From Sweden to South Africa: 14,500 km of Diversity in Special Education Teacher Preparation Programs

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event From Sweden to South Africa: 14,500 km of Diversity in Special Education Teacher Preparation Programs Gail Coulter1, M. C. Lambert1 and M. Lynn Woolsey2* 1 Western Washington University, United States 2 Emirates College for Advanced Education, United Arab Emirates Background Special education teacher preparation programs vary widely across the world. This research highlights the commonalities, differences and innovative practices of special education preparation programs from a variety of selected universities from North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Goals of the Study The purpose of the comparison is to identify and share effective practices and pioneering ideas about how best to prepare special education teachers to serve students with disabilities. Our ultimate goal is to stimulate and facilitate an international conversation about how the field prepares teachers for students with special needs so that we can learn from each other. Method This study included three types of data collection: 1.) Review of 115 College and University Websites, 2.) a 9 question survey and 3.) 48 selected in-depth e-mail conversations. Results included 48 personal responses representing 26 programs across Asia, Australia, North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Summary of Results Of the 48 responses, 20 of them were consistent across all dimensions. Consistent responses were from programs undergraduate/post baccalaureate and Master’s degree. Major differences between programs and countries included the fact that in more programs than not, any teacher can teach any child—including a child with disabilities. More programs were delivered in a hybrid fashion than a face-to-face model. Slightly more programs offered an Inclusive focus rather than a Generalist or Specialist focus. Sadly, in many programs, no practicum opportunities are offered. Although there are similarities across programs and across the world in SPED teacher preparation, some of the differences in training, such as no practicum offers and a license to teach any child regardless of disability, can mean that teachers walk into the classroom woefully underprepared to work with children who have disabilities. Conclusions Approximately 93 million children in the world have a disability but the prevalence could be even higher (UNICEF, 2018). The specialized training of their teachers varies across program, across countries and across continents. This study is an initial attempt to document the state of Special Education Teacher Training across multiple countries. Through the establishment of connections we hope to lay the foundation for future collaborations and research. Figure 1 References UNICEF (2017). Disabilities in programmes. UNICEF. Retrieved from: https://www.unicef.org/disabilities/index_65304.html Keywords: international special education, Training for Inclusive Education, Special Education Teacher Training Programs, International Teacher Training, Special education teacher training Conference: 4th International Conference on Educational Neuroscience, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 10 Mar - 11 Mar, 2019. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Educational Neuroscience Citation: Coulter G, Lambert MC and Woolsey M (2019). From Sweden to South Africa: 14,500 km of Diversity in Special Education Teacher Preparation Programs. Conference Abstract: 4th International Conference on Educational Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2019.229.00029 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 05 Mar 2019; Published Online: 27 Sep 2019. * Correspondence: Dr. M. Lynn Woolsey, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, drmarylynnwoolsey@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Gail Coulter M. C Lambert M. Lynn Woolsey Google Gail Coulter M. C Lambert M. 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