Amber Gilbert

Sped 854: Family and Interprofessional Collaboration in Special Education

Personal Philosophy Statement

Why is collaboration in Special Education important?

When thinking about collaboration in special education, the first thing that comes to

mind is team work. I am reminded how important it is to be able to collaborate with other

peoples opinions, expertises, and knowledge. While one person may see a situation one way,

someone else may see it completely different. Both being able to offer different perspectives

and advice. When dealing with the diverse set of needs that students in special education have,

it is important to be able to see things from all sides. It isnt just a coincidence that the most

successful programs have a team of professionals that can successfully collaborate together.

Last year I was working at a small elementary school as a resource teachers

paraprofessional. Our students were mostly fifth graders struggling with math and reading, who

also seems to be exhibiting strong signs of behavior issues. Along with the resource teacher and

myself, there were three other fifth grade general education teachers. Since this was my first

experience working in this type of position, I felt I had little to offer the team, but was excited

to see them in action and gain some much needed experience. I had a lot of ideas as to how I

thought I could help and was open to input from the other teachers. Much to my

disappointment, what I gained instead was a lot of frustration.

What started out so positive in my mind, turned into a prime example of what happens

when there is no cohesive collaboration amongst a team. Meeting times were set up, but then

cancelled with little or no notice. Even though each teacher had an hour for planning every day,

they all stated that they were too busy with other responsibilities that needed their prompt

attention, and were usually not available during the times they stated they would be. When
Amber Gilbert
Sped 854: Family and Interprofessional Collaboration in Special Education
Personal Philosophy Statement

someone would make the time to discuss a student, and what they felt needed to be addressed

with the student, it would inevitably turn into a finger pointing session about how some other

teacher was not doing their job, and therefore we would be unable to do ours. I literally felt like

I was back in High School dealing with a group of teenagers that didnt like each other.

The needs of the students that were already identified as needing assistance were

usually not addressed until weeks after the fact. Not only was this frustrating for me, the

students would also notice the disaccord amongst the teachers and started using it as an

excuse as to why they were struggling with a particular subject or classroom. For one student in

particular, on a behavior plan, it turned destructive. Although he was meant to have a

consistent seat in each classroom, (there were three classrooms he transitioned to) he was

constantly asked to move seats to accommodate other students which began a pattern of

acting out and being sent from the classroom almost daily.

Ultimately, nothing was ever discussed as a team. Paperwork would be turned in as one

teacher or another would make a decision on their own, and even the recommendations for

that student were usually only followed by the person making the recommendation. When I

think of the time and effort that was lost, and the needs of some of the students that were

never addressed I felt defeated.

To be successful at collaborating, you need to have an open mind and patience. You

need to know how to deal with situations that others have seemingly given up on. I was

reminded while reading: Cook and Friend (2010) The State of the Art of Collaboration on Behalf

of Students With Disabilities, pg 6, School collaboration is highly successful in some settings

and functions as a catalyst for accomplishing significant school reform. In other settings,
Amber Gilbert
Sped 854: Family and Interprofessional Collaboration in Special Education
Personal Philosophy Statement

however, collaboration exists as a series of informal relationships that are fragile and person-

dependent My experience was certainly an example of how quickly those fragile relationships

can crumble.