I continued my interviews for the paraprofessional project this last week while on spring break. One school had a very kind SPED teacher that provided 12 paraprofessionals for me to interview. It was a good mix of ED, LD and ID paras. I also interviewed two more later the same day at an elementary school. The total interviews stands at 20 and I am happy with that number to provide a basis for my greater survey.
Something that got me excited about the interviews was seeing a pattern of what paras expressed by department. I interviewed them all individually and in private so they were free to say what they wanted. No names were attached to the interviews. The ED paras were pretty much begging for more mental health training. Many of their students have horrible home environments which have contributed to their disability. The paras wanted to know more about bipolar disorders, sexual abuse and trauma. Many times they are unable to reach their students academically because of their mental health issues and yet the only help that is provided to the paras to help the student is within the academic arena. They want more skills to help the student turn to be able to focus on their academics. ID paras also had, unknowingly, all similar requests... they wanted to know more about other disabilities, not just their student's disability. Many paras in the ID arena have been working with their student for years and they are quite knowledgeable about that one disability but they expressed they knew nothing about any other disability. They are very aware that they will not have their student forever and want to be a little more prepared for their next student. Also, I think it's a great sign that paras want to learn, why not have a small workshop about other disabilities, like autism, or cerebral palsy, or down syndrome? LD paras, as a whole, mostly asked for more techniques to be able to use with their students regarding academics. One group of LD paras that worked in the same school expressed that the students have many family issues that the paras are completely unaware of and the students end up sharing these issues with the paras. The paras have had no training in how to redirect the student to someone they could speak to about the family issues and also when, or if they should report certain issues, that are not criminal, but are definitely affecting the student. Due to these needs I feel strongly that paraprofessional training, such as in-service days, should be given by department. All LD paras come together for middle and high school, all ED paras join for specific training that they need. For example, LD paras did not care about how to perform proper lifting techniques and likewise ID paras wanted training in sanitary techniques and disposing of briefs. All paras expressed that they desired training from real professionals, such as nurses, SLPs, police officers, psychologists. Nearly all paras wanted to veto using outdated video training as a mode of learning. I value every one of the views expressed by the paras and am so thankful the SPED teachers allowed me to interview them. The next phase of the project is to develop an electronic Likert survey to send to all the paras in the district.
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AuthorSpecial Education major in a university teaching program. Substitute teacher, previous homeschool mom, wife. Archives
September 2019
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