Module 1 Strand B1
Module 2 Module 3 Overview Map Caucus Home
Module 1 Strand B1
Medical vs. Educational Models
Reading Assignment: Bender text, chapter 2
Examine Bender's oversimplified comparison of the Medical vs Educational Model
in terms of : 1) etiology 2) terminology 3) assessment 4)
treatment
What research says......
- Cooper and Speece (1990) suggest students with LD bring unspecified cognitive, behavioural, linguistic, affective characteristics that have developed over time[they don’t "catch" a disability when they enter school]
- when a mismatch occurs between students’ learning styles, readiness and classroom expectations, some students may "catch" learning disabilities when they enter school
( such characteristics interact with the academic and social ecology of the classroom )
- Lloyd (1975) described a phenomenon "
dyspedagogia" (maleducation) and suggested "students in this category don’t
have learning problems, but their schools do!"
- Coles (1978) asserted that learning disabilities are a way
to blame a group of students for the failure of schools
- Engleman (1977) argued possibly "90% or more students who are labelled ‘learning disabled’ exhibit a disability not because of anything wrong with their perception, synapses or memory, but because they have been seriously mistaught. Learning disabilities are made, not born."
(Winzer, 1999, p.159)
THOUGHTS TO PONDER:
Proponents of maleducation suggest ways to avoid many LDs:
- better prepare teachers to handle students’ special learning problems in early school years
- more appropriate teaching settings
- broaden bands of acceptable behaviour
- use flexible grouping practices
- broaden curriculum
Could we be doing a better job in our classrooms? Does it take a specialist in special education or a regular educator with better understanding and effective pedagogy to meet the individual needs of students? How might you use the strategy- with your school staff? At team or child study meetings, staff meetings? Apply your thoughts and discussions to Assignment 4. Post in Caucus.
M1
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