Monday, July 8, 2013

Consultation, Collaboration and Inclusion Articles


Consultation Article Reviews

 

Article 1:

ADAPTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY QUARTERLY, 2002, 19, 261-279

The Consultation Process: Adapted Physical Education Specialists’ Perceptions

Rebecca K. Lytle, Doug Collier

This article is based on how special education teachers and general education teachers can work together and have a child with disabilities be included in a general physical education class.  “Consultation is most frequently operationalized as a triadic model. Friend and Cook (2000) define consultation as “ . . . a voluntary process in which one professional assists another to address a problem concerning a third party” (p. 22).”  Since more students are being included in general education classes, the APE specialist are being used more frequently by general education teacher and students.  A few things could affect how successful the consultations go, personalities of the people involved and commitment.  The consultation process that the APE teachers used the consultation method more once students were getting older into middle and high school as students like to be with their peers and don’t want to be pulled out into small groups. Having a willing GE teacher that will take ideas after a consultation with an APE teacher and then apply the ideas can help make a stronger program and successful student.  Communication goes both directions, so emails and phone calls can also help increase the success of students in a GE class when the APE teacher is not around.  Consultation is a great way for the GE and APE specialist to work together.

 

 

Article 2:

ADAPTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY QUARTERLY, 1999,16, 9-26

Consulting in Adapted Physical Education

Martin E. Block and Philip Conatser

This article stated that more GE teachers are having students with disabilities in their classes and may not have the information or ideas of how to include them in the class.  APE teachers are then losing their direct contact to the GE teacher and are now having to find time to consult with the teachers to go over training with the GE teacher since they now have more direct contact with the student.  Consultation for the APE teacher is defined as “problem solving process in which one professional help other experts, parent or community members work more successfully with a third party.”  The APE teacher works with the GE teacher who then works with the student. Lack of time and money are among the top problems when coming to consulting with others.  APE teachers have students at different schools and GE teachers can have 100-200 other students.  It could be hard to find time to meet and come up with plans for the students.  Finding time is crucial for the success of the student.  Co-teaching with a GE teacher could help until the teacher is comfortable implementing the plan could help, but then there is the time constraint, too. Consulting is becoming more common for the APE teacher and there is a lot that can still be learned for it and from it.

 

Article 3:

ADAPTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY QUARTERLY, 2004, 21, 3-49

Adapted Physical Educators: The Multiple Roles of Consultants

Rebecca K. Lytle and Gayle E. Hutchinson

The APE specialist role is changing from direct services to indirect services more and more due to the inclusion into general physical education classes.  APE teachers consult with multiple people, not just the GE teacher.  They consult with speech pathologists, special educators, and physical educators.  The APE teacher may be able to share knowledge about a disability, how to accommodate the student with the disability and instructional strategies.  People involved in the IEP process are constantly consulting with each other, through face to face contact or through technology.  There were a few different roles that the APE teacher was placed, advocacy, trainer/educator and fact finder.  The participants all liked working with children but with the role changing, they are working more with adults.  The article also suggests that for APE programs, more consultation classes could help since it is one the main aspects in APE.
 
 
 
 
Collaboration Article Reviews
 
Article 1:
Early Childhood Educ J (2009) 36:483–489
DOI 10.1007/s10643-007-0212-5
Collaborative Teaching of Motor Skills for Preschoolers with Developmental Delays
Nathan M. Murata  Carol A. Tan
This article was based on the collaboration between a team of people.  This included occupational therapists, physical therapists, adapted physical educators and preschool teachers. Usually the classroom teacher is responsible for the motor domain but might not have the full capability of teaching it to students with developmental delays.  These could be “motor, psycho-socio, speech language, emotional, and cognitive delays.”  Keeping common goals by all of the above professionals, they have to collaborate to make sure supports for behavioral and teaching strategies to be able to incorporate the students to be successful and have fun.  Spatial awareness, bilateral integration, sequencing skills and imitation skills should be designed  to address readiness skills.  The final findings to this article was that if they used appropriate skills and started from the basics and then built on each skill, the child will more than likely be successful.
 
Article 2:
Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 10(2), 173-184
Efficient and Effective Formats for Collaborative Consultation
Noell W. Reinhiller
In an educational setting, collaborative consultation can look different.  The main point this article wants you to know is that “all types of collaborative consultation place a strong emphasis on communication skills.”  There are a few factors that hinder this process.  Time is a big factor for educators.  They are already busy doing things that they need to do, then finding time for the special education teachers to meet with a general education teacher sometimes is hard.  When I need to talk to a special education teacher, or any teacher for that matter, it’s either before or after school or at lunch.  We don’t have a carved out time for us to meet.  Since special education teachers typically have small class sizes compared to large general education classes, this article is helpful for gen ed teachers that need to collaborate with a special ed teacher about a student. This article also has two different formats which one follow to decrease the time of the meeting and to be able to get right to the point.  One version is called ACT.  First you’d analyze the concern for that student.  Then choose an intervention that could work in your class. And the third is to implement it in your class and evaluate the progress.  The scenario in the article was helpful and could be a good tool to try while collaborating with a fellow teacher.
 
Article 3:
Voices From the Field: Skill Sets Needed for Effective Collaboration and Co-teaching
Jodie Brinkmann  Travis Twiford
Since NCLB and IDEA, more collaboration in needed to make successful teachers and schools.  This article had three different groups, including pre-service training, coursework and experiences received and what data showed what teachers thought as helpful.  What teachers thought of as important are not always what is being taught in teacher preparation programs.  Throughout the study teachers agreed that certain experiences, skills, and knowledge are necessary for collaboration and co-teaching as well as interpersonal skills and communication.  Communication was the most common theme amongst the teachers and the most important skill to becoming effective with co-teaching.  Almost half of what the pre service training that teachers thought were important, were not held up as taught.  Collaboration with teachers, staff and administration are key in building successful teachers.

Inclusion Article Reviews

Article 1:

Martin E. Block , Aija Klavina & Wayne Flint (2007): Including Students with Severe, Multiple

Disabilities in General Physical Education, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 78:3, 29-32


 

This article was about including students with disabilities into general physical education classes. The main point was trying to get students with severe, multiple disabilities into general education classes as long as they were successful and safe.   Students are wanted to start out in the GPE class, and if they are not safe or successful, then other options need to be looked at to make that student successful.  “These strategies revolve around three major themes: (1) identifying and selecting appropriate goals and objectives for the student with disabilities and then finding ways to help the student achieve these goals and objectives while in GPE, (2) making the GPE setting safe for the student with SMD, and (3) facilitating social interaction between students with and without SMD.”  I had a student with mild Cerebral Palsy and he was included in my class.  With the help of the IEP, the APE teacher and myself, we were able to come up with modified equipment or rules so he could participate with the class to the best of his ability.  He was very shy around other classmates but the students included him during games, drills and helped encourage him with social interactions.

 

Article 2:

Betty A. Block & Peggy V. Johnson (2011): The Adapted Dance Process, Journal of Physical Education,

Recreation & Dance, 82:2, 16-23


 

This article talks about dance and how it can be adapted by people of any age, gender and ability level. Some students with disabilities might not be in general education classes.  They are with the same classmates all day, so physical education may be the only time they are receiving socialization with other students.  A person with a disability may have a wheelchair or a prosthetic limb.  All this needs to be taken into consideration by the teacher and the student and perhaps the student’s partner, since this equipment is a part of their body for the most part.  There is a box in the article that is very well laid out and has information about students with balance and coordination challenges, physical and intellectual disabilities, hearing and visual impairments and emotionally disturbed and Autism and how to incorporate them.   The California State Standards have a section where dance is a required unit.  I teach folk, multicultural and square dancing at my school.  It is one of my favorite units to teach.  I let them know they will not get marked down if they do the wrong steps or if they forget a step, just pick it up when they remember.  Dance is a great was to use creativity and social skills as a group to reach a fantastic outcome, no matter the ability level.

 

Article 3:

Jessica L. Schultz , Lauren J. Lieberman , M. Kathleen Ellis & Linda C. Hilgenbrinck (2013): Ensuring the Success of Deaf Students in Inclusive Physical Education, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 84:5, 51-56


 

This article was about students who are deaf being included in general physical education and general classes, as well.   They say 43% of students who are deaf are in general education classes.  Being deaf should not be a limiting factor for them not to be involved in physical education.  American Sign Language is the main source of interacting, but handouts, demonstrations, written notes or any other type of visual aids could be beneficial to people who are either deaf or hearing.  There are many ways that children of different ability levels learn.  Finding the best communication strategy for the teacher and the student is the best way to be successful in class.  I took two American Sign Language classes this year and I had one of my 6th grade classes use ASL counting when we did stretching.  I plan on doing more signs with my classes in the future.  The students really seemed to enjoy learning something other than PE in class and we used it the counting when we were inside so they weren’t screaming numbers while we stretched. 

 

 


 

 
 
 

1 comment:

  1. I like the consultation articles I believe that I found the same ones that you did! But as more students with disabilities are placed into GPE we need to use our resources to the fullest that is the reason these specialist have been hired for.

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