M. GrégoireOct 14

I listened over the weekend to #TheLineCa's most recent podcast, in which they discussed Alberta teacher's strike. The most enlightening part of the discussion was about the special-needs students. They pointed out that -- partially in response to court rulings, partially for ideological reasons -- such children are now much more likely to be sent to regular classes rather than to ones with specialised teachers. I've heard some stories about the challenges this creates.

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#abpoli

Show threadM. Grégoire

Here's a link to the podcast, for those who are curious about the issue: https://www.readtheline.ca/p/the-line-podcast-carney-meets-trump (Discussed around the 60 minutes mark, as I recall.)

Perhaps we can all agree that special-needs children should get the attention that they require, and that this should be in dedicated classes with especially low student-teacher ratios, not in the normal classes?

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#education #SpecialNeeds #abpoli
#TheLineCa

The Line Podcast: Carney meets Trump, and kids get abandoned at home

Politics as usual, and something a little different.

The Line
Oct 14 at 7:58pmWeb
Show threadkeithzgOct 14
@mpjgregoire Mmmm I don't know if it's that simple, I think there are also some pedagological arguments with some data to back it up that students with special needs can benefit from being in an environment where the class is broadly treated "normally", both academically and in terms of learning how to socialize. I have many teacher friends here in Edmonton and I think they're all a bit torn on what the specific right approach would be—especially since it can vary between specific students.

But definitely there is understaffing in regards to special needs. And here in Alberta a lot has been farmed out to EAs who are quite overworked and underpaid—they went on strike themselves late last schoolyear. Whatever the exact configuration (EAs or teachers, separate classes or integrated), it seems clear there is not enough funding for the human labour required to give these kids the educations we should be giving them.