Sean's Story

1.Do ALL students have the right to be in a general education first grade classroom?  Explain your answer.

All students should have the right to be in a gen ed first grade class because it provides experiences all students should have, whether or not they have special needs. It also helps the other students build a relationship with the “inclusion” students and maybe later on in life they wont be prejudice against them and will no longer have the ignorance they did about special needs. It helps all the children in the classroom.

 2.In your opinion what is one of the biggest benefits of inclusion?  Include one detail from the video to support your answer.

The biggest benefit of inclusion could be that it gives every child an equal opportunity to succeed in the real world. In the video, Sean’s mother said that the school he was going to before sheltered him and didn’t teach him valuable skills for life. In a few short months she had to quickly prepare him for the “shock” of first grade, in which for other kids at his level wouldn’t be so shocked because they had received a normal education.

3.In your opinion what is one of the biggest benefits of special schools for students with disabilities such as Bobby as shown in the video?

The biggest benefit from the special schools shown in the video, is the confidence it builds in each child. While the general education classrooms may be a good experience for special needs children, sometimes it could hurt their confidence in doing things and prevent them from wanting to succeed.

 4.Did anything in the video surprise you?  If so, what surpised you and why?

In the video, the superintendent of the school board said that the general education teachers shouldn’t be trained in how to teach the special needs students, and when they aren’t it doesn’t really affect anyone. He was saying as if the students didn’t really matter enough and neither did their education. This shocked me because he was the head of the education board, so he was in control of every child’s future and he could have potentially ruined some futures with the assumption, if the teacher’s didn’t receive proper training it really didn’t matter.

 5.Compare Sean and Bobby's mothers' approach to supporting their sons' education.

How did the video demonstrate the critical role expectations play in a child's education?

Sean’s mother fought for eight years, and persevered until he was in general education classes and Bobby’s mother wanted to keep him in the special school because she felt his self confidence would be kept in tact and he would succeed that way.