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History and Origins of the Exceptional Education

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History and Origins of the Exceptional Education

Part I. Literature review on the chosen topic

Also regarded as the aided education, special-needs education, or special education, exceptional education means the practice of educating the learners in a manner that will address the special needs and individual differences of the involved learners. The other meaning of exceptional education is that it is a form of education that involves catering to the needs of the learners and also providing them with related services so that they might realize their full potential. Regarding the history as well as the origins of special education, there has always been the existence of exceptional learners, but the existence of the special education services to address the needs of such learners was lacking or non-existence (Kauffman & Paige, 2017). During the last years of the 18th century and also following the American as well as the French Revolutions, certain efforts were made in coming up with effective procedures that were devised for educating the children that had sensory impairments such as the blind and the deaf individuals that required specialized services.

In the year 1829, an individual by the name, Samuel Gridley Howe established the initial residential school for the blind learners and the curriculum did not only focus on instruction in traditional writing, reading, and mathematics but also focused on the development of the individual abilities and interests of the learners, (AAIDD, 2016). During the 19th century, the initial systematic attempts were made, and these were meant for educating the insane and idiotic children, and these learners are currently known to have emotional or behavioral disorders and intellectual disabilities, and these learners are also known to be having or suffering emotional disturbance. The other essential aspect to realize as far as the history and origins of the exceptional education is concerned is that within the prerevolutionary period, the society was highly involved in the provision of protection asylum for the special learners, and they were being protected from the cruel and harsh world that did not appear to have a place for them. Due to the presence of the cruel world, the special learners were not at a point of surviving with dignity, in case they were at a point of surviving at all. However, the ideas of individual freedom, democracy, and also egalitarianism started sweeping across France and America, a change in the attitude concerning the special learners was realized.

The political reformers, as well as the leaders in the field of medicine as well as in the education sector, started championing the cause of the children as well as the adults that had disabilities. The individuals were highly involved urging that the imperfect or the incompetent learners, in this case, the children with impairments, be taught the skills that were meant for allowing them to become independent and also productive and as well as responsible citizens. The above humanitarian sentiments even surpassed the desire to protect the special learners and also to defend the individuals that had disabilities. The early leaders and human activists were also seeking to normalize the exceptional learners to the biggest extent that was possible and also confer on these people the human dignity that they were presumably lacking (Karl-Georg, 2011). Due to the need for conferring such people with the much human dignity they required, there arose the desire for the development of educational methods that would be essential for teaching such learners with disabilities and other essential and special needs for the special learners. Therefore, educational technologies and methods became essential for training the children, and this is also another important aspect to examine as far as the history and origins of the exceptional education are concerned.

Regarding the above statement, contemporary methods for teaching special learners might be traced back to the techniques that were pioneered by the early humanitarians that were seen as early as in the 1800s. Perhaps, the majority of the current and vital issues in the special education sector might be claimed as also being the issues that were being experienced since the dawn of the special education. Among the majority of the writers also believe that the instruction within the history of special education might be critically significant so that it would foster an understanding of the contemporary issues being faced at the moment. According to Craig (2010), the understanding of the current issues in the special education sector might be understood by using the information and lessons that individuals learned in the past. By relating the past information with the current issues being faced, then an individual is at a point of clearly understanding the prevailing issues and instances, and all this might be accredited to the information of the past. Among the essential methods that were put forward for training the special learners included individualized instruction, tutoring functional skills, rewarding for the correct performance as well as having a sequence of educational tasks so that learners do not suffer from work overload. There is also an undertaking such as emphasizing on the simulation and stimulation as well as awakening measures of the senses of the learners.

Part II. Examination of a similar period

The aspect of special education might also be extended to a similar period, and this instance will be an out of the class encounter. It is a moment similar to special education, and that significantly influences the special learners, especially to the current work of the students as well as the accomplishments and the projected goals of the career of an individual. Having a great interest in working with the kids and working with the children as a dance teacher for eight years and specifically dealing with the learners with special needs, it was my opportunity to learn a significant aspect. It was also my opportunity to develop my career as a behavioral analyst and developed an interest in dealing with special needs children because of having a child suffering from autism. The greatest aspect that is realized is that exercises specifically by engaging in dances with the learners were an important aspect for enabling the learners to become successful in their current work, accomplishments as well as their projected goals in their careers.

In this aspect, children with special needs are not at a high point of engaging in dance processions and other out of class exercises due to certain needs that the learners might be having. Specifically, the learners also hate the exercise, especially engaging in dancing activities due to the inabilities and limitations as compared to the learners that do not have special needs (Barbara, 2018). However, as an individual involved in dealing with children with special needs, especially in involving them in dance practices, it becomes the biggest role of the facilitator to design dance practices that all the learners, even those with special needs, will take part in. As an example, dance practices might be designed such that even the impaired learners might engage in even if they might take part while seated. The undertaking will be important for stimulating what the learners are doing at the moment as well as achieving their long-term goals.

Concluding thoughts

As far as the impaired learners are concerned, it might be right to claim that disability is not inability. The implication by the phrase is that even the physically or mentally impaired individuals, especially the learners, are at a point of becoming successful in their learning missions. It might also be argued that in the presence of such impaired learners in an education setting, there is a high need for designing programs that will cater to all the requirements of the impaired learners. Specifically, essential techniques and methods need to be adopted, such as giving the learners extra attention and the use of technological methods for engaging the learners in the learning process so that they also become successful just like the other unimpaired learners.

References

American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. (AAIDD). (25th July 2016). Advancing the Federal Committee to “Leave No Child Beyond.” National Council on Disability.

Barbara J. Dray. (January 2018). History of special education: An encyclopedia for social and cultural foundations of education. Sage publishers. Pages 744-747.

Craig, Kristi-Lynn, William, E. Brown, and Thomas Cornman et al., (2010). A historical analysis of the special education services in conservative Christian Schools since 1950.

Daniel, P. Hallahan, James, M. Kauffman, and Paige, C. Pullen. (2017). Exceptional learners: An introduction to special education, fourteenth edition.

Karl-Georg Ahlstrom. (1st June 2011). The origin of special education. A journal on educational inquiry, 18(2).