http://readerswithautism.com/2011/01/paraeducators-need-to-speak-for-ourselves/
By Richard Finegan
There seems to be lots of interest on the web in information about paraeducators and our work with special needs kids. Plenty is written about us by teachers, administrators, union professionals or college professors who’ve never actually done our jobs. Not much out here is written by paraprofessionals ourselves. That is a shame.
Sara and Richard Finegan
Some, even some of our coworkers, may have the impression that we are little more than day care workers in the public schools. Most of us have been asked by a general ed teacher to leave the classroom (and the kids we are there to help) to go run some menial errand. Many of us are not even consulted about or included in IEPs relating to the kids we work with, as if our observations or insights are of no consequence.
If we are going to be taken seriously, as professionals, we need to support efforts to make our jobs more professional. Continuing education classes should be required for us, in my opinion. Certification by the state might be appropriate where that is not already done.
But I’ve drifted from my point: We need to speak for ourselves. We need to assert ourselves as intelligent, articulate professionals capable of worthwhile contribution to the discussion of our own jobs and role in the special education system.
With the expansion of full inclusion, where kids with special needs are distributed among the general ed population and not segregated in special classes, more of us than ever before will be working in general ed classrooms without the constant presence of a special ed teacher. Many of the general ed teachers will turn to us for guidance in dealing with issues relating to our kids. If you’ve worked as a one-on-one to an included child you know this to be true.
We need to be prepared to step up to the plate. Don’t wait for the general ed teacher to identify problems to you; bring things to his or her attention. Suggest solutions or consultations with the special ed case manager. Be an advocate for your kids. Be an advocate for yourself as a knowledgeable coworker in the classroom, more than just a warm-bodied adult.
We contribute to this acceptance of us as professionals when we stop letting the conversation, both in the schools and on the web, be ABOUT us and start being WITH us.
We need to speak for ourselves.
So here is my invitation to all paraeducators with something to say to the world: contact me. I have no desire to be a lonely voice in the wilderness of the internet . I can see that appropriate posts get published and, more importantly, FOUND by search engines like Google, bing, Yahoo, AOL. Together we can be stronger.
If there is enough interest in this, I am considering setting up a separate blog that can serve as a forum and sounding board for paraeducators. What do you think?
I am cross-posting this on The Demanding Classroom and Readers With Autism. Each blog already contains earlier posts for and about us as paraeducators. You can look for the category “Paraeducators” on either blog to find my posts, which are mostly different on each site.
Related posts:
- Paraeducator Central: Our New Blog
- Writing rules for a kindergartner with autism
- Why I object to the term shadow
- Role of the classroom aide: To help the child toward independence
- Paraprofessional/aide as facilitator in partner/group work
7 Comments
Hi Richard,
i am a teacher.
I would be lost without my para- support staff.
I have been fortunate to work with some very gifted ones.
I am wondering what sort of qualifications para-educators have in your country?
In Australia, most of our support staff are unqualified in terms of formal qualifications.They may have done some certificate based training in general disability services but that is still rare here.
How much involvement they have in the design and implementation of ILP’s or programs depends largely where they work and who they work with.
It would be fair to say, that for the most part para-educators are respected for the professional way in which they go about their work,but as unqualified workers they are not regarded as professionals in school settings.
Having said that, when I was young in my special education career, I got and still do get some of my best professional development from the para’s I word with. They are a very important part of my education team.
I do worry though in my visits to mainstream schools, when i see para’s who are expected to work above their level of expertise because the responsibility for the student’s teaching and learning program has been passed off to the para, so that the teacher can get on with the business of teaching the ‘other 25 students in the room’.
Apart from the fact it is illegal, it places para’s under incredible stress.
Do you have the same issues there?
Sue,
(If that looks like my wife in the avatar, it is. I have no idea why.) Anyway, in the U.S., qualifications for paraeducators differ from state to state, and in many cases from school district to school district. A few places have state certification. Generally, I believe, a high school diploma (or at most one or two years of college) and a passing grade on a standardized test is all that is required. I’ll grant you, that does not always get you a great labor pool for paras.
Because highly skilled or qualified paraeducators are probably the exception, here and in Australia, I suppose it is not surprising that we are not usually considered a significant contributing component in the special education case management process. But when case managers rarely even SEE their students for more than brief periods of time (which is true in these days of full inclusion) they depend on the observations of the paras.
Passing off to paras responsibilities that rightly belong with the special ed teacher is a natural result of assuming every child is best served by being shuffled into the general ed deck. They usually don’t hire more special ed teachers when they do this so kids in need of support often get less than they had before, because the special ed teachers can only be in one classroom at a time. So the paras are left to take up the slack. Yes, we often leave paras with general ed teachers who can provide them little guidance. This is the reality of the classroom today, and I think the only solution is more special ed co-teachers or better trained and qualified paraeducators.
Richard
I am an Educational Assistant in Canada and I would love to be involved with any sites where we could exchange thoughts, views, etc
I have been waiting for a chance to exchange thoughts from a para-pros point of view for a long time! I am looking
forward to the next few months of exchaning ideas.
Debra
I have to agree with you about the lack of quality regarding paraeducator article/blogs, on the internet. I am young and discerning to be a paraprofessional (for I have no interest in managing a full class, just working in small groups or one on one). I have assumed I would need certification of some sort, and I’m surprised there isn’t much. I’m personally really interested in going back to school, because of the lack of experience and because I simply would owe it to my students.
It is encouraging to see a voice here.
Michele, Debra, Katrina, and others:
Any parareducators or other interested parties are invited to contribute posts either to this blog or to another I will probably create in the near future. Put your thoughts in writing and email it to me.
Richard Finegan
Okay Paraeducators!
I started another blog just by, for, and about us: Paraeducator Central at http://www.paraeducatorcentral.com
Check it out. Leave a comment. Send me a post. Let’s get some discussion going!
Richard Finegan