implementing instruction for students with disabilities?
- How is technology changing special education for good and not so good?