What’s in a label?

Alaina SmithEPSE 590November 8, 2011

WHAT DECISIONS DO WE MAKE BASED ON A LABEL?

Does the label influence our decision or do we decide based on what’s inside?

The Plan My personal connection Brief historical view Examples from SD#42 (Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows)

Redefining LD Closing remarks

Some Contemporary views on labeling………

Global ViewsPersonal

Views

Labeling is a process of creating descriptors to identify persons who differ from the norm (Darrow and White, 1998)

*Labeling is definitive; once we say it then it holds meaning (Namka, 1997)

From the Ontario Coalition on Inclusive Education, 2002

teachers didn't want to teach me

forcing parents to say what is wrong with their children

teachers were mean being segregated, pushed

around and called names it made me feel different

from everybody else when I found out I was

really angry. I rebelled. I acted out.

I felt like an outcast

You never know…. “I always felt a bit

alone and isolated from other people…I did a lot of pretending as a child. It was my way of coping with the fact that I didn’t feel like I fit in.”

Keneau Reeves, actor, dyslexic

“I felt like an alien. I always felt like I never belonged to any group that I wanted to belong to.”

Steven Spielberg, movie maker, dyslexic, struggled with math, dropped out of high school

The Rise in “Non-typical” Students: A challenge for our times. By: Cheryl Ashlie

Based on a presentation given by Laurie Meston,

Director of Student Support Services, 2009.

School district #42 Students are labeled

or coded to get Ministry funding

System is very adept at coding students

Education is becoming more specialized, therefore harder for classroom teachers to meet needs

‘60s and ‘70s - 97% considered “typical”

‘80s and ‘90s – 90% Late ‘90s – present day

– 65% - 70% Newly trained teachers

are not armed to teach the diversity in current BC classrooms

What if LD really stood for Learning Differently?

after struggling through the primary grades with learning to read and write, Lexi was diagnosed in Grade 4 with Dyslexia and a fine motor delay

She was embarrassed to learn that she had and LD and was convinced that it stood for “LEXI DUMB”

Took until a new school in Grade 6 before she came to terms with it and really began learning how to deal with her LD

Defining Learning Disabilities

Siegel and Lipka, 2008 BC Special Education Manual, pg. 55

Kirk provided one of the first definitions in 1966, and at least 11 definitions have been accepted as the official definition since.

In BC, we identify students with an LD based on the following criteria:

Persistent difficulty learning and

Average or above average cognitive ability and

Weaknesses in cognitive processing

Meeting the needs of all learners

The only “good learning” is that which is in advance of development (Vygotzky)

“We need all teachers to be as good as our ‘good’

teachers

Students are individuals

Learning spaces need to promote success

Curriculum needs to be flexible and accessible so that all learners can be successful

Teacher training needs to reflect needs of students

People, not programs make the difference

Is change possible within our system or do we need to change the system?

Students need to be involved in their educational path

It is the learning process that is meaningful not how much content we cover

What do I and can I do to make sure my students received the best possible educational program?

I have no answers

-

John Dewey, Experience and Education Jean Piaget

What we want and need is education pure and simple, and we shall make surer and faster progress when we devote ourselves to finding out just what education is and what conditions have to be satisfied in order that education may be a reality and not a name or a slogan.

"The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered."

 

Final Thoughts

ReferencesAshlie, Cheryl. (2009). “The Rise in ‘Non-typical’ Students: A Challenge

for Our Times.” Visions: BC’s Mental Health and Addictions Journal, Vol. 5, No.2, p. 4-5.

Darrow, A. & White, G.W. (1998). “Sticks and Stones… and Words CAN Hurt: Eliminating Handicapping Language” in Music Therapy Perspectives, Vol. 16 #2.

Davis, K. (2004). What’s in a name: Our only label should be our name: Avoiding the stereotypes. The Reporter, 9(2), 10-12, 24. http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/index.php?pageId=364

Dewey, John.  (1916).  Democracy and education: an introduction to the philosophy of education. Simon & Schuster Inc.: New York.

Egan, K., & Madej, K. (2009). Learning in depth: Students as experts. Education Canada, 49, 18-23.

LiD: learning in depth. Retrieved from http://www.ierg.net/ on November 3, 2010.

Namka, Lynn Ed. D. (1997). “Labels are for Jelly Jars: Teach Children—Don’t Label Them!” members.aol.com/angriesOut/teach3htm.

Siegel, L. & Ladyman, S. (2002). A review of special education in British Columbia. http://www.reatbc.org.downloads/review.pdf

 

References ContinuedSiegel, L. & Lipka, O. (2009). The definition of learning

disabilities: who is the individual with learning disabilities? In G. Reid, A. Fawcett, F. Manis & L. Siegel (Eds.) The Sage Dyslexia Handbook. Sage Publications.

Snow, K. (2003). People First Language document. Self published at 250 Sunnywood Lane, Woodland Park, CO. 80863.

Squire, Mike (1994). “Labels: A Liability of Disability.” www.jtsma.org.uk/tributemikesquirelbls.html

TASH Newsletter October 1998 Vol. 24 #10: Effects of Labeling.