Reaching toward individualization in planning for children with special needs

Päivi Selina Kovanen

doi:10.1080/15017410209510791

Reaching toward individualization in planning for children with special needs

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

Volume 4 (2002): Issue 2

By: Päivi Selina Kovanen

Open Access

|Jul 2002

Abstract

Integrating young children with special needs into programs for typically developing children is a current trend. Yet, integration may threaten a teacher's ability to meet the needs of an individual child. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the teachers’ orientation in early intervention/early childhood special education. Data from thirteen early childhood generic educators/early childhood special educators were collected to provide a qualitative description of their assessment and planning practices. Findings indicated that generic early childhood/early childhood special educators’ assessment, planning, and programming for meeting the needs of individual children were not clearly established. There was incongruence between the teachers’ actual practice and the positively ‐valued guideline of child‐centeredness, social aspects of learning and naturalistic teaching strategies.

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